6 Strategies to convert your prospects into paying customers

A good marketing strategy creates a lot of prospects. But not all prospects are converted to customers and should not be converted to customers. We have different kinds of prospects. There is the cold audience who have never heard of you or bought anything from you before, the warm audience who have heard of you but have never bought anything from you before, and the hot audience who have heard of you and have bought something from you before. Before your prospects can take their hard-earned money to pay for your products or services, they must know you, like you, and trust you. Here are some ideas to help you convert prospects into paying customers.

1. Take action immediately

Not immediately following up with prospects causes them to go cold. Then you are back to where you started. The prospect is likely to forget the encounter. Or the prospective may think you are not interested in serving them. Your response time to a lead’s request is an indication of your response time when he is a client.  Take quick action when you receive a telephone inquiry, trade-show presentation, recommendation, or other inquiry.

2. Focus on referrals

Referred prospects are the most valuable. When you receive a referred prospect, the sale is already done. If you act quickly with the referred prospect, it will reflect well on your source, and he will be willing to refer you again. If you delay or mistreat referral leads, don’t expect to receive additional leads from your valuable referrer.

3. Evaluate the lead

You must follow up on every lead. You want to separate the suspects from the prospects. Evaluating prospects allows for faster tracking with better prospects. Ask your lead or referral source about problems, needs and demands, the decision-making process, and whether they can pay your fees. Ask these questions at the beginning of the process as much as you can.

4. Create a follow-up plan

The automatic follow-up system makes it easy to keep track in the same way, every time. Take the time to contact and court a new prospect. Unless you set aside time on your calendar, you may have difficulty sticking with the plan. The value of prospects is rapidly dissipating. If you are fully booked, send a letter or call the prospect to set a specific time.

5. Add the Prospect to a mailing list

All professionals must have a marketing database. When acquiring a prospect, the data must be continuously recorded in the database. Hot Prospect should receive regular and personal attention, while Warm and Cold Prospects can be handled by mail, depending on your load.

6. Give the Prospect to someone else

If you can’t follow up on the prospect, or if the lead is of little interest to you, pass it on to someone else in your industry. Selling is a team effort. You can ask the person to keep you informed of the progress of the prospects. Offer to help when the prospect gets close to closing.

In conclusion, a pipeline full of good prospects is critical to the company’s continued growth. The whole process allows you to be selective and track the best leads. You can generate more leads and convert more prospects to paying customers when you follow this strategy.