Sometimes, the best thing you can do for a hot lead is pick up the phone and call them. But what if they don’t pick up?
Getting lost in the dreaded voicemail inbox is not an option because when a lead is ready to buy, there’s no time to waste. So, what do you do to keep these leads from going cold?
You're in luck because this blog is going to dive into that answer to help ensure your missed calls don’t turn into missed revenue.
Missed Calls = Momentum Killers
The hard truth is that missed calls can ruin a sales pipeline before you even have a chance to “leave a message at the tone.”
It doesn’t always happen, but in this fast-paced world, it’s becoming more common.
Leads are interested enough to fill out a form or request a quote but often too busy to answer your follow-up call. And unfortunately, that can end the interaction before it even begins.
If you don’t catch them in another way, they’ll quickly forget or move on to a competitor.
So, you have a few options, and one of them is manual follow-up ...
The Problem with Manual Follow-Up
Writing a personal message to each lead sounds great in theory, but it’s one of the many follow-up mistakes businesses make, and there are a few issues it brings up:
- It’s time-consuming. Taking time to write individual messages to each lead or pick up the phone to call them might seem like it doesn't take long. In reality, these manual tasks eat up valuable time you could be spending on other important to-dos.
- It’s inconsistent. No matter how diligent you and your team are, there's a huge risk someone will forget to follow up and leads will fall through the cracks as a result.
- It’s not scalable. With manual follow-up, the more leads you get, the more time you'll have to spend reaching out. But time is limited, and this strategy isn't sustainable if you want to scale long term.
How Marketing Automation Software Can Help
If manual follow-up is time-consuming, inconsistent, and not scalable, then you need a solution that’s the opposite.
And the obvious answer is marketing automation software. To sum it up, this tool allows you to automate the manual tasks throughout your business so you can get more efficient, consistent, and scale in a way that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
Marketing automation can automate all of your follow-up, and that includes the outreach that’s necessary to keep a lead engaged after they miss your call.
Here’s how you can put this software to work so you’re not stuck doing chasing leads manually:
- Trigger automatic email: Use your software to create a “We missed you” email or text that lets leads know you tried to call them. You can also include a brief summary of why you called and a few ways they can reach you if they’d like.
- Automate ongoing nurture sequences: There’s a chance a lead still won’t reach out after your first follow-up message. This just means you need to keep them warm with ongoing check-ins until they’re ready to act.
Automate a series of emails and texts that provide value and educate leads about what you offer. You can also sprinkle in special promotions to encourage them to call you back or make a purchase.
- Create tasks and reminders: One missed call doesn’t mean your team should never reach out again, so use your marketing automation platform to set up reminders. By doing so, you’ll ensure your team follows up right on time and no lead is forgotten.
For all of these campaigns to launch, you’ll have to utilize tags in your software.
Here’s how it works: If someone misses your call, tag them in your CRM system. Then, once you’ve automated your follow-up process, marketing automation will launch your series of follow-ups whenever someone is tagged.
You can also try integrating your platform with a call tracking software and triggering automations that way!
The Bottom Line
Converting a lead into a sale, even if they’ve missed your call, requires two things:
- Fast follow-up
- Multi-channel outreach
Marketing automation software is designed to help you do both. So if you have a software you love, jump in and start implementing these strategies today.
If you’re still looking for a good automation solution, use our Marketing Automation Buyers’ Guide to help you narrow down your options and find your perfect fit!
