As a small business owner myself I’ve struggled in the past to get the number of leads into my fitness business to really thrive.  Until I learned that it’s not just the generation of leads that matter.

It’s the CONVERSION of those leads into appointments that REALLY matters

Look it’s not your fault.  We just tend to focus on what SEEMS to be important and all we usually hear is information on “how to get more leads”.   So we assume that is what we need to be focused on. But what happens once you get those leads?

Are they sitting in a bucket somewhere waiting to be contacted?

I’m going to share with you how every service business owner can increase their sales without having to increase the cost of lead generation.

RESPONSE TIME MATTERS

Most service business owners are too busy working in their business to respond to online leads in a timely manner.  Yet this is where the gold is.

Study after study have shown that you are 30 times less likely to connect with a lead after just 5 hours of them contacting you.   And the longer you wait… the less likely you are to connect with them.

Here’s the dilemma…  You’re servicing your clients, you don’t have the luxury of responding immediately to the leads… but you don’t have enough work to justify hiring full time person to sit by the computer waiting for leads.

Some automation is possible, yet it lacks the personal touch and adds more complexity for the prospect.  Complexity Kills Execution.

When I owned my fitness business I realized very quickly that response time was extremely important.  I would drop everything when a new lead came in and responded immediately to them.

The most incredible thing happened.  Not only did I book 100% of those leads, they also purchased a training package… and not the cheapest one either.  Sure this is anecdotal evidence but it was an important lesson. First of all, I was spending a lot of money to attract those leads, and second I proved to them that I cared by responding instantly.  

What does it say to a potential customer if you don’t care enough to connect with them immediately?   Is that the way the rest of the relationship is going to go?

Responding to leads immediately does so much more than just get you more clients, it communicates to your lead the type of business you are. One who cares.

CONSISTENT and PERSISTENT

Not all leads come in during normal calling times, which is between 9am and 8pm.  It still amazes me when I get a lead at 2am… What are these people doing up at 2AM surfing the web and filling in forms?!

You can’t respond to those leads immediately.  So you will have to follow up with them. Remember the chances of connecting decreases by 30 times after 5 hours.  As soon as you can you should be attempting contact. Then you need to continue to attempt contact.

For how long?

I’ve set up a 30 day lead follow up process for service businesses .   Which includes phone calls, text messages and emails.

One of my clients, Andreya, had me implement the process for her leads.  On one particular lead we were on day 25 when we eventually booked the lead for a consultation… and ultimately purchased a fitness training package worth over $4,000.

Imagine if we would have just followed up 3 times and gave up?

No sale, you’re not helping that person, and yet another wasted lead…

Following up for so long may seem overwhelming…  and to be fair it is! We spend an average of 30 minutes per lead.  That means if you get 40 leads in a month, that’s 20 hours of followup!

This also means you may be sifting through what seems like a lot of “tire kickers” or “Wasted Leads”.  I don’t like that term because in my book no lead is a waste. They expressed interest in your service and if they aren’t ready NOW they will be ready at some point.

YOUR TIMES IS MORE VALUABLE

One of my clients came to me because she had just spent 4 hours on one day following up on leads.  She didn’t get any bookings… just a bunch of voicemails.

Unless you have a system, as I’ve described above and available in my Follow Up Process eBook {Link to Request} And you are doing this day in and day out then the time spent truly will be wasted.  

What about hiring someone in house to do it for you.  They would probably cost you about $15/hour now. Plus you need to answer these other questions:

• What else will they be doing if you don’t have enough leads
• Will lead followup be a priority when you do have those leads coming in?
• Will they be available 12 hours a day 7 days per week to follow up the moment leads come in?
• Who is going to train them?
• What system are you going to use to track all of the activity?
• How will the phone system work if they are remote?

All of those questions need to be answered in order to have ultimate success with your lead follow up and nurturing… success which leads to more booked appointments and more sales.

RECESSION and COMPETITION PROOF YOUR BUSINESS WITH LEAD FOLLOW UP

Most businesses aren’t doing this very simple yet highly effective process of quickly and consistently following up with the leads they receive.  

You will stand out from the competition.

Your prospects will respect your diligence.

Your business will prosper and thrive!

Make sure you have my Lead Follow Up Process eBook.  If you find you don’t have the resources to do all of this, then schedule a call with me to go over how my team and I can help you.

Finally, as you were reading this you may have thought of a friend or network that would find it useful, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it and I’m sure they would as well.