who is listening?
by sarah johnson dobek
inovautus consulting
we work with a lot of professional service firms. the one thing they always want is to generate more leads.
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many of them have more leads than they realize at their disposal, but they are making some common mistakes.
1. failure to convert traffic on your website
many firms spend a lot of time and money developing a website only to expect nothing from it. they create a well-designed site, focus on the launch of the site and then leave it. a website can be so much more than static collateral. many firms have lots of people visiting their site, but they aren’t converting any visitors into leads. conversion requires more than a “contact us” form. it requires highly optimized landing pages that guide your visitors down a predefined path.
2. failure to leverage events
events, whether offline or online, require a lot of effort and time. however, many firms fail to give attendees ways to engage with them. they assume the attendees will know. consider encouraging attendees to engage with you after the event through a simple evaluation form. or, you could provide them with free tools and resources. if this is a client event, direct follow-up from a partner should be a requirement.
3. no lead nurturing
not all potential buyers are ready to buy at the same time. if they were, we would be reinventing ourselves yearly. however, most marketing fails to capture leads into a process where they can be nurtured until they are ready to buy.
4. failure to leverage speaking and writing opportunities
most people think if they speak or write that people will come flooding in the door. just like online, people need to be prompted. if you want to get more from your speaking and writing, you have to encourage (i.e., tell them) how they can interact with you. keep it reasonable and relevant. a contact page of information won’t cut it. ask them to subscribe to your newsletter, connect with you on linkedin. when you are speaking in person, always include a brief survey with options to engage with you.
5. driving the wrong visibility
not all traffic is created equal. in order for you to generate more leads, you need to be in front of the right audiences who can buy from you, or from whom you can influence their purchase. quantity isn’t always better than quality. make sure the visibility you are getting is targeted and aligns with your strategy.