How to Follow Up With Leads

It is easy to forget the best practices that result in a productive follow-up conversation. With the new year upon us, I wanted to share tips on best practices around following up on leads.

Here is a quick reminder of the four key follow-up tips for your lead development reps (LDRs):

Tip 1: Lead with Content

Lead the call with new research/content around a need revealed through the demand generation process. As an example, if you ran an Activate Lead Advance program, where the prospect self identified a pain point around “Optimizing Enterprise Mobile Security,” begin the call with newer research or content you would like to share that addresses this need even further. If you are lacking content, it could be as simple as a helpful, practical blog.

Activate finds that quality of conversation (and conversion) is higher when companies continually reach out with new content in each interaction. Lead the conversation with the specific pain point—and content—as much as possible. For example, your call might start like this, “I am checking to see if I can share latest research/content on optimizing mobile security…”

Tip 2: Avoid referencing specific actions as a conversation starter

Many leads get turned off when there is no context for a conversation, or if information is inaccurate when an LDR says he or she is following up on an asset download. Not only does that sound a little creepy, but if the information is inaccurate, or occurred more than 24-48 hours ago, a legitimate lead might say, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” This conversation does not end well.

Instead, take the intelligence that the lead has given you and consider this approach, especially if you don’t have content to share from tip #1 above: “I am checking in to understand your data center management approach and would like to share an optimization strategy used by your peers…”

Tip 3: Craft irresistible subject lines that demand an open

Email engagement is created and destroyed with a subject line. Many LDRs follow up with leads via email. In order to create engaging, productive conversations, lead with subject lines that are direct and carry a practical, educational tone, along with urgency. Sounds like a lot, right? It’s actually quite simple. Here is an example of a strong subject line that will deliver opens, clicks and a great follow up conversation: “2021 Mobile Security Tips Revealed.”

Tip 4: Call the clicker

When people take sufficient action, like a click to your communication, call them. If the lead is receptive to have a demo or open to a deeper discussion with an expert, always be specific: “What is a good time to discuss your data warehousing challenges? Say next Monday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time?”

Activate’s advanced demand generation programs (like Lead Advance, Tech Score, and Waterfall) deliver leads that identify a specific, unmet need or a pain point so you can have a richer conversation that begins with the lead’s expressed pinpoint. These leads will convert for you if you follow the best practices mentioned above.

I hope you find these tips helpful in the new year as you reach out to your leads.

Marketers noted the many ways they use ABM, with a strong focus on reaching the right accounts. Nearly three quarters (73%) use it to reach target accounts, while 54% use it in display advertising to reach targets and 46% use ABM to build target account lists.

When asked to forecast budgets, there’s great news: 60% expect growth in their demand-gen resources in the year to come, up from 53% last year. This finding should help you make the case that your peers and rivals are spending aggressively to drive demand-gen results and your brand can’t afford to lose ground.

We also uncovered fascinating nuggets about campaign attribution priorities and models, which vary by company size. Smaller company (1,000 or less employees) respondents noted their main focus is accuracy of attribution and quantifying ROI from a big-picture perspective, whereas those with more than 1,000 employees said they are looking to data to give them visibility into every event in the purchase process.

We’d love the opportunity to share the full results directly with you, as well as our real-world insights from the many brands we engage with. Just contact me and I’d be happy to connect you with the best salesperson to discuss how we can keep your business in the demand-gen forefront.