In our experience, most business owners have asked themselves at some point: what exactly are leads? No wonder — the term comes up often, but few can explain it in simple words. And developers add fuel to the fire, each coming up with their own definition. It's time to settle this.
How leads benefit a business
Simply put, a lead is a person who becomes your potential customer by taking a specific action. If someone just clicks an ad and lands on your website, that doesn't make them a potential customer — they may leave for some reason, for example because of technical issues.
They can only be considered a lead once they take a specific action, such as leaving their contact details. It can be anything you can work with later: an email, a phone number or a home address. If someone has left their details and requested a callback, only then can they be considered a customer — and even then, a potential one. They become an actual customer only when they make a purchase. To get requests, you need lead generation.
Lead generation is a marketing method for attracting potential customers. The cost of each lead is calculated individually and depends on marketing analysis, strategy and many other factors.
Lead sources
There are several ways to get requests. Lead sources include:
— a consumer sends an email;
— a customer calls you;
— business owners share their customers' contact details.
As you can see, there are many ways to get leads. But nobody can guarantee they'll become real customers. That depends only on whether you can fully meet their needs. Your marketing strategy also plays a role. Even an unprofessional manager can ruin everything. Unsuitable terms and many other factors can also stop someone from completing the action.
A lead can be turned into a loyal customer, but the manager has to make an effort:
— communicate actively by email or messenger so the potential buyer gets complete information on time;
— send new catalogues and price lists and keep them informed about price changes, promotions, discounts or special offers;
— arrange regular meetings to share news about new products and discounts.
A CRM system is a must. Managers should fill in reports, recording the results of their work and the status of each task. This lets you assess the effectiveness of specific actions in real time and change tools and strategy promptly. All this work doesn't have to be done by one person — it's better to share out the responsibilities.
Lead generation should become one of the company's priorities, because no business can grow effectively without it. Company profit depends directly on how seriously this task is taken, on staff professionalism and on the willingness to change strategy based on potential customers' behaviour. If everything is done right, you'll see results soon.
Call us and our managers will advise you on any questions: +380 67 250 60 02 ☎
