Losing hard-earned leads is a shame and it’s costly, but it can happen all too easily. To keep your leads, you need to monitor and keep in touch with them—and you need to keep them on the path to conversion.
 
 Here’s how to pay close attention to your leads so they won’t grow cold, or worse, go away: 

• Track sales and use marketing automation: Good CRM (customer relationship management) software helps you avoid or correct funnel leaks. You can run reports on lead sources, conversions, sales rep performance, and more. 
• Create your path to conversion: Analyze every step it typically takes to reach conversion for past sales. This is the customer journey. Note where leads abandon the process. You need to layout clear breadcrumbs that lead prospects toward conversion. Don’t give leads too many choices (which creates confusion or frustration) and don’t be ambiguous about the next step in the sales funnel. 
• Respond timely: If your sales reps (or customer service reps) don’t respond quickly, your lead will easily get distracted or drawn into the web of a competitor. If you use auto-responders, make sure this is quickly followed with a detailed, human response. 
• Avoid sales funnel backups: Look for traffic backups, where leads seem to lose interest or get “stalled” on their way to conversion. Develop a strategy to further nurture these leads and get them back, moving along the conversion path.  
• Eliminate distractions and hold attention: If your sale funnels leaks, and loses leads consistently at certain points in the conversion funnel, fine-tune your content. Make sure the depth of each piece of content matches the lead’s level of interest, experience with your product/service and demographic details. The content must be properly targeted to the client persona and level of interest (funnel position).  

If you’re constantly building, nurturing and managing your relationship with your leads, you will be rewarded with increased sales. When you need funds to maximize new leads and conversions, contact the experts at Aspen Commercial Lending.