LEFf Business

Nurture – from leads to clients

A nurture sequence is a series of messages that moves a prospect along the sales journey. So from a starting point, what action are we looking for them to take? This could be a sale, a call booked, or a proposal requested. Nurturing is often seen as the process of moving from lead to a prospect and then to paying client, but we could also have sequences for existing clients for upsells and/or cross-sales or re-engaging with dormant contacts.  

As well as an endpoint the sequence should also have a start point, usually following a particular event such as downloading a lead magnet but could also be a follow-up from a live event such as an Expo or networking meeting. For those that may not be ready to buy during the sequence, we would send them into a long-term nurture series which is a whole other article!

A simple incomplete nurture sequence will outperform no nurture sequence!!

 Short Term Nurture 

 So, let’s say somebody has downloaded a lead magnet, what next? You now should have their e-mail and if your lead magnet was sufficiently targeted, they are interested in what you have to offer.

 Welcome 

This is your opportunity to introduce yourself and your business to your new prospect. It’s a good idea to restate the value of the lead magnet and ask for their views. It’s always worth posing a question or including a clickable link in the email since it encourages the contact to interact, and that improves the deliverability of your future emails 

For nurture sequence to work we need to have engagement because that’s the way that our e-mail is more likely to be delivered to the inbox. So, one important point is that at least half the emails should have a clickable link of some description

On a practical level, it’s a great opportunity for them to take steps to make sure they get future emails. This includes asking them to save your e-mail address as a contact and take them through allow-listing steps. It’s also a good idea to let them know how often you’ll send emails and the value you are going to be sharing. This makes it less likely they’ll unsubscribe. 

It’s also worth having a call to action on the majority of the emails. This could be for the next stage in the sales journey or a link to your blog or an article.

 Dig into the problem. 

 This is the opportunity to look at what the issue or problem is that your client is facing. Why is this an issue, what are the possible outcomes, and why is this affecting the client personally? This is an excellent way to show that you can place yourself in the client’s shoes and have a good understanding of their situation. They may not be ready for your product or service, but they have been thinking about the problem.

“Always enter the conversation already occurring in the customer’s mind.”― Dan S. Kennedy, The Ultimate Sales Letter: Attract New Customers. Boost your Sales.

Once you have outlined the problem, a great approach is to hint at a solution coming up in your next mail. This is sometimes called an open loop where they are looking forward to your next mail. Essentially leaving them on a cliff-hanger. 

 Options 

This is where we say what the solutions could be so following on from the earlier e-mail you may list the options that could be available to address their problem

 For a website designer, the DIY option, the lower cost choice, or the larger agency choice. Each with its pros and cons, but obviously with a heavy tilt towards your service. 

This is where you can point out the downsides of the alternatives and list the benefits of your service. 

 Hints, Tips and Valuable Content 

 You’ve already given them a lead magnet which should be of value to them this is adding even more where you give them other hints and tips on how to use a lead magnet or even other alternatives that they could use or implement today. 

A questionnaire or a form where you’re collecting further information about what your client’s interests are so for example as an accountant you may want to know whether this particular prospect is VAT registered or a limited company.

The purpose here is twofold: to add value and position yourself as the go-to expert in this field. Put simply this should be easy to implement quick tips related to the lead magnet or the product. 

Client Story

 There is nothing like social proof to sell a product. You are showing how a client with the same problems solved them with your help.

Write a story of the problems your client faced and how your solution is a happy ending. Make sure the client can see themselves as the hero with a seemingly intractable problem and your product guides them to success!

This is more than just a testimonial but a real story from a client, starting from the problem, the possible solutions, and the decision to go with your product. What was the process? What were the results?

 False beliefs 

 False beliefs include how costly certain services are, how much time they take, or how ineffective they are.

You could use a questionnaire or poll to see how widespread a belief may be. This helps profile your prospects and tailor future messages

Once again this helps you position yourself as an expert but also means that you’re taking the client’s point of view and seeing from their perspective. And for each false belief, you note how your particular service or product overcomes this. 

 Pitch 

 As we come towards the end of a nurture sequence send an e-mail that is absolutely a sales pitch. You should have given opportunities for the client to take a further step during the nature sequence, a calendar link or link to the sales page, but as we reach the final e-mail it’s worth just putting it out there and seeing if they’re in a position to go ahead.

A benefits pile-up is a great way to show how your product works, not just features but how this brings benefits to your target business

Focus on the advantages and the value of your product or service. If you know a little more about your clients, you can also reduce their choices. So let’s say you have three services at different pricing levels and different value levels. If you know that your client is time sensitive, in that they don’t feel they have time and would prefer somebody to do everything for them then give them the option of your two higher priced and higher value products

 You should also give the opportunity regularly during the sequence for the client to make the next step so calendar links to organise calls would be a good next step in most cases or even being taken to the sales page. 

If on the other hand what you see is a client who is price sensitive, then it’s more likely that the two lower priced are the options that you’re going to present. 

How’s it Working

Measuring click rates for each mail and after how many messages they move to the next stage gives you a baseline rate. If you amend the messaging and timing, you can compare their efficacy to the baseline.

At what stage do most people move on to the next stage? You may not need all the messages in your sequence.

Reviewing and refining your messages and timing have a big impact on the clicks you’ll get and the numbers of prospects that move to the next stage and ultimately buy. An average nurture sequence can become a superstar with a few tweaks!

It depends where you get your business wisdom, but we are often told that a percentage of your ideal market is not ready to buy. For some it’s not the right time, for others they don’t see your solution as the right one and for others, they may not even see the problem. This is where the nurture sequence comes in. Get in touch if you’d like to discuss further.