Having access to a steady flow of hot leads is every salesperson’s dream. But even in ideal situations, you’ll still need to find a way to close those leads if you want to meet and surpass your sales goals. Everyone has their strategies for this – and what works for someone else may not work for you. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of tips for closing a hot lead. It’s packed with helpful tips and unique strategies to help you hit your sales goals faster.
Who Qualifies As A Hot Lead?
A hot lead is a prospect you’ve already qualified for their high interest in your product. They are also at the point in their purchasing cycle where they are ready to be contacted by a sales agent directly.
Every company has its in-house specifications for what qualifies as a hot lead. But the definition above is the generally accepted framework for one.
11 Tips For Closing A Hot Lead
Keep in touch
More than anything, it’s essential to keep in touch with a hot lead if you want to hit your sales goals. You should regularly contact them, especially if you think they’re getting close to reaching a purchasing decision.
The experts at LeadCrunch recommend reaching out to hot B2B leads once every 14 to 21 days to keep yourself at the top of their minds.
But make sure you use a strategic follow-up process
Following up with hot leads is essential. But you can’t be haphazard about it. Instead, create a repeatable follow-up process that tells you exactly when you need to be reaching out to your sales leads.
For example, after you finish speaking with a lead, you should know what comes next. CRM tools are great for this step. You can use one to create a sales plan for a lead that alerts you each time they need to be contacted.
Give your sales leads surplus-value
Your leads know that you’re trying to sell them on your product. But that doesn’t mean you have to extract every ounce of value while providing only the bare minimum in return.
That’s not a great way to do business.
A better strategy is to go above and beyond for each hot lead you speak with. Determine the goals hot leads have and then provide additional support to help them reach those goals.
This doesn’t have to be time-consuming or costly. It can be as simple as sending an email to a lead with a new study that you think they might find interesting.
Repeatedly doing these little things will help you build a stronger relationship with your leads, which will make you more likely to close when the time comes.
Take advantage of lead qualification strategies
One of the keys to closing on more leads is delegating your limited time. This is where lead qualification strategies come in.
There are systems you can use to determine which leads are the most likely to become your customers. Then you can target those leads first to ensure your attention is right where it needs to be.
Here are some popular lead qualification strategies to look into. The people who made these are pretty into acronyms:
Use social media
Social media is an excellent tool for converting leads. Platforms like LinkedIn are especially great for staying in touch with hot leads where they spend their time. You can also use platforms like LinkedIn to share value-adding content with your leads to foster your relationship.
Don’t sell too hard
Your job is to make sales. But you can’t be too pushy about it. Otherwise, you risk turning away a buyer who might otherwise be an ideal fit for your product or service.
That said, it can be challenging to walk the fine line between moving a client closer to conversion and not coming across as too pushy.
HubSpot put together a great article that outlines some of the habits that make a salesperson appear pushy. Here are some highlights:
- Calling and emailing without any updates to share or information to provide
- Asking the same questions over and over again
- Answering objections with “But…” and providing cookie-cutter responses
- Not allowing your prospect to get off the phone
- Forcing things to progress at a speed that the buyer isn’t comfortable with
Make time to answer questions
This one might seem pretty obvious, but a surprising number of salespeople don’t make themselves readily available to answer their prospects’ questions. Many also provide poor answers to questions or answers that are not targeted to address the buyer’s unique concerns.
Being unprepared or unavailable is a surefire way to turn a hot lead cold. So make sure you’re getting back to your leads within 24 hours of them asking you for something to keep them engaged.
Tell sales leads when a product isn’t a good fit for them
A sales lead may sometimes show interest in one of your products that aren’t necessarily a great fit for them. When this happens, it’s important to disclose before talks progress further.
Reputation is everything. The client will figure out that the product isn’t a good fit for them eventually. And they’ll question why you didn’t say anything during the sales process once they do.
Use referrals
Referrals can be a useful way to push a hot lead toward conversion. So take advantage of this as often as you can. These can be especially valuable if you get a referral from someone the new lead knows and respects.
You can also ask existing clients for referrals from time to time to refill your sales funnel. Just don’t be pushy about it. You can mention it once or twice in passing. But don’t get on a client’s case about it and risk souring the relationship.
Let your sales leads try before they buy
As often as you can, you should also allow your leads to try a product or service prior to purchase. They’ll appreciate getting the chance to see what you can do for them before committing. And it’s a great way to make sure the prospect is truly a good fit.
Check back in after the sale
The list of salespeople who check back in with their clients after the purchase is smaller than it should be. Experts typically suggest doing this one or two months after a purchase is made.
There are a few reasons for this. One is that you want to maintain good relationships with your clients throughout they’re using your products. Doing so is a great way to earn new referrals and build a strong reputation for your company.
Additionally, it’s usually about one or two months from purchase that problems begin to arise. So it’s worth checking in around this time to see if there’s anything you need to resolve for the client.
You should already do this, even if the prospect chooses a competitor. You may discover that they’re unhappy with the competitors’ product and wind up with a new customer.
Use LeadLander To Reach Your Sales Goals Faster
To get the most out of your sales process, you need a constant flow of high-quality data. It’s incredibly helpful to validate interest from leads and determine which of your company’s services they care the most about. LeadLander is perfect for this.
You can use LeadLander’s intel to target your pitches more effectively and to ensure you’re contacting a hot lead at the perfect time.
You can try a free 14-day trial of LeadLander today by visiting this link.