Hop off the new lead treadmill

We get it. Every business needs new leads.

And we’re really good at fixing up your funnel to bring in more leads.

But getting leads and figuring out what to do with them once you have them are two of the most important nuts to crack when you want to keep the squirrels over in accounting happy.

If you want to find out how a simple change in thinking about leads can help resolve income fluctuations, keep reading! 

Might as well face it, you’re addicted to leads

There’s a misconception that the only way to grow your company or make more money is by getting more, More, MORE new leads. 

It’s quite true that every business needs leads but what happens to those leads at each stage of the customer journey you’ve designed is much more important. 

That’s because the real money is not in “getting leads” but in the relationship you build with them over time.

A long-term solution to lead treadmill problems

Ideally, you should have systems and content marketing assets in place to handle each stage along the customer journey.

But especially after leads have converted to customers. 

There are four overall stages along this journey:

1. Attracting interested people. Initially, new leads are about future income. You need to do everything in your power to show them the value and benefit of what you can offer and show how you address their specific problem.

Of course, you can’t take prospects to the bank so you’ve got to get them to the next step, which is …

2. Engaging interested prospects and turning them into customers.

This gets you some revenue, which is great, but once you fulfill the service or order you’ve got some work to do to keep that customer coming back or referring new business to you over the long term.

At this stage, many businesses run right back to the Attracting stage, thinking they better go get some new leads or the revenue will run out.

It’s easy to understand why companies get stuck in an Attract/Engage cycle here.

But the smart money is focused on … 

3. Optimizing existing customer relationships, by making them richer and deeper, delivering a great experience, communicating with them often through different channels.

This can be achieved with regular client check-ins, marketing touch-points, and scheduled service rep follow-ups. After that, you will want to focus on …

4. Retaining these relationships, so ultimately they become your fans and help promote you and get more leads for you. This increases the lifetime value of every customer you convert, creating a cycle that feeds and grows organically and is only augmented by new inbound leads.

One of the best ways to do this is with content marketing delivered in newsletters that share insightful topics, new product offers, upsells, joint-venture marketing, and more.