Lockdown is now behind us, but uncertainty has made trade fairs and sector events, as well as sales visits, realities that no longer have a place in 2020.
Maybe confinement has meant that you have not seen your clients for months, or maybe ERTE (temporary layoffs) are impeding your commercial activity. The Covid crisis has left gaps in the sales cycle of many companies, gaps through which leads and former clients can slip away, commercial opportunities that will not return.
Many companies are wondering how to fill these gaps and create a consistent sales funnel, capable of attracting new leads , converting them into customers, and delighting and retaining them. Reactivating dormant customers is another priority for many companies. Once again, digitalization is the key.
Revisit your database to reactivate dormant customers
Now is the time to fine-tune your digital marketing strategy, and since you afghanistan phone number list have to start from the ground up, today we are going to focus on one of the pillars of inbound marketing: the database. How many contacts are in your database? How many are really valuable? Do they comply with the GDPR? How long has it been since you contacted them? Do you have a CRM capable of integrating your marketing actions?
Your database may be just an Excel spreadsheet with random notes. But new opportunities can emerge from this old file, whether it's offering a new deal to an established customer or reconnecting with a lead that never converted. Let's go step by step:
1. Unify your database
Stop and think about what information is really relevant to your company and create fields to start creating a useful database for your sales team. Name, surname, company, position, phone number and email are usually the most requested data, however, you should think about the needs of your company and sector. Surely there are many empty spaces in your Excel sheet, but don't worry, one thing at a time, part of the work of recovering dormant leads or clients is to request new information.
2. Segment your contacts
To optimize and make the recovery process as efficient as possible, you will need to qualify your customers. Not all contacts are the same - nor are they all recoverable. Take notes on the customer's behavior, their business relationship with your company, the reason they rejected an offer, etc.
Don't be afraid to eliminate contacts that aren't worth fighting for or those that weren't obtained in a legitimate manner. This process can be a bit tedious, but it will not only help you create a consistent database, but also analyze your company's past mistakes and visualize possible areas for improvement.
3. Strengthen customer service
The first cause of customer loss is lack of interaction. Poor service and poor communication can lead to a customer leaving. That is why the first step to recover old leads is to generate new points of contact and offer relevant information about our products and services . Check which digital channels salespeople and customers are in contact with (web chat, email, forms, etc.). Are they sufficient and are they being used properly?
Make sure your old customers are still there and show them that your company is too: offer them resources that can help them just as you would a new lead. Communicate with them frequently so they can see that you are thinking about them.
