How To Manage Sales Leads

Have you ever missed an important sales meeting or a callback with a prospect? How do successful business people always stay on top of everything they have to do without missing a beat?

The answer is they’re very organized, and the truth is, it doesn’t take much effort to do this either. Your business and sales will dramatically increase when you learn how to manage sales leads.

Before we get into ways you can manage your sales leads, let’s quickly go over what a sales lead is.

What Is A Sales Lead?

A sales lead is a potential customer that has shown some interest in your product or service. They’ve given you their contact information, expressed what they might be interested in from you, and are willing to do business if your product makes sense to them.

A sales lead can come from many places. They can come from cold calling or warm calling, someone who visited your website and filled out a form, or someone who saw one of your ads and gave you a call. It could even be a referral from a satisfied customer or friend.

The key is that it’s someone who has the potential to become a paying customer, given the right circumstances.

Now that we know what a sales lead is, let’s find ways to manage them, so you never lose track and always know what’s going on.

Five Ways To Manage Sales Leads

There are a few key ways on how to manage sales leads, which will allow you to achieve goals faster. Here are a few important things to always do:

Have lead cards

Whether you use a CRM and leads are organized online, or if you have physical lead cards, every prospect should have their own separate lead card.

On the card will be their personal information. Name, phone number, address, business, meeting date, etc.

Write detailed notes

Even if you think you’ll remember, still write detailed notes of every conversation. The point of this is so you can’t forget any important information that will help you close a deal.

Before moving on to your next task, immediately write notes on your conversation with your prospect/customer. You don’t want to forget to write down key information that will help you close future deals.

Also, writing notes of their personal info, such as how long they’ve been married or how many children and grandchildren they have, will help you build rapport with prospects/clients.

When you call back or meet with this prospect/client again, you know exactly where you left off and have all the necessary information to make a sale.

Set reminders in calendars

If a prospect asks you to call back at a specific time, set the alarm on your phone. If they tell you to get back to them in a few minutes, still set a reminder on your phone. The last thing you want to do is forget to do something because you got tied up, and now you lose business.

When you set a reminder to call a prospect back, look at your detailed notes from your previous conversation, pick up where you left off, and make the sale.

Categorize your sales leads

Categorize your lead base accordingly. For example, have categories of leads that you have never presented to, leads that you have to follow up with, leads that you were very close to closing a deal with, and leads that were not interested in doing business at the moment.

Also, if your lead base consists of prospects in separate time zones, categorize your leads by time. This way, you don’t make mistakes of calling people too early or too late in the day.

Organize your workspace

Your workspace should be organized in a way that it’s conducive to making sales. Everything you need should be within reach and easily accessible. This goes for your physical and virtual spaces (computer desktop, CRM, etc.).

By having an organized workspace, you won’t waste valuable time

By categorizing your leads, you’ll have everything clean and organized and prevent confusing yourself on who is who and what is what.

Benefits Of Managing Your Sales Leads

When your sales leads are properly managed and organized, you’ll experience the following benefits:

• You’ll increase sales. By having lead cards and knowing exactly who you’re talking to, what their needs are, and where you left off in conversations, you’re more likely to make a sale.
• You will close more deals. By keeping detailed notes and categorizing your leads, you know exactly what needs to be done to close a deal. You’ll never have to start from scratch, and you can pick up right where you left off without forgetting any key information.
• You avoid unprofessional mistakes. You’ll never have to worry about forgetting to do something by setting reminders in your calendar. This way, you won’t have to make excuses about why you forgot and look unprofessional. When you know how to manage sales leads, you increase the chances of making a sale and avoid any potential mistakes that could cost you business.
• Work will be less stressful for you. Having a system in place gives you a clear idea of what needs to be done. This way, you’re not running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to remember what you need to do.

Do Not Multi-task When Organizing Sales Leads

When you organize your sales leads, do NOT multi-task. When you organize your leads, this is to better position yourself to close deals.

When you write notes and schedule callbacks, you want to be fully engaged so you don’t forget anything important that can help you make future sales.

You can avoid costly mistakes by not multi-tasking, like forgetting to do something or misplacing important information.

Organizing and knowing how to manage sales leads is crucial to the success of your business. When you know how to manage sales leads, you increase the chances of making a sale and avoid any potential mistakes that could cost you business.

Conclusion

When you know how to manage sales leads, your business and sales will run more efficiently. By taking the time to categorize and write detailed notes, you will be better positioned to make sales and close deals. And by not multi-tasking, you can avoid making any costly mistakes.

If you follow these simple tips, you’ll be on your way to successfully managing your sales leads and growing your business.