Workflows To Turn Marketing Qualified Leads Into Sales

Jonathan Weiss

October 30, 2015   Follow
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In many companies, the marketing and sales teams will clash. They both like to play the blame game. More often than not, it can seem more like they’re rivals than teammates - more like Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed in Rocky I.  What we need is for marketing and sales to fast forward to Rocky III and become BFFs, as Rocky and Apollo did. Something that has helped strengthen that relationship is marketing automation, and more specifically, a higher level of sophistication.

A better process in nurturing marketing qualified leads into sales qualified means a higher rate of sales success.  So the more time marketers are able to invest in utilising marketing automation and refining their lead nurturing workflows, the happier everyone is, and the sooner we can get from Rocky I to Rocky III.  As the wise Zig Ziglar said:

“You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” Tweet this

According to SiriusDecisions, 70% of the buying process is done before a prospect is even ready to engage with sales.  On top of that, Forrester Research has shown that companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales qualified leads at a third of the cost. Pretty sweet, huh? So it’s safe to say we can all agree that when used well, marketing workflows exponentially aid the purchase funnel.  I’ve written previously about what a marketing workflow is, and how to get started building one, but now it’s time to take the next step.  Here are 4 tried-and-true ways to use marketing workflows to prep your leads for sales.   

1. Buyer Persona-Centric Workflows

One of the most effective ways to shape a workflow is by using buyer personas.  You might have some content that is relevant to multiple personas, but the more targeted and personalised you can get with these workflows, the stronger your conversion rate will be.  

Let’s use a hypothetical example of Decision Maker Deb. She’s the ideal persona that your sales team will get on the phone with, so surely she’s the one you want to be guiding through the funnel.  Create a bank of content targeting her common pain points, introduce some offers, eBooks, webinars, and create emails that really speak to her.  

Using the same emails for multiple personas is an easy trap hole.  Think of your own experiences.  When you receive a marketing email, how would you want to be spoken to?  What sort of information would you be looking for in that email at this stage in the funnel? Now ask someone in a completely different role.  There are certain approaches that work for everyone, but personally, I would rather be reading an email that feels like it was written just for me, and not a one size fits all approach.

2. Topic Workflows

Topic workflows are designed with the assumption that the lead is interested in a certain area of content. The buyer persona should still tie into these workflows, but this takes it one step further.  Rather than just having a workflow for Decision Maker Deb, you would have one for the Deb that was really interested in a specific topic, for example, getting help redesigning the company website. These would be triggered by the content they interacted with on your site, for example, the blog posts they read or the eBook they downloaded.  

They  would then receive emails or remarketed updates with additional information on this specific topic. In turn, as the lead moves down the funnel, the sales team will now have a whole heap of data to use when the time comes around the pain points of this lead and have a better foundation to support them through to a sale.

3.  Event-related workflows

Your company is holding an event, and your favourite prospects are attending. You would be able to use this event as the trigger in a workflow and subsequently deliver information to them in the build up of the event, not to mention the opportunity after it. This could be as simple as providing an agenda and reminders for the event, down to some more personable information such as tips for networking at events or great apps for recording notes and thoughts at the event.  

These workflows would augment the score of the lead and, should you have a sales representative present or involved with the event, their job naturally becomes that much easier when engaging with the lead.  

Again, don’t forget about your buyer personas when using these workflows. They would still dictate to an extent how the workflow is mapped. Their interaction and outcomes from your event will differ depending on who they are, and how they relate to your purchase funnel.  

4. Re-engage Leads That Have Gone Cold

Sometimes even the perfect leads slip through the cracks. They become disengaged with your company for whatever reason and go from being promising to ice cold, wasting away in the corners of your CRM.  

But wait! What’s that? You just triggered a workflow?

You could easily set up a workflow specifically targeting the previously warm leads that lost interest and haven’t had any contact with you for a few weeks. You could send them an extra special offer or add them into a remarketing campaign on social media or in AdWords, and voila, you can awaken the sleeping beauty and get them moving through your funnel once again.  

5. Shopping Cart Abandonment

Oh, so close! They were right there, about to purchase. One click away from becoming a customer but alas, they left you high and dry. This doesn’t just apply to e-commerce sites, every company has these opportunities racing towards a sale but fall down right before the ribbon at the finish line.  So now what? No need for a drumroll, you know what’s coming.  Boom! A workflow was just triggered.  Reach out to them with reminders about their impending purchase, or a  promo code to give them an extra incentive to go through with it. Get crafty, show them that you care.  Help them back onto their feet and give them a shoulder to lean on as they cross the ribbon. 

If you've done any online shopping, chances are you've experienced this sort of workflow. Below is one example from Glassons, who have a workflow in place to follow you up every few days and offer progressively better incentives to come back to the site and empty your cart. When executed well, you'll get those customers lining up at the virtual checkout again in no time.  

 

What's next? 

Now you should have a few different workflow strategies to work with to prep your leads for sales. The first thing you need to do if you haven’t already is to get your buyer personas sorted out. If you need help, our free Buyer Persona Builder is the perfect place to start. The stronger these are, the more you can get these workflows to work for you. If you use and develop these workflows to fit your company, your sales and marketing team will be working harmoniously in no time.  Before you know it, you’ll be pitching a modern day adaptation of Rocky III as the two teams become the best of friends.



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