Struggling to convert? Super effective website hacks for turning leads into sales

Believe it or not…

…your leads aren’t going to magically convert themselves into sales.

It’s true!

Unfortunately, not everyone understands the importance of nurturing and following up on leads. In fact, some businesses make the mistake of only giving leads attention when it’s convenient for them or, even worse, not at all.

When you consider that these users have shown an interest in your business for a reason…

…and converting existing leads is more cost-effective than marketing to new customers.

Well, giving these leads a little extra attention is a no-brainer.

Here’s how…

1. Don’t make leads wait

If you learn anything in business, it’s that people are impatient.

That’s why the level of interest shown by a potential lead can drop dramatically within just a few hours, let alone a few days, by which time they’ve likely already moved on to a competitor.

That’s why it’s crucial that you set up an efficient system for handling incoming leads.

Don’t make them wait. Instead, be direct and point them to a company inbox, phone number, or social media account where your team is on-call to handle their questions or enquiries.

Hot leads don’t stay hot for long, so be ready to handle them!

2. Be upfront and ask for the sale

A lot of marketing time is devoted to building up to the sale.

But when it comes time to close the deal?

You’d be surprised how many businesses forget to actually ask for the sale.

Instead of expecting the customer to hand over their hard earned money, ask for it. Politely, of course! Do this by including relevant Calls to Action at the bottom of Blog Posts and other pieces of content, directing them to relevant products where applicable, and make a big song and dance about sales and special offers.

How does the saying go again?

…ask, and you shall receive!

3. Develop a great FAQ page

Here’s the thing:

Many leads don’t convert because they still have unanswered questions.

While you should be at-the-ready to answer them, you do have to sleep at some point.

So be proactive and ensure all the burning questions your leads are dying to ask are answered on your website by creating a FAQ page full of common questions, concerns, and enquiries.

This will save both you – and your leads – precious time and energy.

4. Give them an offer they can’t refuse

Who doesn’t love a good incentive?

In fact, offering a discount coupon, code, or voucher could be the perfect way to turn a potential customer into a paying one. What’s more? The discount doesn’t even need to be anything outrageous.

It just needs to be enough to make the customer feel valued.

5. Set a time limit

No one likes to miss a bargain.

Or, for that matter, the next bus, train, or plane!

What do I mean by this?

It’s simple:

Give leads an ulterior motive to act quickly by adding a little time pressure.

Limited-time offers tagged with “Don’t miss out, this offer ends tonight!”, free extras if they get in touch within a given time-frame, or the opportunity to jump to the front of the queue are all great ways to create a feeling of urgency that could lead your…well, lead to making a quick or spontaneous decision so that they don’t miss out.

6. Make sure your email marketing stands out

Chances are your leads receive hundreds of emails every day.

It’s even more likely some of these are from your competitors.

Whether it’s been a while since you’ve looked at your email campaigns, or you don’t have one at all, it’s likely time to reexamine your email strategies and give them a bit of a refresher. Improve your content, add effective imagery, and most of all? Keep it snappy.

No one has the time to read a wall of text.

Throw in a striking subject line and a call to action, and you’ll keep yourself front-of-mind as customers move through the all-important decision making process.

7. Use social proof and develop trust

According to Invesp, 99 percent of customers read online reviews before visiting a business, 88 percent trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, and 72 percent say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more.

So start gaining the trust of your customers by adding testimonials to your website, as well as review functionality. It’s a great way to garner the trust of a lead and tip them over to a paying customer.

8. Keep your leads warm

Here’s the thing:

Not all leads are ready to make a decision within the first ten minutes…

…but that doesn’t mean they’re a lost cause.

If they’ve filled out an online form, signed up to your newsletter, or otherwise handed over their contact details, a quick follow-up in the future takes all of a few minutes and is a crucial step in nurturing the relationship.

We’re not suggesting you call them at all hours of the night. That’ll likely have the opposite effect! But following up and finding out if they have any additional questions, enquiries, or concerns will further nurture these warm leads and take them one step closer to converting into a customer.

9. Monitor your sales pipeline

Your sales pipeline is all the steps a lead takes to convert into a customer.

If you’re wondering where you can easily find your leads, you can start looking in the lead generation form of your website analytics, while leads also appear in the sales funnel of your website data if you’re using services such as Shopify.

This information provides a unique insight as to when and where potential customers are falling off in the sales pipeline. Perhaps a contact form has stopped working? Or maybe they’re adding items to cart, but not checking out?

With this data, you can identify these areas and then work to address them to ensure your website is doing everything it can to provide a smooth, seamless sales process and start converting those leads into sales.

10. Dangle the ROI carrot

That’s right!

If you’re offering a service based product that boasts a potential ROI for your customer, put that on a string and dangle it right out in front of them. In doing so you’re effectively asking them “Can you afford to wait?”.

Encouraging them to take that step will net them – and your business – a healthy profit.

That’s a win-win in our books!

Leads need TLC, too…

When you break it down, nurturing leads doesn’t sound too different from any other relationship. With the right amount of trust, patience, and compromise, you’ll nurture an effective, worthwhile relationship for the both of you!