Managed Marketing: Effective Follow-Up Is Key To Marketing Success

We found more than 20 ads for companies offering what our client wanted. When we started making calls, the results were alarming: We had problems getting even basic information from more than half the companies we contacted. Keep in mind that we were the kind of prospect advertisers dream of: hungry, anxious-and most important, ready to buy.

What happened? To begin with, voice mail really bogged down the process. In some instances, we never got to speak with a live person. Like most consumers, we wanted to find someone who could help us quickly and easily. Needless to say, getting stuck in a voice-mail loop didn't get us any information. And that didn't leave us with a very positive view of the company. When we did get a live voice on the line, we were sometimes bounced around from one person to another. Some of the people we spoke with weren't aware of the advertised product, while others didn't know which department could help us. A handful of people didn't even know their company had an advertising campaign. On more than one occasion, we spent several minutes explaining what we were looking for, which turned what should have been short, concise calls into extended conversations. After all that, in a few cases, we learned that there was no literature or additional information available anyway.

We weren't shopping for insurance, and the companies we contacted weren't insurance agencies-but agents can learn from our experience. The lesson? The tactic you use to generate leads is only one step in the marketing process. The way you respond to each lead ultimately determines whether you'll win a prospect's business. In this case, all the ads were good enough to get our attention and compel us to make a phone call. Yet the majority failed miserably in the follow-up department.

Consider how hard it is to find qualified leads. At times it can seem like searching for a needle in a haystack. You wouldn't invest so much time and effort searching for the needle just to toss it back into the haystack, would you? Yet that's essentially what companies who fail to plan their response to advertising and marketing materials are doing every day. Ineffective follow-up amounts to tossing leads right back on the pile, where the competition is waiting to snatch them up.

The next time you're planning an advertising campaign, direct-mail program, trade show exhibition, or any other marketing venture, spend time beforehand developing and implementing a system to qualify, respond to, and follow up on the leads it will generate.

One of the most efficient ways to do this is to answer the following questions:

• How will respondents contact you for more information? Today's prospects want options, and for that reason it's important to give them flexibility in their response choices. Before you choose the options you'll offer, consider your audience carefully. For example, if your clientele is predominately local, business reply cards sent via standard U.S. mail or a local phone number can be effective. If you draw customers from a large regional or national area, toll-free numbers, E-mail, and perhaps even the Internet are additional options. In the long run, your goal should be to provide the options that best suit your audience in terms of speed, convenience, and cost.
• Who will handle the inquiries? This is an especially important consideration. As was evident in our example, a surefire way to lose prospects is to make it difficult for them to reach the person with the information they need. Voice mail can be especially frustrating, as can automated, computer-driven phone systems. In all cases involving the phone, a real, live, knowledgeable person on the other end of the line is the best option. Yet regardless of how leads arrive, it's important to designate a specific individual to process them, and critical for that person to have the time to do so properly. If you anticipate a large number of leads, you may want to consider outsourcing the fulfillment or hiring a temporary worker dedicated to processing and responding to inquiries.
• How will you qualify the leads? You can probably learn all you need to know simply by asking respondents a few quick questions. If they will be responding via mail, consider including a few forced-choice questions on the reply card. With phone responses, you'll want to prepare the people answering the phones. Give them well-thought-out screening questions so they can elicit the responses you need to qualify the respondents. Whatever the reply method, the challenge is selecting questions that give you the information you're looking for, yet are hassle-free to the prospect. If you make respondents work to get the information they seek, chances are they'll just move on to one of your competitors.
• What follow-up materials will you offer respondents? One of the most frustrating scenarios we encountered when responding to advertisements was the lack of useful follow-up material. We wanted something to put our hands on-something that answered our questions and helped us make an informed decision. Your prospects will want the same. In fact, more and more these days, prospects are reluctant to speak with salespeople right off the bat; they'd rather review materials without the pressure of a sales call. For this reason alone, it's important to have a follow-up package ready for immediate distribution. For example, say you've run an ad announcing a new program for contractors. With today's desktop publishing software, you can produce a letter or brochure highlighting the advantages of the program. If you're not confident about creating one internally, marketing or advertising firms will be glad to lend a hand. Once you've lined up the response material, it's imperative to have a system in place to distribute it as quickly as possible after the lead comes in. If the material can be faxed or sent via E-mail, offer that option. As with making prospects work to get information, making them wait more than a few days is another sure way to lose a lead.
• Will you make your employees aware of the campaign before the general public? There are at least two very good reasons for unveiling your advertising and marketing efforts to your staff before the public. From an inquiry-response point of view, if everyone in the office knows about the campaign, each individual will be able to apply that awareness to inquiries. While your materials should guide respondents to the person responsible for leads, there is always the possibility that a call will be misdirected, or that one of your staff may encounter a prospect away from the office. In both cases, a basic knowledge of the campaign will put your employees, as well as your agency, in a good light. From an internal public relations perspective, sharing your marketing efforts with employees first will help them feel like important members of the team, which is great for morale (and consequently business). So what's the best way to introduce your marketing materials to the entire agency? A quick meeting, internal memo, or casual walk through the office with the materials can do the trick. What's best for your organization depends on how you typically communicate with your staff. What's most important is not how you do it, but that you do it and do it effectively.

Answering these questions and putting your response system in place will benefit you in two fundamental ways. First, it will help you deliver what qualified buyers are looking for: instant gratification. In an era when customer satisfaction is rewarded with loyalty, instant gratification can be an invaluable asset. Second, and perhaps most important, effective follow-up will help you convert leads into sales, and that's the best way to get a return on your marketing investment.