Many home improvement companies spend a great deal of money, time and effort generating leads. Of all your homeowner leads, which is the most valuable to you?

1. The person who is ready to buy today

2. The one who has a need but is not quite ready to buy

3. Someone who has a want and is just starting the buying process

Ask any salesperson, they’ll more than likely tell you it’s the homeowner who is ready to purchase now. They are the “hot” leads and closing them can be fairly easy.

Believe it or not, studies show that option #3 is truly the most valuable prospect in your database! How can this be possible?

When a home improvement business nurtures a lead who is just starting the process, they are forming a relationship.

Nurturing means you have obtained a lead’s contact information and you continually communicate with them until they are ready to buy. You can nurture by sending an e-mail with a discount, mailing a company newsletter, occasionally calling them to let them know about a new product or service, and sharing posts on a blog or social media.

Most homeowners that reach out to you have a want or a need for your services. They may even sit for an appointment. But for various reasons they don’t buy. This does not mean their pain goes away. In fact, most people who contact a company to inquire about services end up buying within 12 to 18 months.

So if a business infrequently nurtures a homeowner, they keep their company name “top of mind” when it comes time to sign a contract.

How does this make the nurtured leads more valuable? Marketers have reported that when people are nurtured until they make a purchase decision, they tend to spend anywhere from 15% to 25% more. The average sale price is around 19% higher for nurtured leads versus non-nurtured ones.

The reason for this is simple. When you nurture, you build a relationship. By sending videos, articles, newsletters or e-mails, you are proving your expertise. When you contact them, you are showing your company is well-organized. When you do not always sell in your communication, you demonstrate you are not desperate but truly interested in helping.

By doing all of this you build trust. Homeowners that trust you are more likely to spend more when they are ready to buy. A “hot” lead that comes to you ready-to-buy doesn’t have that same trust level. But a nurtured lead will agree to higher quality materials or larger projects because they feel they know you and believe you are the expert.

Sure, it’s nice to close a sale for $10,000 today. But $12,000 six months from now, from a nurtured lead, is just a little bit better. Of course, tracking and managing all your leads sounds like a lot of extra work. Keep in mind there are a lot of customer relationship management (CRM) tools available to help you automate the processes of nurturing leads and building relationships. It’s how many home improvement companies are taking their business to the next level – not many in this industry are willing to stay “top of mind” with their prospects.

Stats to include:

• Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales ready leads at 33% lower cost. (Source: Forrester Research)

• Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales ready leads at 33% lower cost. (Source: Forrester Research)

• Nurtured leads produce, on average, a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads. (Source: DemandGen Report)

source: improveit360