How to Find and Nurture High-Converting Prospects

A business owner walks into a bar.

And walks out with a $1million project from a brand new client.

Then….she wakes up.

How often has a nice, juicy client or project landed in your lap easily and, pretty much, immediately?

It hasn’t happened to me either.

So, if you’re looking for bigger clients and bigger budgets, you need a Plan B.

And the best Plan B?

You need to go old school.

By old school, we don’t mean ignoring the many, mainly digital opportunities we can all now leverage to create and build relationships with potential whales.

Quite the opposite.

You need to use many of the offline and online strategies, techniques, and platforms to build relationships consistently.

If your product or service is best suited to larger clients, most of the time, getting new customers doesn't happen straight away.

Having said that, the good news is that if you follow a process that adds value to your prospects and positions you as a thought leader, the chances are dramatically enhanced that you will consistently - that word again - win more high budget business over time.

The better the customer experience - or CX - you deliver, the better the results you’ll achieve.?

According to Gartner, more than 66% of companies now focus on CX as a competitive advantage, up from 36% in 2010.

Here’s another stat to get excited about: 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a superior customer experience.

OK, so how do you put all of this into action to find and nurture high-converting potential customers?

Finding High-Converting Prospects

1. Define Your Ideal Catch:

Before diving into strategies and tactics, you need to clarify what’s a high-converting prospect for you?

What clients can bring significant value to your business, both in terms of revenue and reputation?

What’s your ideal client avatar. What industries or companies do they work in? What are their pain points? What budget do they typically allocate for services like yours?

Having clear answers to these and other questions will help you focus your efforts and increase your chances of success.

2. Use Sales Navigator:?

It’s hard to overstate the power of Sales Navigator. After Microsoft bought LinkedIn in 2016 they took the most powerful part of the platform - customised search - and dropped it into Sales Navigator. While it's a subscription service, it’s worth every cent.?

Who works where? Who changed jobs in the past 90 days? Who posted on LinkedIn recently? All this vital, up-to-date information and so much more can be found for not much money on Sales Navigator.

3. Leverage Data and Analytics:?

Content is not the only marketing royalty; data is also king.?

Use analytics tools to gather insights about your target audience's behaviour, preferences, and pain points. The more personalised your approach to your prospects the better. Data will help you to do this more effectively.?

4. Laser Focused Networking:?

Networking isn't just about throwing business cards around at events like confetti. We’ve been to WAY too many industry events like this, and it never resulted in getting more business.

Networking without a plan can be expensive, exhausting, and demoralising.

Be selective.

Go where the people - or even a single person - will be who you want to do business with. Even with all the amazing digital tools, nothing will ever beat having a conversation with someone, belly-to-belly, toe-to-toe.

Nurturing High-Converting Prospects

Tailored Communication:

Once you've identified the whales for you, tailor your communications to their specific industry, needs and pain points. Generic won't cut it.?

Craft personalised messages that demonstrate your business's understanding and ability to solve their problems.

Ideally, customise your messaging right down to the individual themselves. Yes, this is potentially labour intensive – automation can help you to do this more efficiently - but think about the potential ROI when you land a big one.?

Provide Value at Every Touchpoint:

Nurturing high-converting prospects is not just about selling; it's about building relationships based on trust and value.?

Provide relevant and quality insights, resources, and expertise at every touchpoint. Whether it's through company specific content - if the prospect is big enough, why not?? - your own customer research study (it’s easier and more cost-effective than you think), or case studies showcasing your past successes, always demonstrate your commitment to their success.

Keep Showing Up:

More good news: most people give up too quickly.

As we've said before, don't take this personally. Nurturing high-converting prospects can take time. Whales often have longer decision-making cycles, so you need to stay the course.?

No doesn’t always mean no, it (often) just means not now. If you disappear from your prospect’s radar after the first hurdle, chances are you’ll be forgotten. The next person who calls, emails, or meets that prospect can take your cognitive place in in the blink of an eye.

If you keep showing up, and reminding them that you exist, at least you’ll be in the mix when they're ready to make a decision.

Measure and Adapt:

To be successful, you need to identify what's working and what's not, and adjust what you’re doing accordingly.?

Metrics like engagement and conversion rates, and customer lifetime value can help you to gauge the effectiveness of your initiatives.

Test, measure and, like Jack, be nimble.

If you want to put a process in place that helps you to get bigger clients and bigger budgets, we can help you to achieve that! Book a session with us here

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