7 Best Practices to Convert Prospects Into Clients

We want you to imagine two very different words. 

The first word is “relaxed.” When you think of it, what do you see? You might picture a hot bath with candles and soothing music after a long day. Or your favorite coworker who calms the collective workplace mood during a stressful quarter. 

The second word is “lazy.” What are you seeing when you think of this one? It could be a person among your office staff who scrolls through their phone way faster than they complete their work every day. Or a server at your favorite restaurant who you never want to wait on your table because they spend all their time chatting with their fellow serving staff. 

Now, reflect on the vast differences between how the first one made you feel and how the second one made you feel. Technically, they have similar dictionary definitions. And the two words do share similar characteristics. 

But what is the key difference between them? 

Potential. If you tweak the situation or circumstances just a bit, “lazy” could turn into something far more. When you tap into the potential, you open a whole new realm of possibilities, especially in the workplace. 

That worker who spends their time trolling personal social media pages could turn into a rockstar if you engage them. Likewise, your prospect client may transform into one of your most valuable customers if you work for it

What is a Prospect ClientWhat is a Prospect Client?

There is no room at the dinner table for laziness when it comes to sales. You know that as well as we do. And you realize it every single time you are met with a prospect client who you have to convert to a full-fledged customer. 

A prospect client is someone who meets a particular set of criteria. If they do end up meeting these standards, you can label them as a potential client who is ready for a sales pitch. You can think of this whole identification process as sales prospecting. 

Your prospect client varies depending on your industry and target market. What products or services do you sell? What does the sales process look like for you? What types of sales are you looking for in an ideal world? 

In other words, they are quite literally your prospective customers. 

But regardless of any of that, prospecting should always be your initial step when you want to make a sale. 

Prospect Client vs Lead

Whether you run a small business or work in a corporate environment for sales, you know that you have to follow up on quality leads. 

But what is the difference between a prospect client and a lead? Newcomers to the sales scene have a lot of time-consuming tasks to occupy themselves with. New terms and technologies fly at them from every corner. And the idea of a prospect client seems mighty similar to a lead at first glance. 

If you are in that same boat, here are two words to help you distinguish the two: “unqualified” and “qualified.” 

A lead is an unqualified individual. They do not meet that set of established criteria– at least, not yet. 

A prospect client, sometimes just called a “prospect,” are pre-qualified individuals since they meet that criteria. 

You, your sales team, and your marketing department might not know much about your leads. You cannot be sure right away if they are a prospective client for a specific product or service that you are selling. 

Yours and your company’s approach to these two categories of people shift accordingly. 

Leads are more in charge of their own destiny when it comes to collecting information. When they turn into a prospect client, though, communication efforts multiply. Your business starts to interact more with your prospects. 

Also, your company often lumps leads together into bigger groups for marketing efforts, like promotional emails. As for your prospect client? They get a higher standard of customer service and care. Communication turns into more of an individual experience. Relationships between seller and buyer become more mutually beneficial and interactive. 

Your sales process has to align with whether you are working with a lead or a prospect client. Gather leads, qualify the right prospects and cater your process to the prospect’s desires. 

Here’s How to Turn Prospects Into Clients

We are the wheelers and dealers of turning each prospect client into an actual one. And that’s the kind of information you need. 

You want to save time and hard-earned revenue on putting your resources into the right customers. So let’s get into the seven best practices to transform your prospects into clients. 

Create Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Questions, questions, questions: everyone’s got them, but not everyone has the answers they are looking for. That is a frustrating situation (to say the least), when you know that some of the most valuable information is a click away but you still cannot find it. 

And it gets even worse when you have a question about a particular business and what they offer, but cannot find any answers from the source itself. 

You don’t have to be that guy. Believe us: you don’t want to be, either. 

On your website, provide a clear, easy-to-navigate section for FAQs. Offer answers to common questions from your prospects. As you compile this list, collaborate with your sales team and customer service department for the FAQs they stumble upon the most. 

This makes your prospect clients feel like you hear them, see them and respond to their concerns. 

Nurture Your ProspectsNurture Your Prospects

Engage through nurturing. That is a vital practice to turn a client prospect into a client. It also is a best practice to follow all the way through your sales funnel. 

Keep in touch with them. Here’s an adage we like: 

“[Maintain] contact until their need to buy matches your desire to sell.” 

You could give them a phone call or send them a newsletter with upcoming events and company changes. It could be a whitepaper or a brief interaction via social media. Whatever your method to communicate with and nurture them, just be sure to make it clear to them that they are your top priority. 

Focus on the Targeted Customer

Who is your targeted customer? We don’t mean their first name or their email address. You need to focus on their likes and dislikes, demographics, and the essence of them

Conduct heavy research on all those minuscule details that make up their buying decisions. And target your selling efforts to measure up to those details. 

Take into account what they want to buy, how much they want to spend on it and when they want it. Also objectively analyze your efforts to see if they stack up to client expectations.  

Remind Them of ROI

Will your product, service, or company as a whole increase your prospect client’s ROI? Does it have the potential to do so? 

If your answer is yes, there is no reason to sit back and relax with that information. Remind them of that potential. Everyone wants to feel like what they invest in, invests in them right back. 

“Is today a good day to increase your revenue?” 

When you pose a question like that, it does not just remind them that you have a tailored solution for their problem. It also tells them that your solution will lead to an uptake in monetary reward. In turn, you close a sale. 

Consider Offering Incentives

A free trial! A discounted membership fee! A complimentary gift with your purchase!

We all react positively to freebies. We are all human at the end of the day. Add a free gift to an order or a discount for the next time someone shops with you. If a prospect sees that, they are more likely to turn into a loyal customer. 

And you don’t have to make the incentives expensive for the back end, either. A free Ebook download works as well as a 15-percent-off birthday discount. 

Forget About Hard Selling

Hard selling is from the dinosaur age of sales, and it went out the door as an effective strategy with the dinosaurs, too. 

The modern buyer is smart and does not have time for pressure-heavy or annoying sales tactics. Pushiness is usually a symptom of exaggerating the truth. And a prospect will walk right out the door when they figure out you are not being trustworthy. 

Instead, practice patience and value relationships over a quick sale without long-term benefits for either of you. 

Schedule Deadlines

Schedule Deadlines

When you need to clear up your sales funnel, set “no communication” deadlines. This is a simple yet effective way to get rid of prospects who have not interacted with your communication efforts for a set timeframe. 

Notify them that you will stop reaching out since you have not heard from them for, say, one month. It allows you to save time that would be better spent on interested clients. 

Conclusion

We mentioned earlier that you might not know very much about your sales leads. After all, they are unqualified sets of people as far as background information goes. 

But why does it have to be that way? Why do some people have unqualified leads for extended periods of time? 

With Selling Revolution, it doesn’t have to be that way. We make sure of it. 

We offer customized selling systems so that you can increase leads, improve sales training and recruit top talent for your business. But unlike other companies, we make sure you do not have to sacrifice an ounce of that unique formula that makes your business, your business. 

That’s because we have the secret sauce for your success and profitable growth. And we are ready to share it with you. 

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Craving that secret sauce yet? Book a call with us today. Your future self will thank you for it.