How to Close Internet Leads - Increase Conversions by Over 100%

Through technology, it’s no secret that contractors and home service providers have access to more customer leads than ever before. Some lead generation tools are expensive and are often seen as a huge waste of money. Since some platforms (I won’t use any names) are charging $50+ for some leads, it’s common to be discouraged after spending $100, $300, or even $1000 without any sort of return on investment.

Before I continue any further, just know that Great Pros is offering UNLIMITED project leads on any home service for just $100 a month. No strings attached, no questions, and no binding contracts. Did I mention you get a 7 day free trial? Anyways, let’s jump into the best way to convert project leads to increase conversions.

3 Ways to Close Internet Leads

Respond fast. It may sound simple, but the faster you respond, the more likely you are to close the lead. Customers are impulsive and as soon as they create some intent to buy, you need to jump on the opportunity to close them. Some online research claims that only 27% of leads are ever contacted. Additionally, the average response time to internet leads is 47 hours! Can you even remember what websites you were on two days ago? Our attention spans are so short that customers need to be locked down as soon as possible. When you get a chance to call a customer immediately after they become a lead, you are still fresh in their mind and you have the highest chance of converting.
Follow up. I can’t stress this enough, follow up with your prospective customers. I’m not just talking about one follow up either. Did you know 80% of all transactions require 5-12 follow-ups? The average sales person will only make 1.3 call attempts to follow up with a lead before giving up. Imagine the number of customers so many companies are missing out on! Do things better than them and make those customers yours. If a project lead comes through, you need to respond as quickly as you can and frequently follow up if you don’t close it right away. Until you get a flat out “no thank you”, you need to assume you’re going to get a “yes” with your persistence. You’re probably not going to close most of your customers on the first contact and that is okay. Just be sure to follow up.
Be personable. Once you get someone on the phone, don’t blow your chance because you might not get another. Nobody wants to talk to a salesperson or feel like someone is trying to sell them. Think about it, do you enjoy sales calls? No! You really need to gain trust, understand their needs, and make the conversation about them. Try connecting with them on a personal level to make them comfortable and feel at ease. You don’t necessarily have to make the conversation about your product or pitch initially. Have a genuine human to human conversation and the product or pitch will naturally come up.

What About Texting to Close Leads?

Don’t ignore texting. Most internet leads start with a phone number to call. Don’t limit yourself to thinking that’s all you can do with that customer’s phone number. Even if text follow-ups are done poorly, conversions can increase by 40%. If you do it the right way, you can see your conversion rates increase by more than 100%. Great Pros has seen results like this and here are some tips to ensure a successful text message follow up.
Don’t be pushy. I know we’re pressing the issue quite a bit, but there is a right and wrong way to go about this process. If you constantly pressure your prospective customer to make a decision, you instantly increase your chances of being turned down. Multiple messages a day or even a message every day might be too much for some people. Generally, we have yielded the best results with a follow-up every 2 or 3 days.
Don’t take too long either! If you’re worried that a potential customer forgot about you, don’t follow-up weeks later, especially with a text. Chances are, they have found a different solution or won’t appreciate the delayed follow-up.
Remind them who you are. More than likely, your name isn’t going to be saved in their phone. Remind the customer who you are and highlight some of the key points from your previous conversation. Avoid pitching them again. You’ve already put work in describing what you can do for them. The point of a follow-up is to get their mind back on how you can help without feeling like you are selling them again.
Again, be personable. Don’t be too generic with your text. Tailor it to the conversation you had with them in the past and allow room for them to respond. An example of sounding too generic is telling the customer it was nice talking with them a few days ago and if they have any questions to ask you. This text isn’t terrible, but it can certainly be better.

Closing Internet Leads - Summarized

If done correctly, home service providers can build a huge base of customers from online leads. In order to do this, you need to be able to respond quickly, follow up often, be personable, and willing to text. If you follow these steps the right way, you can take your business to the next level. As always, Great Pros is here to help transform your business and close internet leads.