Your Lead Generation Pipeline is Broken: 5 Leaks to Repair

Something’s wrong. The marketing team is busy, the budget is spent, the website looks great, but the leads aren’t flowing in.

There could be a lot of problems with your lead generation pipeline -- It may be clogged, it might be leaking, or it might be dry at the source.

Every marketing website should be a free-flowing source of prospects. If it’s not, don't panic, it might not be that hard to repair.

Here are five examples of the most common problems based on lead generation best practices and a plumbing fix for each.

Problem: No Traffic

This is a common issue-- there’s no steady stream of visitors flowing in. You may have inspiring videos, insightful research and the world's most compelling services pages. But if nothing flowing through the pipes and if the marketing team doesn’t know how to promote the website, it really doesn’t matter.

Fix: Remove any obstacles facing the marketing team.

De-emphasize advertising and focus on creating useful content. They should spend at least as much time promoting content as they do creating it. That means email marketing, search engine optimization and social media.

Problem: No One Home.

This one is the equivalent of frozen pipes-- there's no pictures of people. This gives the site a cold, empty feeling. People buy from people, and there is no substitute for a human face. If your website doesn’t have a picture of you, your people or company leadership, you’re missing a chance to make a connection.

Fix: Add professional head shots and personal biographies of key team members.

Give each person their own page and include at least one personal anecdote.

Problem: No Proof.

This is a common leak that lowers the pressure in your lead pipeline-- there's no evidence of results. The internet is full of claims and every website has them, but few sites support their claims with proof.

Testimonials, endorsements, awards, certifications and even association memberships can all add credibility. Statistics and data showing measurable ROI are even stronger.

Fix: Patch up the site by adding a testimonial to the most important product or service pages.

Don’t create a testimonials page, since these rarely get visited. Add testimonials and any other evidence throughout the site.

Problem: No Call to Action.

A “contact” link is not a call to action. A call to action is an invitation to connect, ask a question, subscribe to a newsletter or even leave a comment. If you want visitors to take action, make sure you ask them to do so.

Fix: At the bottom of every page that describes your services, add a link to your contact page with a quick suggestion.

Say something like, “If you have questions about our pipe repair services, feel free to get in touch.”

Problem: No Follow Up

Research has shown that the majority of leads are ignored by the sales team. Surprised? It’s true. It’s possible that good leads are going right down the drain.

Fix: Check the connection between sales and marketing.

Put a process in place to report on activity. If all else fails, use a marketing automation tool that scores leads and holds the sales team accountable.

Your lead generation pipeline has lots of little parts. There are at least 40 factors in lead generation. That’s a lot! But don’t get overwhelmed. You don’t need to completely overhaul the entire system to increase the flow.

Look for places to patch things up with small improvements. Every little fix can help.

Andy Crestodina is the Strategic Director of Orbit Media, a web design company in Chicago. You can find Andy on Google+ and Twitter.

 

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