Why Marketing Leads Don’t Turn into Sales and What to do About It
What stands in the way of converting marketing leads to sales and revenue? Sammy James has the data and a solution for marketing leads that seem to evaporate when sent to sales.
Do you remember how we got movie times before the internet? For a large part of my audience, the answer might be “what do you mean ‘BEFORE’ the internet??”.
It was a service called Moviefone 800-777-FILM. Call and it would read the local movie listings to you.
That’s right. People would actually take the phone from the kitchen wall and dial a number to have movie times read to them. This service didn’t shut down until February of 2014.
The men who created this service weren’t making movies or selling tickets. They were making it easier for people to choose movies, eventually leading to them buying tickets. They still did well. Moviefone was sold to AOL in 1999 for $388 million dollars.
The service answered two questions: “Is there a movie I would like to see?” And, “Is there a showtime that works for me?”
The Truth about Marketing Leads
There’s an assumption that sales is going to just [call], that it’s like throwing a piece of steak across the fence to a junkyard dog. You don’t have to worry. They’re gonna grab it. It’s not going to sit there. That’s the assumption of how sales works.
I’m always fascinated by the kind of people that can apply technology to problems even when it seems unintuitive. Why would someone call when they can just look the movie times up in the news paper? Because someone created a service that made it easy enough, that was focused on exactly what was needed, and got the word out about it.
My guest is one of these people.
Sammy James is one of those people who focuses on a problem and single-mindedly work to solve it completely. He sees filling out an online form as the equivalent of sitting down at a restaurant with no waiters. No matter how hungry you are, you’re not going to wait for too long.
Sammy is the founder of Speak2Leads.com a service that connects salespeople to prospects when they fill out a form. It’s a Moviefone-like problem with a Moviefone solution.
What the Data Says: Email, Podcasts, & Lead Conversion
What does the data tell us about effective email, podcasts and converting leads to sales? It's in here.
- * Biggest misunderstandings
- * Important metrics
- * Applying the data
Marketing Leads and Your Website
Your website is the Moviefone of your business. Unless you sell an online service, your website’s only job is making it easier for your prospects to make a choice. It answers two questions: “Is this something that will solve my problem?” and “Should I spend more time investigating this solution?”
All of the content you generate to persuade a visitor to buy your product may be wasted time. Your website doesn’t sell your business, it sells the next step. The quote. The demo. The trial. The sales meeting.
When you get back to the office, navigate your website and identify how much of your content is persuading your visitors to buy, and how much of it is persuading them to take one more step.
How much smaller would your site be if it was focused on selling the next step instead of closing the whole deal?
Now go science something.
Links and Resources
- Connnect with Sammy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammyjames/
- Learn more about Speak2Leads: https://www.speak2leads.com/
- Swingers (movie) Was Jon Favreau ever really that young?
Read and Listen
Click anywhere in the transcript to listen.
Expertise: conversion rate optimization, AB testing, marketing strategy, digital marketing, analytics, landing page design, computer programming, entrepreneurship
Speaking: IBM, Inbound, LeadsCon, Content Marketing World, Affiliate Summit, and more
Books and Training: Your Conversion Creation Equation, Video CRO, Marketing Videos that Convert, CRO Best Practices
As Seen On: ClickZ, Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, Conversion Sciences Blog, Intended Consequences podcast
Education: Texas A&M University, BS Computer Science and Management
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Turning leads into sales with modern email marketing though email marketing has taken a backseat to more modern forms of digital promotion it’s still an effective marketing tool.
Which “more modern” forms of digital promotion are you referring to?