Are you a business-to-business (B2B) company looking for more prospects? The answer is probably a resounding “yes.”
While all B2B companies want to increase sales, it’s often easier said than done. Reaching out to promising leads is challenging, and getting them to engage in a back-and-forth conversation with you is even more difficult.
Some prospects can be hard to reach for various reasons. They may be extremely busy or hesitant to commit or follow through, even if they like your company’s products or services. Connecting and working successfully with these prospects can take your business to the next level, but making the sale will take time and some extra finesse.
Let’s break down how, as a B2B company, you can connect with hard-to-reach prospects and secure their business for months — or even years — to come.
Different Types of Hard-to-Reach Prospects
No two challenging leads are exactly the same. Here are some common types of tricky prospects to take note of so you can develop the best strategies to get the sale:
- The busy bee: This prospect genuinely wants to work with your company but has so much going on that connecting with you ends up low on their priority list
- The information gatherer: This prospect wants to get as much information as possible from you to see if they can replicate the results without your help — they want to do for themselves what your business promises to do for them
- The flaky one: This prospect keeps scheduling meetings and calls with you but doesn’t show
- The stubborn one: This prospect thinks they have nothing new or valuable to learn from you; they believe they know best and are skeptical of your expertise
- The one who won’t commit: This prospect is the perfect lead for your product or service, but they just won’t pull the trigger
- The budget-conscious one: This prospect has a tight budget, and they won’t budge, trying instead to negotiate with you to get discounts
- The skeptic: This prospect is interested in your product or service but is wary about trying a new way of doing things — they’re traditional and may worry about changing what they’ve been doing for a while, even if they aren’t getting results
Luckily, no matter how difficult a prospect may be, it’s possible to turn things around and earn their business. It’s simply a matter of identifying the type of prospect you’re dealing with and determining how to appeal to their unique needs. Keep an open mind and do your best to make each potential customer feel genuinely cared about and listened to.
Strategies To Convert Hard-to-Reach Prospects to
Customers
There are various strategies you can employ to connect with challenging potential customers. The key is to be patient and consistent. When you do, leads will become easier to convert.
The reality is that some prospects won’t ever respond to you, and some may outright reject your services. That’s okay — it’s not just an unavoidable aspect of finding and converting leads but a crucial one. Many others will come around and become loyal customers.
Here are some effective marketing strategies to help you connect with new customers and up your conversion rate.
Thoroughly Research Your Target Demographic
What’s the target audience for your product or service? Once you identify leads that would benefit most from your business, do your homework on them. Questions you’ll want to ask yourself include:
- What challenges does this prospect face, and how can my business help them overcome these obstacles?
- What goals might this lead have? How can my business help them achieve them?
- What customized solutions can my business offer to make this prospect feel heard and valued?
Once you understand your target audience, you can create a detailed plan to help them succeed. In all likelihood, these prospects will appreciate that you took the extra time to get to know them beyond service-level research, and that appreciation will be reflected in their interactions with you.
Get Personal
Your prospects likely receive marketing emails frequently. If you’re reaching out to leads, you want your business to stand out in their inbox. A generic message won’t cut it — it will just get lost in a sea of other emails.
Considering the kind of marketing emails you’d like to receive can help you generate ideas. You want a company that understands your industry and offers genuine insight into your unique needs and challenges.
Keep this in mind when reaching out to prospects. The more personalized your approach, the better chance you have of catching their eye.
Establish Your Business as an Industry Expert
Boosting your business’s credibility is a fantastic way to attract otherwise unenthused prospects. After all, leads are more likely to convert to customers if they view your company as an authority.
Having a well-written blog on your website or creating whitepapers and promoting them on your social media channels can help establish your company’s credibility and entice potential customers.
Leverage Your Network
Take advantage of your connections and satisfied customers for referrals or introductions to challenging prospects. A hesitant lead will take more interest in your company if they hear great things about it through a trusted source.
Put Your Company Out There
There are many B2B companies out there, and you don’t want yours to get lost in the crowd.
With that in mind, make it a point to attend networking events, socialize with other businesses in the area, and attend local events where prospects may be present. By making an effort to build meaningful relationships with prospects, you increase your chances of turning them into satisfied customers.
Develop an Account-Based Marketing Strategy
If you’re unfamiliar with account-based marketing (ABM), you’re missing out on an incredible marketing tool.
ABM uses personalized campaigns designed to engage each lead, basing the message on the unique and specific needs of the account. ABM helps your company develop customized campaigns that even the most recalcitrant prospects will appreciate.
Lean Into Social Media
Social media is a valuable marketing tool in the 21st century, and you should make full use of it. Encourage your team to build relationships with prospects on social networking sites like LinkedIn. Comment on their posts and share meaningful content about your products and services that demonstrate your expertise.
Collaborate With Industry Leaders
Don’t be afraid to reach out to influencers, industry experts, and thought leaders in your industry to help spread the word about the products and services your company offers.
For example, you might interview a notable figure to produce attractive content or have them write a guest blog for your website. You’ll not only glean valuable insights from them but also gain more exposure to less accessible prospects.
Don’t Give Up
Every prospect you try to reach out to differs from the one that came before it. As such, there isn’t a guarantee that one strategy will work for every prospect.
You may have to try various approaches in different combinations to get the results you want. Be patient, stay consistent, and don’t be discouraged by rejections or non-replies. Keep trying — sooner or later, you’ll be rewarded accordingly.
SMS Marketing Can Make All the Difference
SMS marketing, also known as text message marketing, is another effective means of reaching reluctant prospects. Texting is a newer way of connecting to potential and current customers, and it’s proven to be a worthy strategy.
Here are just a few of the many benefits of text message marketing:
SMS Marketing Is Direct and Immediate
When you receive an email, do you open it immediately? If it’s something important, perhaps. But if it’s a run-of-the-mill marketing email, it may sit in your inbox longer.
What about when you receive a text? Do you check it right away? Most people do. Text messages have an astronomical open rate of 98%, so using them in your marketing campaign can be highly beneficial.
SMS Can Promote Prospect Interaction
Getting hard-to-reach prospects to interact with you is sometimes tough, but text message marketing promotes engagement.
You can be more creative with SMS than emails, incorporating surveys, polls, and links to entertaining videos or captivating images. You can also offer a toll-free reply option to encourage prospects to respond immediately. Last but certainly not least, text messages feel more personal and urgent than emails.
SMS Can Enhance Other Marketing Channels
The more marketing avenues B2B companies have, the better.
Text message marketing integrates well with other marketing channels. For example, if someone checks out your website and adds one of your products to their cart but never purchases it, their inaction can trigger a text message encouraging them to complete their purchase.
Multifaceted strategies like this are extremely useful for getting the most out of your SMS marketing.
Text Messages Are Affordable
Smaller B2B companies can benefit significantly from SMS marketing because it’s affordable. Sending a text message is cheaper than placing and promoting ads online, and since they have such a high open rate, they’re worth every penny.
Because texts are so budget-friendly, you don’t have much to lose. You can get creative and experiment with the type of messages you send to determine which formats are most effective.
Text Message Are Fast and Easy to Read
Email marketing is still necessary for connecting with prospects and should always be in your marketing arsenal.
However, emails are more time-consuming than SMS messages, as you must come up with at least a paragraph or two of text. Text messages, on the other hand, are fast to set up and send out because they don’t have to be more than a few sentences long.
Because they’re shorter, they‘re also easier for prospects to read in just a few seconds. When potential customers can review your messages quickly, they’ll be more likely to take immediate action.
Get Connected With Hard-to-Reach Prospects
Connecting with hard-to-reach prospects can be difficult, but securing sales from tough leads can help take your business to the next level.
There are many strategies worth exploring, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. That said, strong email and SMS marketing is a great place to start. Be creative, experiment with different strategies, and don’t be afraid to collaborate with others in your industry.
If figuring out an ideal marketing plan sounds overwhelming, there’s help available. A reputable marketing company can help you determine which strategies may work best with picky leads who just aren’t biting. That’s where Contact Consumers comes in.
Contact Consumers creates personalized email and SMS marketing campaigns to help B2B companies connect with holdout prospects in their areas. We serve various industries, including restaurants and hotels, and we’re confident we can help your business convert more leads to loyal customers.
Ready to learn more about our top-tier marketing services? Contact our team today and make sure you check out our in-depth marketing guide.
