For many reasons, not all qualified leads buy when you want them to buy.   You worked very hard to generate this qualified lead (some say lead generation is the hardest part of sales and marketing) so clearly you do not want to waste this effort by not  staying in touch with these leads. 

A goal is to remain top of mind with these people so that when they are ready to buy, they buy from you.  Some call this staying in touch process DRIP MARKETING or TOP-OF-MIND MARKETING.   We like the term LEAD NURTURING, because you are cultivating a relationship and to me there is an implied “it takes time and effort” to nurture something.

Lead nurturing is all about having consistent and meaningful communications with viable qualified prospects.   With today’s technology tools (the Web 2.0 or if you prefer social media) that communication can now be a dialog…a conversation.  And having conversations is a great way to build a relationship.    

How would you actually begin and execute your lead nurturing program?   The key is to follow a deliberate process that emphasizes who you are going to nurture and what is meaningful to them.   Here are the steps you can use to create your lead nurturing program:

1. Confirm the WHO you will nurture – this is always the place to start to ensure you are focusing your efforts on your most valuable client types.
2. Create RELEVANT content to share with your who – what information can you share that your prospect will value and stay engaged in the dialogue
3. Determine HOW you will communicate (interact) with your leads – there are several factors that help you determine the communication channel (tool) you will use including the amount and complexity of your content, the tools you are most comfortable using and probably most important the tools your prospects prefer to use when communicating with you
4. How will your leads EXIT the program - what is your call-to-action to get them to convert to clients and is there any length of time that you will use that dictates they should be removed from the nurturing program? 

 Make lead nurturing a natural part of what you do in your business.

I am not trying to lecture or scold you, but rather I want to point out the reasons why most owners do not plan (because if you understand the reasons you can then choose to do something about it).  Here are the common reasons I hear:

• Too small to plan
• Do not have the time to plan
• We are already successful, why do we need a plan now
• Do not see the benefit of planning
• Things change too fast to have plan
• I don’t like planning
• I do not know how to do business planning

Why Plan?

It doesn’t matter if you’re stuck, already in your comfort zone, or you desire additional growth, there are multiple benefits to planning.

Here are four fundamental reasons why planning is not just necessary, but essential: (1) Clarity – it compels you to focus on the long term, (2) Working ON It – it allows you to recognize the need for and manage change, (3) Prevents Commoditization – it helps you find and keep a competitive differentiation, and (4) Engages and Inspires – it enables you to communicate and involve your team in setting the direction and building of the business.

 Planning is a Process

Your business plan is the plan you use as a road map to execute your strategy and reach your envisioned future and not the one you would put together for financing.  It doesn’t matter if you call it a business plan, a strategic plan or a growth plan, documenting your plan is extremely important, but understand that the plan itself is just a tool.   The real critical activity is the process of planning – the way you create and update your strategic business plan.

The real value is in the ongoing process and company wide discussion and not the physical document.  Of all the tools available to the business owner, strategic business planning is perhaps the most powerful for moving your company forward. There is an opportunity for every business owner to grow more effectively and more strategically by creating your own strategic business planning process.

They are leading their people down the path of jut doing work…they may be doing good work…but each day just feels like the last…more work for both the owners and the employees. 

The most successful business leaders focus their time, attention and energy on the future – where the business is going and how it will get there.  Choosing a direction and then guiding the company.

Specifically we have notice these four traits in the most successful leaders:

1. Clarity – they know what is important to them (their ideals) and they have a vision of where the business is going (they are focused on the future: setting the direction, guiding the company to where it is going, know why they are going there, and are working on how they will get there.)   
2. Planners – they are intentional, good at organizing, prioritizing and assigning accountability for what needs to get done to reach the envisioned future.  They are good at translating what needs to be done into specific actionable steps
3. Execution – they are detailed oriented, they track their progress, are good at making course corrections and relentless at getting things done (resolute, determined, firm).
4. Communication – they repeat themselves a lot, they ask questions to make sure people understand, they have good relationships with their people, and they use every interaction as an opportunity to coach (give feedback) to employees.  They are not flamboyant speech “givers”…just regular and on-going communications.

Leadership is a learned skill.  It is not an event but a process.  Successful business owners actually have a teachable leadership POV, that they do teach their next generation of leaders.

For this little self-aasessment make sure you are focusing on effectiveness and not efficiency.  At times we have all confused the two.   Efficiency and effectiveness are two distinct concepts.  They are both valuable concepts to understand and use when growing a business.  Especially when use the two concepts together.   Let me explain.

You may already be familair with the Peter Druckers qoute about the two concepts, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.”  One of my mentors rephrased it as  “Doing the Right Things Right”.  This is easy to remeber and ask yourself, am I doing the right things…right?

If you were to compare (or contrast) the two concepts, effective vs. efficient, you might want to think of it this way:  effective = outcome or results thinking, and efficient = process thinking.  Therefore the place to start is to focus on the the outcome or the result you want, the Doing the Right Things.  

Once you are sure you are doing the right things then going to work on improving the process…the doing it Right, makes sense.  Improving the wrong things and doing them more efficiently does not help you achieve your business and life goals.  It may keep you busy and make you feel good, but where is it taking you?

Are you Doing the Right Things?  In other words, how effective are you as a business owner?  Let me know?  What are the constraints or barriers keeping you form doing the right things?  How can you be more effective?

Although this is my first blog I have been writing (articles) for my own and other publications for as long as I have owned The Renaissance Group. 

As both a small business owner and someone who helps business owners, I believe and teach that writing is a great way to educate target markets about your product or service while building awareness and relationships.   Yet, I had been (until now) reluctant to start a blog.  The reasons are many but mainly I had some personal doubts about the true value of this type  of writing combined with I really didn’t know how to start one. 

Which leads me to the purpose of this blog.  It is to first educate small  business owners on the best methods to run and grow a business.  At the same time it will give you a chance to get to know me and my point of view on owning and growing your own business, which may lead you to further look at my companies unique business and personal growth services.   I will also share my experience “blogging”, letting you know what I learn plus the results.  I feel this will provide additional value to other small business owners who want to use this method of writing and communicating.

Please ask questions or suggest business topics that you have interest in or have some type of business challenge or frustrations.  I  will do my best to help or point you in the direction where you can get some help.

Kevin Poland