Has this ever happened to you?  Someone comes to your website and fills out your lead form, but you’re never able to get in touch with them.  Maybe their email address or phone number is bad.  Or maybe they simply don’t respond to your messages.  Don’t give up on that lead just yet — we’ve compiled a list of strategies for dealing with those difficult to reach leads.

Bad Phone Number — Sometimes people prefer to use email for their initial contact.  Once they’re convinced that your service can help them, they are willing to talk to you on the phone, often initiating the contact themselves.  If the phone number the client provided is bad, it may be a sign that they prefer email communication.  Another possibility is the client simply transposed two numbers or entered a typo.  

So what can you do when the phone number is bad?  Start by analyzing the number.  Does it look valid or is it of the 555-555-5555 variety?  If the number looks valid, the client may have entered it incorrectly.  Use a service like the Everyday Yellow Pages People Search to find the correct number.    

If you still can’t find the number,  focus on sending a professional email to the client.  Make it as personal as possible and concentrate on convincing the client that you are the best choice for solving their problem.  Be sure to explain that you attempted to contact them by phone but the phone number they submitted is not valid.  

Finally, if you find that you’re getting an unreasonable amount of leads with bad phone numbers, add logic to your lead form to prevent fake phone numbers.  Also, consider adding a Live Chat feature to your site.  Live Chat is anonymous and will help you to weed out the individuals who are merely “kicking the tires” on your site, allowing you to focus on legitimate leads.

Bad Phone Number & Bad Email — Occasionally, you may get a lead that has a bad phone number and a bad email address.  Before you count this as a loss though, there are a few strategies you can use to try to reach the client.

Use whatever information you have to track down the client.  If you have their address, try mailing them a letter.   If you only have their name, use a people search program to try to find an address and/or phone number.    If you can’t find any contact information, cut your losses and move on.

Client Won’t Respond – Sometimes the contact information you receive is valid, but the client simply won’t respond to your messages.  To combat this problem, try calling at various times of day — maybe the client can’t answer their cell phone while they’re at work?  Also, try calling from more than one phone number — maybe seeing a different number on caller ID will prompt the client to answer?    When you get the client’s voicemail, leave a professional and persuasive message convincing the client to call you.

Another option is a text message.  Try sending a text message to the client’s phone asking them to call you.  In your message, tell the client that if they are no longer interested in your service, please reply with “N” and you will stop trying to contact them.  

When all else fails, mail the client a letter.  Stamps are cheap and getting a personalized, professional letter from you may be what it takes to get the client to respond to you.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 4:38 pm and is filed under Lead Generation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.