No matter how big or small your brand is, leads are the heart of your growth strategy. As you know, leads are the potential customers who show interest in your brand, products, or content but have not made a purchase yet.
Yes, lead generation is challenging (65% of businesses state that generating traffic and leads is daunting). Therefore, one cannot just afford to lose these hard-earned leads. Lead leakage may happen for “n” reasons – lack of automated lead capture system, missed follow-ups, or because the salespeople were never notified of the new leads, or because they were notified, but didn’t know which ones to contact first. To avoid missing leads for any of these reasons and ensure zero lead leakage, you need an effective lead management system.
In this article, we will explore the benefits of retail lead management systems. We will also talk about the features to look out for when choosing the right software for your brand.
What is Lead Management?
Lead management translates to managing your leads, engaging with them, and nurturing them to make them your customers. However, the process does not end here. You want to make them your brand advocates and leverage the opportunity to upsell/cross-sell. Therefore, you must invest in superior customer experience – even post-sale.
Modern lead management is not just about leads. It encompasses sales and marketing and translates to delivering experience and building long-lasting relationships.
Even though it might look like a straightforward process, but it is rarely that.
Your business may have many ways to meet customers. Some include – ads, social media, websites, etc. While some leads convert quickly, others require weeks, and months and many others never convert. Still, you need different strategies to gain the attention of different types of customers. With so many conditions, your lead management process might become a disordered mess.
If you have trouble keeping track of your leads, you are not alone. Over 40% of sales, marketing, and business professionals admit that the lack of an effective lead management strategy hinders success. Therefore, you must implement a retail lead management software that meets your needs. Currently, LeadSquared CRM, Lightspeed Retail, ZohoRetail CRM, Freshsales Retail CRM, Salesforce, and Netsuite by Oracle are top retail lead management tools out there. Some of them are standalone units. Others are part of an end-to-end retail system. They may cover other areas such as CRM, inventory, finance, e-commerce, POS, etc. Plus, software like LeadSquared CRM seamlessly integrates with several software systems that are essential for your retail business.
Irresistible Features of a Retail Lead Management CRM Software
- Automated Lead Capture: It effectively captures the details of your leads from various touchpoints and sources without any lead leakage.
- Lead Prioritization: It tells you what type of leads you have, their source, and where they are in the sales funnel. That way, you can assess engagement levels and predict closure.
- Customized Funnel: It lets you easily customize pipelines, columns, files, or stages by segmenting leads. So, you can structure your data into meaningful hierarchies and harness remarkable outcomes.
- Lead Distribution: Lead management system for retail lets you capture and distribute leads to relevant salespeople automatically using the rules you set. It also generates updates and analyzes customer profiles to boost interaction.
- Personalized Automated Engagement: Retail lead management CRM lets you create different levels of automated campaigns. For instance, you can automatically send cart abandonment emails, buying recommendations email based on prior purchases, holiday offers, to name some.
- Integration: Managing a retail business may require several other software systems like ERP, telephony, etc. CRM for retail integrates with multiple third-party software. It helps you get rid of silos, errors, and bottlenecks. That way, you can have a 360-degree view of your entire retail brand.
- Mobile Apps: Some CRM vendors like LeadSquared offer CRM app for Android and iOS. It is especially beneficial if your business has a feet-on-the-street teams or relies on the door to door sales. Field sales teams can access information, onboard customers, and update the system on the go. Plus, managers can also keep a tab on the field activities easily.
- Automated Alerts and Reminders: It notifies your sales teams about an update on lead activities through SMS, email, or app notification.
- Reports and Dashboards: Lead management CRM also supports accurate and detailed reports dashboard. It helps you always have a real picture of your business operations.
How Can a CRM Software for Retail Lead Management Empower Your Business?
In the retail business, customers often have a myriad of options with them. Contacting them as soon as possible is essential, otherwise your competitor might win them. Therefore, speed-to-lead is an essential metric to consider as it eventually determines how fast you can convert a lead into a buyer.
Moreover, customers don’t hesitate to leave a brand for one bad experience and try a new product without any second thoughts. Thus, retaining them for the long-term is a pressing challenge. Let us see how CRM software can empower your lead management strategy.
1. Save Valuable Time
It helps you automate workflows and keep tabs on your leads through all phases of your sales and marketing cycles. That way, your sales team no longer has to waste time tracking leads. They will have more time to focus on delivering positive experiences to prospects.
2. Prioritize the Hottest Leads
According to InsideSales.com, if a follow-up is within 5 minutes, it is nine times more likely to convert. It indicates that you must adopt a robust, automated, yet personalized process to reach out to leads. Your CRM system helps you chat, email, phone, and connect with them directly from the portal itself. Plus, it helps you score your leads based on their habits, interests, and activities. So, you can focus on your strategies and pitch those first that are more likely to convert. That way, you can reel in quick wins and meet your sales target faster.
3. Boost Productivity and Maximize ROI
Lead management CRM helps you in knowing your leads by different parameters such as geography, purchase history, and past engagement. That way, you can assign the right leads to the right sales rep and say goodbye to leads leakage. Your sales and marketing team will have better chances to convert and increase sales.
See how NestAway reduced their lead leakage by over 70%.
4. Personalize Customer Interactions
When your team has accurate data about your customers, they can serve better. They can engage meaningfully with leads and boost the quality of conversations. It will help you create targeted contents to nurture and gain their trust. The right lead management system will also aid your cross-selling tactics. It can help you establish rapport and achieve customer loyalty.
5. Gain Transparency and Accountability
Efficient lead management CRM software for retail helps you achieve end-to-end visibility of your entire sales cycle. That is, it enables accountability every step of the way. That way, your teams can collaborate better with less room for errors and lost leads. Furthermore, it will help your sales and marketing teams work harmoniously. They can create more focused sales funnels, and in turn, drive better outcomes. Retail lead management can keep your business buzzing and your teams on their toes.
6. Develop New Revenue Streams
The insights you gain by tracking your lead-activities and habits can also give you a glimpse of demands. That way, you can build better products/ services. Or perhaps expand your business to harness those opportunities. It will also help you refine your marketing and advertising strategies.
7. Filter Your Leads Better
Manual tracking creates enormous holes and blind spots. It comes with risks of critical information getting lost, forgotten, or confused. Furthermore, it can be time-consuming trying to weigh one lead against the other by hand. The retail lead management platform offers multiple tools to filter your leads/prospects. You can even set up filters and scoring systems to target the right leads. It will also help you identify leads going cold. So, your team can take action quickly.
You can also create re-engagement strategies for cold leads to keep your brand fresh in their hearts. Such schemes drive better connections and increase the chances of future sales.
8. Profound Insights
Retail lead management system keeps tabs on high-quality leads. You can follow their buyer journey and identify their pain points. You can also figure out emerging trends and changing demands to take quick actions. Plus, you can track the best and worst selling products and everything in between. It will help you manage your inventory effectively. Overall, effective lead management will let you stay ahead and maintain the edge.
9. Enjoy Higher Profit Margins
Your lead management platform can make it easy to maximize output from your limited resources. It means that your team can concentrate their efforts on the right leads that are ready to convert. It will also help prevent communication gaps by making sure everyone is on the same page. Thus, by reducing time, effort, and money, you can look forward to higher returns on your investment.
10. Nurture and Retain Your Clients
Transforming leads to customers is great. However, repeat buyers are the reflection of your great services and brand values. Your lead management system can help you access the entire scope of your customer journey at your fingertips. It will not only increase your conversion rates but also help in retargeting and retention campaigns. For instance, you can understand what your leads want. That way, you can determine the right deals and promotions for repeat purchases. Thus, you will be able to create targeted and hyper-specific offers they cannot resist. The result is high-impact personalized campaigns that foster loyalty.
Concluding Thoughts
Your retail brand needs efficient lead management system to stay on the top. It will help you streamline your lead generation and management process seamlessly. You can also harness the power of having all your leads in one single space. It will help you close deals faster and gain long-term clients. In the end, you can convert leads into repeat customers for long term business growth.
LeadSquared is the best lead management CRM trusted by over 1000 brands across the globe and also recognized as as the Top Lead Management Software by SoftwareWorld.
FAQs
Lead leakage is found to be a major challenge in retail lead management. This happens when leads are not captured, followed up on, or distributed to the right salespeople. Other challenges include lack of automation, missed follow-ups, and difficulty tracking leads.
A lead management CRM system like LeadSquared can help overcome challenges by automating tasks, prioritizing leads, and distributing leads to the right salespeople. This can help improve conversion rates and avoid lead leakage.
To excel at retail lead management, some of the best practices would be to capture leads seamlessly through multiple channels and incentivize sign-ups. Personalize the customer journey by segmenting leads and tailoring communication based on their needs. Prioritize high-potential leads with prompt follow-up across their preferred channels. Track key metrics and refine your strategy for continuous improvement. Invest in a retail CRM and empower your team with the best practices for lead nurturing and communication. This comprehensive approach fosters customer loyalty and ultimately fuels sales growth.
