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What is a lead follow up system? And how does it help close deals?

This image shows a woman smiling while talking on the phone and holding a tablet.

Are you looking for a way to close more deals? If so, consider using a lead follow up system. 

A lead follow up system is a set of processes and tools that sales reps use to stay in contact with leads and keep them engaged with the sales process. 

By staying in touch, you continue nurturing the relationship until they’re ready to buy. 

In this article, you’ll learn what a lead follow up system is and how it can help you close more sales. You’ll also discover some of the best follow up systems. 

Let’s get started!

What is lead management?

Lead management is the process of capturing leads, then qualifying and nurturing them to turn them into business opportunities. 

Managing leads can be a complex process as your lead count grows. Having a lead management system in place helps you make the most out of prospects interested in your product or service.

Why it’s all about the follow up

Usually, the salesperson stops interacting with the lead after handling their initial request. 

More often than not, however, your leads are not ready to make a decision on whether to purchase your product or not yet. 

As a result, converting a lead to a customer may not happen instantly. Instead, it could take days, weeks and even months. 

It all depends on the lead’s decision-making process and urgency.

Why follow ups are crucial in sales

As the frequency of follow up on sales leads increases, so do the chances of a successful sale. This is due to several reasons including the fact that constant communication keeps you top of mind for potential customers. 

Plus, more opportunities for future communication opens the door for customers to sway away from hesitation.

“Only 2% of sales are made during the first point of contact. This means businesses stand to lose potentially 98% of their sales leads if they do not follow up.”

IRC Sales Solutions, 2022. 

How much time does it take to implement lead management?

The most direct path to a sale depends on effective lead management. 

If you manually follow up with leads, it can take a huge chunk of time out of your day, especially if you have a lot of leads. You have to remember to follow up with each of them, and then actually do the follow up. 

From disorganized Excel spreadsheets to losing track of emails sent back and forth, lead management can really become overwhelming and inefficient. 

However, there are lead management systems out there that automate the follow up process for you. These systems allow you to set follow up tasks, so you don’t have to remember to follow up with each lead yourself.

They also automate  actual follow up tasks, such as sending emails or making phone calls. This saves you time, allowing you to focus your energy on other tasks.

Next, let’s answer the question of why you need a lead follow up system.

What’s a lead follow up system?

A lead follow up system is a method businesses to use to track and move leads through the sales cycle. 

Whether your sales leads come to you through referrals, networking events, search engines or social media, you need a system that helps you interact with your leads.

The goal of a lead follow up system is to nudge your prospects towards sales conversions. 

An effective lead follow up system allows you to:

  • Follow up with an interested lead swiftly.
  • Increase revenue and win more deals.
  • Automate your tasks to save costs and hours of work.
  • Invest solely in value-generating activities for your business.

Why automation is the Best way to follow up with leads

Rejections happen when following up with prospects. 

Although it may start to make you feel hopeless and a bit too persistent at times, it’s important not to give up! Instead reframe and focus on finding creative, new ways to connect. 

Better yet, automate some, if not all, of your process. 

Here are some of the top benefits of a strong lead follow up system that involves automation.

1. Save time on follow ups

By automating your lead follow up system, leads are instantly handled from the first connection. 

From there, reminders and automated communications flow all the way up until the sale based on the cadence you build. 

Automation eliminates the tedious manual work of setting up each email from scratch and inputting each lead into your system.

2. Extend your reach

While humans are restricted in terms of the amount of hours they can work, automation software offers your business limitless potential. 

This potential is best seen in your customer reach as interactions such as calls and emails are fully automated.

Thanks to an automated lead follow up system, you’ll never have to worry about feeling overwhelmed by your number of leads. 

3. Eliminate human error

Mistakes are removed from the equation with an automated lead follow up system. 

This is because automation follows tasks exactly the way you set them, making sure you never have missed connections or human error when following up. 

What’s more, setting campaigns from the start allows you to analyze your follow up system as a whole, so you can remove redundancies. 

4. Reduce overhead costs

Automation takes the burden of tiresome and time-consuming tasks off your employees’ shoulders. As a result, your employees can use time more efficiently to improve business processes.

Lead management and tracking software

Managing lead records can be done in one centralized database, a lead management and tracking software. 

These help you keep track of leads and manage the process of turning them into a customer.

But the best lead management systems do much more than that. 

They automate many of the tasks associated with lead management, including:

  • Lead capture.
  • Lead segmentation.
  • Lead nurture.
  • Lead scores.

This allows you to focus your energy on selling, rather than on administrative tasks. 

When choosing lead management software for your business, it’s important to consider your specific needs and goals. 

There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but by carefully considering your options, you can find a lead management system that helps your business close more deals and drive long-term growth.

Best lead follow up systems

There are a lot of different systems out there, and it can be tough to choose the right one. 

However, there are a few things that you should look for in a good lead follow up system. First, it should be automated. This  saves you time in the long run. 

Second, it should effectively keep track of your leads so you can follow up with them quickly. 

Third, it should be easy to use and understand. Fourth, it should be affordable. You don’t want to spend a fortune on a lead follow up system, but you also don’t want to skimp on quality. 

Lastly, it should be reliable. You don’t want a system that is going to crash or lose data. Choose a lead follow up system that meets all of these criteria, and you have success following up with your leads.

It’s up to you to prioritize what’s important when evaluating a CRM, but the top lead follow up systems are listed below!

Method:CRM

Method:CRM is rated by QuickBooks users as the most powerful lead management system to organize your leads. 

You can manage your leads in Method:CRM, which automatically syncs them to QuickBooks once they become paying customers to eliminate double data entry. 

Method:CRM makes it easy to nurture your relationships with leads with features such as: 

  • Automated lead collection with web-to-lead form. 
  • Easily sync estimates to QuickBooks with a click. 
  • Online portals to help leads self-serve and approve estimates.

What’s more, you can personalize your sales process in Method:CRM to make it exactly how you want. 

Method:CRM has three pricing plans:

  • Contact Management: $25 per user per month.
  • CRM Pro: $44 per user per month.
  • CRM Enterprise: $74 per user per month.

Method offers a free trial with no credit card required. Get started with better lead management today!

Pipedrive

Overview of a calendar page on Pipedrive CRM software interface. It shows a lead's account information and recent history of calls.
Image credit: Pipedrive

Next on this list of top lead follow up systems is Pipedrive. Pipedrive provides sales pipeline automation with an easy-to-use interface. 

Some of Pipedrive’s features include:

  • A live overview of what your leads are doing in an in-app center. 
  • Manage leads from your inbox with an email sidebar.
  • Track the source of your leads. 
  • View your leads in multiple drag-and-drop pipelines. 

Pipedrive has four pricing plans:

  • Essential: $14.90 per user per month.
  • Advanced: $24.90 per user per month.
  • Professional: $49.90 per user per month.
  • Enterprise: $99.00 per user per month.

Pipedrive also offers a 14-day free trial.

HubSpot

Photo credit: HubSpot

HubSpot is a top lead management software for growing businesses. It offers an all-in-one solution including marketing, sales, service and operations. 

HubSpot allows you to:

  • Send automated email sequences until leads reply.
  • Digitize all your business leads with a built-in scanner.
  • Track leads with integrated email and website tracking.
  • Manage leads more efficiently with templates from your Gmail inbox.

Pricing:

You can get started for free with HubSpot’s lead management software: Sales Hub. 

If you want more advanced features to automate your sales operations, you can access them via the Starter, Professional, and Enterprise editions of Sales Hub.

The plans are priced as follows:

  • Starter: starts at $45 per month.
  • Professional: starts at $450 per month. 
  • Enterprise: starts at $1200 per month. 

However, it’s important to mention that HubSpot sells its software in bundles or “hubs”. Pricing depends on how many business tools you need, and the final cost can quickly add up.

Salesforce

Photo credit: Salesforce

Salesforce allows you to track all the important information about your CRM leads.  

Some of its features include:

  • Rich activity timeline with a view of the most up-to-date contact information.
  • Automated tracking of calls, meetings and emails.
  • Customizable reports and dashboards.
  • The ability to track marketing campaigns across all channels including social media. 

Pricing: 

Prices start at $25 per user per month, with discounts available for larger teams.  

Salesforce offers four pricing plans:

  • Essentials: $25 per user per month.
  • Sales Professional: $75 per user per month.
  • Service Professional: $75 per user per month.
  • Pardot Growth: $1250 per month for up to 10,000 contacts.

There’s also a free trial available so businesses can try out the software before making a purchase decision.

Monday Sales CRM

Photo credit: Monday CRM

Monday Sales CRM is next on the list, with an intuitive and powerful lead management solution with multiple functions all in one platform. 

  • Import leads through integrations with multiple platforms. 
  • Deals board to track progress of every lead. 
  • Centralized communication to  track interactions with leads. 
  • Send quotes and invoices to clients.

Pricing:

Up to 2 users can use the free version of Monday Sales CRM with limited features. They offer four paid pricing plans, which include:

  • Basic: $10 per user per month.
  • Standard: $14 per user per month.
  • Pro: $24 per user per month. 
  • Enterprise: Contact them. 

You may lean towards using Excel spreadsheets as a way to track sales leads. But when leads start coming in rapidly, and you’re flooded with potential business, you want to make sure no one slips through the cracks. 

This is where Method:CRM comes in. It is a popular lead management tool because it captures and organizes your leads in an effective way.

Rather than passing disorganized spreadsheets and emails back and forth, Method:CRM captures them automatically through a web to lead form. See an example below.

It also allows you to manage and track the incentives your sales reps earn by selling your product. 

Method:CRM’s integration with QuickBooks and Xero is also stellar.

Instead of cluttering your accounting data in QuickBooks or Xero with leads, you can manage your leads in Method:CRM and have them sync to your accounting software when they are customers. 

Next, Method quickly turns the estimate into an invoice and reflects that in QuicKBooks or Xero. As a result, your time is no longer consumed by repetitive administrative tasks.

Key takeaways

The main goal of every lead management system is to turn your leads into customers. 

The follow up process can become tough and time-consuming when done manually. 

A follow up system like Method:CRM enhances your process with capabilities such as:

  • Custom fields creation to fully capture your leads’ needs and details. 
  • Powerful workflow automation. Two-way, real-time sync with QuickBooks and Xero.

Lead follow up system FAQs

How do you keep track of leads and follow ups?

If you’re in the business of generating leads, then you know how important it is to follow up with those leads in a timely manner. 

While there are many ways to keep track of leads and follow ups, an automated lead follow up system is the best way to manage your sales pipeline. 

By using an automated follow up system, you can stay in touch with your leads without having to invest a lot of time or money.

In addition, automated lead follow up systems usually have built-in CRM features that make it easy to track progress and follow up activities. 

As a result, businesses that use an automated lead follow up system often enjoy higher close rates and improved customer satisfaction.

What are lead tracking systems?

A lead tracking system is a follow up system that is used to track potential customers, or leads. The system is used to follow up with leads to turn them into customers.

Lead tracking systems save businesses time and resources, as they no longer need to manually follow up with each lead.

In addition, lead tracking systems typically provide users with data and insights about their leads, such as: 

  • When a lead was contacted. 
  • What interactions were made.
  • Whether or not the lead converted into a sale. 

This can be valuable for understanding what works and what doesn’t work when following up. 

Overall, lead tracking systems are a helpful tool for businesses of all sizes. If you want to improve your lead follow up process, a lead tracking system is right for you.

What is the main purpose of follow up?

TThe main purpose of follow up is to: 

  • Make sure that no lead falls through the cracks.Build relationships and trust with sales prospects. 
  • Keep your business top of mind for potential customers. 

By staying in touch and providing valuable information, you can build relationships that last, turn one-time buyers into lifelong fans and turn your business into a powerhouse.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that follow-up is always easy. It can be time-consuming and sometimes leads can be difficult to reach. That’s why many businesses choose to use an automated lead follow up system.

Better your lead management with a free trial of Method:CRM.

Photo credit: Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

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