What happens when a lead enters your sales pipeline? It seems like a simple question, but statistics show only 27% of leads get contacted. So why are nearly three-quarters of leads ignored, missed, or mishandled?
The answer lies in lead management. And for Australian manufacturers, an ERP system with built-in lead management functionality is the only tool for the job.
Lead management: What is it, and why is it important for business?
If your marketing is working, leads will enter your sales pipeline from all over: website forms, trade shows, referrals and repeat business, to name a few sources. At this stage, they might be unqualified (you need to decide if they’re worth pursuing) or qualified leads who are keen to hear from you.
But in all likelihood, they’re not ready to buy just yet.
Here’s where an intelligent, data-driven lead management system becomes critical.
Better lead management means more business
When you get the lead nurturing process right, you will see more closed sales and, therefore, more profit. Even increasing the percentage of contacted leads from 27% to 50% can enormously benefit your bottom line.
So, how do you handle leads more professionally to close more sales?
The critical factors in lead management
- Respond at the right time – ideally within 5 minutes by sending a personalised automated message.
- Be the first – leads are shopping around, but 50% go with the first company to respond.
- Prioritise high-potential leads – with more leads coming in than you can handle, consult your data to set priority targets.
- Know what they need – when a salesperson makes contact, they should have as much information as possible about the lead.
- Finesse the follow-up – make sure the second contact is timely, helpful, and beneficial to the lead.
- Instant quotes – when you know what the job requires, be ready to send a quote before hanging up the phone.
- Internal communication – sales and operational teams need to work together, so that good lead management translates to good job management.
How a manufacturing ERP helps you close more leads
Lead management is one of the many benefits an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution provides your business. ERP software automates many time-consuming manual tasks in lead management and job management, freeing up valuable time and reducing human error along the way.
Jobman, an ERP for Australian manufacturers and cabinetmakers, has unique and customisable features specially designed to support our industry. When a lead enters your Jobman lead management module, several things happen at once to enable more mature lead management:
- Automated sales process populated in real-time
- Lead checklist tailored to your process
- Target Calendar provides a handy visual overview
- Automatic job creation for successful leads
- All the customer details at your fingertips
- Instant quote creation
- Fully customisable spec sheets
- Sales performance reports available on-demand
- Data synchronised with Time and Attendance module to remove double-handling
All these automated features make it easy for your salespeople to prioritise their day. No information is lost along the way, and the Target Calendar triggers a reminder when it’s time to get in touch. So your leads get what they need, when they need it, from people they trust.
And that means more closed sales.
If your lead management process isn’t supported by a fit-for-purpose ERP, you might be losing an enormous amount of potential business without even realising. Get in touch with the Jobman team to learn how automated, intelligent lead handling helps you land more business.
International 
Australia