The path from lead to conversion can get a little bumpy at times. That’s why franchise marketers depend on their CRM teams to manage the customer journey, smoothing the way using segmentation and personalization. In fact, strategic customer journey management may be as important as attracting great leads.
Start With Segmentation
Lead nurturing begins with proper segmentation, and segmenting leads into qualified or unqualified buckets begins before a lead even exists. A well-designed lead form on your website can help you weed out unlikely customers so you can put most of your energy into nurturing the customers who best resemble your key personas.
The questions on your lead form should reflect the criteria most important to the lead moving forward in the customer journey. For example, a service brand’s form might ask what service the user is seeking. If the form indicates they need to hire someone to perform work that your franchise specializes in, they may quickly be segmented into the qualified group. If they are seeking work that your franchise does not offer, however, then they just as clearly would not be a qualified lead.
Segmentation Determines the Journey
Using your CRM, that simple segmentation can trigger the next steps in the customer journey. A qualified lead would quickly receive emails and possibly a phone call from a franchisee offering to provide the desired service. Because a CRM allows you to automate much of the customer journey – and to personalize it – your qualified lead could also receive more information regarding the service they need. This valuable content could provide more information on the service, such as pricing, options and next steps. It may demonstrate to them why your franchise is best suited to perform the work they need.
And what about the unqualified lead? Even if your franchise doesn’t offer the service they inquired about, you may want to stay in touch. Although they should quickly receive an email informing them that you can’t help them at this time, that doesn’t necessarily mean their customer journey is over. It’s just taking a longer route. Periodically, you might want to send them valuable information about services you do offer in case they need you down the road or in case your service offerings change.
Don’t Cross the Line!
Of course, there are limits to what you want to send. You don’t want to send emails too frequently and wear out your welcome. You don’t want to send irrelevant or overly salesy content that might turn them off.
And you don’t want to get too personal. Although it’s possible to create dynamic content that can be customized using customer data, you want to seem friendly, not threatening. Be cautious when including someone’s address or their kids’ names so you don’t appear creepy. Strategic segmentation of leads can determine a customer’s path to conversion, while personalization can provide your lead with a better user experience. Using your CRM to manage the customer journey can help you to more quickly convert the most qualified leads while keeping the door open to those who are not qualified – or who are not qualified yet.
