NEW LEAD...
As a business consultant, I like to configure the Zoho leads system in a very specific way to avoid spillage. Let me explain using this scenario
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Lead comes in: in the form of an email, phone call, website chat, web form, social media, etc.
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The salesperson is contacting the lead and is able to reach them.
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The salesperson sends a proposal and the lead agrees.
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The salesperson signs the deal and everyone is happy.
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As you can see, this is not the common sales cycle as it is too good to be true. Only a small amount of the business leads are working in this way.
Second [Realistic] scenario
Most businesses will have many types of scenarios that require some kind of follow up. Here are a few scenarios for an example:
The salesperson has contacted the lead and they are not answering or responding back.
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The lead promises to return a call and they have not yet done that.
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The “dead leads” are ignored and not being contacted again.
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Every salesperson has their own sales cycle and the success rates are across the spectrum.
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The business treats all leads the same which is wrong. Too much time is spent on unqualified prospects.
OUR SOLUTION
We are dedicated and passionate about helping small and medium sized businesses develop, customize and integrate a ZOHO platform that will allow them to not only grow, but to flourish.
Zoho solves all those problems and much more thanks to two amazing features:
- Zoho CRM Blueprint
- Zoho CRM Automation
The Blueprint feature allows any salesperson in the company to perform like the best salesperson in the company. The Blueprint creates a unified process on how to deal with any lead. The way that I usually work with my clients is interviewing the top 3 sales people to learn how they are approaching their prospects, what do they ask, when do they contact them, etc. Once I have those answers I will create a blueprint for each specific case.
The Blueprint will force all the sales agents to perform in the same way as the top salespeople. Once the lead will come they will attempt to contact him. If for example the attempt was unsuccessful, the CRM will request the salesman to select from a dropdown menu explaining the reason why the attempt was unsuccessful and also select a new date and time to call the lead. As you can guess, the CRM will notify the salesperson once the time comes and ask them to call the lead. Only after those conditions are met is the salesperson able to continue with the rest of their leads. In this way there is no spillage, and from the other side, the business owners or managers can see the activities of their salespeople as well as the status of each lead and the closing rate.
MARKETING AUTOMATION
The Automation section is the real power of Zoho and can be used for many business activities.
For example, once a lead comes into the CRM, it will automatically get assigned to the correct salesperson. If the lead is interested in an expensive product, the CRM will automatically assign the lead to the top salesperson. If the lead is from California, the CRM will assign the lead to the California based agent, etc. The system has the power to determine what to do with each lead in specific situations.
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From the other side, the management needs to know when leads are not being taken care of. For example, if a company deals with new leads in 1-3 hours, then I will create an automation to alert the sales manager if a lead is older than 3 hours as there was a chance that this lead was forgotten or overlooked.
The automation can also work when everything is going smoothly. For example, I like the CRM to send my leads a document such as an NDA for online signature after my first call with them. The automation section can do it all.
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Both Zoho Blueprint and Zoho Automation provide all the tools possible so that they business will not lose leads and can provide an unparalleled customer service experience.