Between prospecting for leads, gathering leads, trying to organize them, qualifying the good ones, making calls, filling the funnel, managing the sales pipeline, closing sales, going to the gym, staying on top of personal stuff, and feeding the farm animals…
Being a sales rep is challenging, fast-paced work that can leave you feeling a bit like this guy chasing his lead here.
Around and around you go, never knowing if you’ll catch that lead or not.
What if we said you could cut to the chase and streamline this dizzying process of gathering quality leads and managing sales touches to gain exposure, connect with the right prospects faster, and increase both sales + ROIs?
(And, of course, make more time for feeding the farm animals).
Because you can, with the right lead automation tools.
Sound crazy?
It’s not. Here’s what you’ll learn:
The purpose of lead generation automation is to identify potential customers by capturing contact data based on a prospect's behavior through digital processes. A customer visiting your company website and expressing interest in services via requesting more information, for example.
The main goal is to fill the sales funnel faster, identify more prospects, increase the quantity and quality of leads, convert leads to purchasing customers, and save sales reps a massive amount of time.
The value leads automation software tools can add to your team really can’t be overstated since 80% of new leads do not result in a sale. This means that without this, there isn’t a payout for all your hard prospecting, organizing, and nurturing efforts.
Lead management automation can help capitalize on gathering lead data by using things like:
Before we go any further, let’s talk about the two specific types of leads:
We know you know, but humor us here.
The most significant difference is where the prospect is in the buying stage. Inbound leads come to you while outbound leads are pursued. For a business to grow, it’s essential to focus on gathering both types.
Inbound leads typically have the most potential to convert since they include interaction with a social media post or information collected from a landing page. The prospective lead is already seeking your business out.
Outbound leads come from tactics like cold calls and emails.
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What it is |
Where they come from |
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Inbound Leads |
Prospects that actively come to you |
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Outbound Leads |
Prospects that are actively pursued |
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Regardless of the type of lead, sales lead generation has three stages: discovery, lead nurture, and lead qualification.
With lead generation automation software, these 3 stages are combined into one smooth sailing process by creating information-gathering systems and processes that collect lead data and score it automatically.
This matters because it can stack leads based on priority in the pipeline and indicate where a sales rep's attention should be focused. Cold leads can probably wait, but hot leads need to be followed up and nurtured ASAP.
Plus, automated marketing can be targeted to interested demographics and retargeted to existing customers.
Types of sales lead automation software depend on your business. What are you selling, and who are you selling to?
B2B needs can be different than B2C. CRMs play a critical role in the type of lead automation software, too. A good CRM should have lead automation generation capabilities, lead scoring, data and analytics reporting, and features that work for lead nurturing and call tracking like automatic dialers.
The powers of different lead automation software can include features like:
On-page sales lead automation tools include landing pages, forms, and survey types of information gathering. This works by capturing lead data from the website traffic and then funneling that data to your CRM.
Website analytics software tracks data from your website and competitor websites, yes, but for lead generation automation tools, these tools track visitor behavior and provide sales tracking. Ultimately pulling information in from website traffic and providing quantitative and qualitative data that can enhance website experience and marketing.
While there’s a lot to be said for the modern marketing and selling tools on sites like Twitter and Facebook, good ol’ email marketing automation is almost 40 times better at gaining new customers than this. (More on this below).
Social selling and marketing are the way of the future, and it’s unlikely this will slow down or change. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram can be good marketing and lead generation channels. Still, sales lead automation software like LinkedIn Sales Navigator is nearly 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook alone.
Again, the best type to use will depend on business and goals.
The line between these two closely related aspects of selling is often confused and sometimes blurred. The two should function as yin and yang.
Lead nurturing automation is about creating, building, and fostering customer and prospect relationships. It includes sending automated, personalized messaging to existing and potential customers at each purchasing stage.
Lead nurturing automation aims to maintain relationships and convert leads into sales. Drip campaigns, SMS, and automated phone calls are standard tools for lead nurturing.
On the other hand…
Lead generation is about generating interest in a product or service. Lead generation automation tools work by using AI-powered systems to capture data across all inbound and outbound channels and touchpoints.
The critical difference is that lead generation automation categorizes leads, so every potential customer is placed in the right section of the sales pipeline and ensures the sales funnel is always filled.
It’s important to note the difference between lead generation and lead nurturing because they can provide different outcomes and analytics.
Results generated from lead nurturing efforts like specific marketing campaigns will show a series of steps a rep completed to close the sale. Those steps can be added to the sales cadence for the next cycle and used in other beneficial ways like onboarding and training.
Results from lead generation efforts show analytics like what digital marketing efforts are working (and where they are working) to drive customers to your product. This data can also be used to tweak sales cadences, but it can also be useful in gauging marketing budgets, too.
As we said, these two are yin and yang, so a well-rounded sales cadence will always include both. Combining lead nurturing automation with lead management automation will develop relationships with prospective buyers and convert them into purchasing, retained customers.
Sales touchpoints are opportunities to entice a prospect (or existing customer) about your product, check in with an interested lead based on where they are in the pipeline, and…well, sell.
By capturing data from forms, surveys, emails, webinars, newsletters, and website traffic with sales lead automation tools, you’ve instantly increased the amount of sales touchpoints.
This is important to consider since 61% of marketers struggle with generating enough leads.
The more leads you can attract, gather, store, and track, the more potential for increasing sales. Pretty simple stuff, huh?
Plus, the more touchpoints you have, the bigger the opportunity existing customers have to become familiar with your brand, build a relationship with you, purchase, and repeat.
Because sales lead automation tools are centered around gathering data, every touchpoint can be designed and managed based on what the outcome goal is. This means that you can build a customer database of high-quality lead data and build strong relationships with targeted prospects.
Here’s a simplified example.
Let’s pretend that you’re selling snow boots.
Marketing automation lead generation software would create clever landing pages for your website or social media ads. Then, interested parties in Alaska would see your advertisement for snowboots, visit your website, and fill out the form on the landing page with data like email address, location, and birthday.
Now they’ve expressed interest in your product, given you their contact information, and become new prospects.
Since leads are generated automatically, the data needed for sales touchpoints is readily available from a reliable, well-built database.
Plus, sales lead automation tools work around the clock, meaning you’ll have more time to nurture those leads with other tools like email campaigns or SMS campaigns.
With more time to manage relationships and nurture and less time spent gathering leads, you can cut out the mundane tasks, increase selling time, and improve productivity.
That’s important to consider since 30-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first.
Neglecting lead generation automation tools would be like selling snow boots in the summertime.
One more thing…
Did you know that 61% of marketers struggle with generating enough leads?
What’s more, 37% of marketers' biggest struggle is generating high-quality leads.
Plus…
Lead generation automation can save money in the long run. By providing a blueprint of details like customer behaviors and lead tracking, marketing channels, as well as budgets, can be tailored accordingly, saving time and money.
Before diving into purchasing lead management automation software consider a few things…
At a time when the future feels so uncertain, of course, the price had to be our first consideration.
Let’s not mince words here…
There wouldn’t be much point in the time and money-saving capability of lead nurturing marketing automation software if it was outside of your budget.
It’s crucial to find affordable solutions that fit your needs and increase profit margins.
Sales and lead generation can already feel like trying to push a boulder uphill.
No one has time to waste on learning yet another program, system, and policy that is so complicated they need an advanced degree to operate it.
User-friendliness is a critical component to incorporating lead generation automation software accessible to everyone, everywhere (like a cloud-based, all-in-one CRM) into the sales team.
Choosing overly complicated software wastes time and money and frustrates already overwhelmed sales reps.
Consider if the sales lead automation software can integrate with other software tools already implemented by the team. Can it meet the needs of the marketing team? Is it included in the existing CRM? If not, can it be integrated?
Using software that can’t offer integrations is just adding another item onto the sales team's plate. Don’t waste time, money, and resources on software that can’t meet your current needs.
This is the bread and butter of lead generation automation tools behind the scenes.
While the focus should be on gathering lead data and converting leads into sales, you won’t be able to replicate the processes and sales cadences that generated the most revenue without the ability to access reporting.
You’ll want to choose lead management software that includes dynamic tracking features and can provide a blueprint of metrics, like where leads came from and conversion rate.
Choosing software that doesn’t match your needs is like attempting to eat soup with a fork. Maybe not exactly, but you get the point. It’s messy and rather pointless.
It’s important to consider your goals, who the targeted audience is, and the size of the sales team before choosing a service.
Lead management automation software that can’t grow with you can be costly as you expand. Plus, it could mean making a switch as you’re growing. Ultimately slowing down sales and stalling productivity.
Customer data privacy and the security to keep that data private has never mattered more than it does today.
Customers and prospects alike need the security of knowing their data is going to be safe when they willingly hand it over to you. Without that, you’re less likely to attract more leads.
Choosing lead generation automation tools that offer high-quality security features to prevent and protect personally identifiable information (PII) from data breaches protects the business brand and reputation. Plus, it can help strengthen customer relationships.
Sales success in today’s modern world literally depends on the ability to protect data. If you can’t offer this, customers won’t trust you. It’s as simple as that.
But where oh where can you find sales lead automation software that increases generated leads, automates marketing, and increases ROI?
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Lead Generation Tools |
Key Features |
Price |
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$99/Month |
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$25/user/month for Sales Essentials Edition package |
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$79/month for Lite package |
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$49/user/month for the Grow package (available annually) |
Surprise, it’s us!
Ringy is an all-in-one, cloud-based CRM solution that offers lead management and distribution.
Added features for lead management automation include SMS, email automation, reporting and analytics, upline support for coaching agents in real-time, and progressive dialing solutions. (With tracking we should add, another way to streamline sales touches).
We offer a free trial with the value of $109/month, an obvious choice for lead nurturing marketing automation.
Salesforce is one of the most popular choices for lead generation automation software.
It’s easy to see why, since this platform offers solutions for businesses of all sizes and types. In addition to lead generation automation, Salesforce includes high-quality, customizable reports, and workflow automation.
While it does offer a two-week free trial and a $25 price, this package pricing is only for teams of 5. A great choice for a business that is just starting, but costs increase as the team grows.
This one has been around for the last two decades and is a great choice for teams of all sizes (including solopreneurs).
With Keap, you’ll get an all-in-one CRM focused on growing with you. Best features for sales lead automation include the ability to build and personalize emails with automated responses and landing pages/forms built-in.
For higher-tiered packages, expect to pay between $170 and $200.
Pipeline is an excellent choice for lead generation automation software for smaller teams and businesses that are just starting.
Pipeline labels lead data based on the score. Labeling allows hot leads to be pursued and nurtured promptly, ultimately allowing for better communication and an increased likelihood of closing the deal.
They also offer a 14-day free trial.
Lead generation software is designed to capture potential customer data and convert those prospects into retained, paying customers.
Good lead generation software can integrate into workflow and sales automation. The best lead management automation software is included in an all-in-one CRM platform.
There are many ways to automate lead generation, but some popular ways to automate include:
Which ones a business chooses to use will depend on goals, business type, and the targeted audience.
A general rule of thumb is to consider where the majority of your previous sales have originated from and build out the approach by capturing leads from there.
There you have it.
Now you can get back to feeding the farm animals…
Or selling, as the case may be.
Stop chasing leads around with lead generation automation. Stop by to check us out and book a demo here at Ringy.