Act Promptly on Leads For Conversions
By Sergio Alvarez, COO and Founder, Ai Media Group

There has been a longstanding debate over whether to immediately act on leads or to nurture them before handing them off to sales. While it is understandable, there are, in practical terms, very few advantages to waiting before acting on a lead—especially in a down economy. I would like to share three quick reasons why calling leads immediately will better serve your company.

First, money comes to those who act quickly. Marketing and sales are like any other segment of business—opportunities must be acted on before they pass. If you wait to nurture the lead, you might lose the customer to your competitor. And even without your competitor, you do not want to give the customer the time or the chance to realize that they do not actually need your service and then change their mind. You want to strike when the iron is hot—when the idea, product or service is fresh on the customer's mind.

Second, calling immediately shows your prospective client that you take initiative and are accountable. Others may argue that acting on leads can appear desperate but in fact, the opposite is true—you demonstrate that the client is important to your business and that you are and will be attentive. If you do not give your customer attention during the prospective stage, how can they count on you down the line? Clients' number one concern is timely response and accountability. Both come across impressively when you contact the customer immediately.

Third, in our current economic recession, money remains hard, hard, hard to come by. The budget that a customer may have set in place for your service may disappear by the time you decide to act. Call and lock up the sale while the budget is still in place and before it gets eaten up by some other pressing concern.

---Source: DMNews June 1, 2009 (www.dmnews.com). Sergio Alvarez is the COO and Founder of Ai Media Group. He can be reached at salvarez@aimediagroup.com.