All leads are not created equally. Some are prepared to hand you their credit cards after a quick chat, while others are still learning about your business and comparing you to the competition. Some lead sources generate ready-to-buy prospects, while others set the stage for nurturing. So naturally, you have different strategies for handling each one…right?

How often are you ranking your lead sources and adjusting your strategy?

Remember… leads get cold quickly. Time is of the essence – remember the phrase “speed to lead.” Ranking your lead sources makes it easier to assess where a prospect is in the buying cycle and how to best continue a meaningful conversation that keeps the momentum going and closes a sale. For example, do you need to reply within minutes, or is a few hours acceptable?

Here are a few different lead sources, as an example:

  1. Repeat business
  2. Referral from existing customer
  3. Person who reached out to learn more via your website form
  4. Someone who reached out via text from your website

It’s likely that the leads from source #1 will take much less time to convert than the leads in source #3, and the strategy will be much different for each too. Even contacts from your website are different – a text lead usually represents a timelier need than a contact form. Rank you lead sources regularly, and be sure you and your team members are ready to take the best action when opportunity knocks (think processes and scripts based on lead source).