Your B2B business will lose leads. Sometimes it's because they aren’t just interested; other times, it might be due to something else. The good news is that these lost leads can be won back. With the right re-engagement strategy, you can make them interested again and convert them into loyal customers.
This post will give insights into why you’re losing leads and ways to re-engage and convert these lost leads.
A lost lead is any qualified sales prospect who has shown initial interest in your product/service but has taken actions that indicate that they no longer have this interest. For example, they may have stopped opening your emails, reading your content, or responding to your messages.
To start the re-engagement process, you need to understand why you lost them in the first place. Since lost leads can occur for several reasons, here are a few common reasons why businesses lose leads;
Only 56% of B2B companies verify their leads before passing them on to the sales team. In many cases, companies may have identified the right prospect but logged in the wrong data. For example, during a webinar, you could have a very engaging prospect/lead but then after the event, it could’ve been the wrong email they registered with.
Sending emails to that address will be counterproductive. This is why you need an email finder and verifier. So that whenever you send a message, it goes to the right person.
It may have been the right person but you came on too strong. 51% of leads unsubscribe from emails because they get it too frequently. For a B2B business, prospects often need time to consider your offer. When the communication within this period is too frequent, it can be a turn-off.
Perhaps in your sales pitch and offerings, you promised a specific feature. Then, they see something else during their interaction with your product, service or review from other clients. This is very common with leads who engage with your free trial.
The number one reason why users on the free trial never upgrade is because the product did not meet their expectations. So review your pitch to be sure that you’re not overpromising or overselling.
In some situations, you’re just not communicating clearly. Your offers have everything and so when you’re pitching, you think you’re showing all you can offer.
In reality, the prospect is overwhelmed and then goes on to find a more simple or tailored offering. So don’t try to outline every single thing your product can do. Highlight what the client needs.
When getting details about your leads, especially on a form, it cannot be too long or too little. If it's too long, they’ll bounce. However, when it's also too little, you won’t capture enough details that will allow you to provide personalized recommendations.
Reengaging lost leads requires a lot of effort and attention. Sometimes even more than acquiring them in the first place. But they are always worth it in the end. Here are a few re-engagement strategies guaranteed to convert your lost leads;
Instead of launching a campaign first, try to understand why you’re currently losing leads. A good CRM tool that clearly captures your customer journey like lemlist will provide these insights.
For example, did many leads drop off before or after interacting with your sales team? How many emails did they open? What type did they engage with the most? With these insights, you’ll be able to spot the key drop-off points in your sales funnel and optimize it for success.
You can also launch a survey to ask them directly if you’re unsure. The great thing about this is that you can get direct feedback about what to do differently.
The truth is that not all lost leads will come back. So you need to channel your resources to those that have a high chance of converting. We recommend using your sales intelligence tool to identify those with the most potential - particularly those with high activity levels and who are lower in the sales funnel.
So a great example could be someone who has visited your pricing page a lot or a prospect who has saved multiple templates you provide. It could also be someone who has had more than one call with your sales team.
Depending on your business and ideal customer profile, make a new list and build your strategy based on their actions. If they’ve visited your pricing page multiple times, you might want to offer a promotion to get them interested again.
Once you have the details of why they are dropping off as well as who they are, launch a retargeting ad. This way, they are reminded about your business as well as the service or product they were interested in.
The goal here is to stay on top of their mind and nudge them into taking another action on your website. This is why you need to use the behavioral insights you get from your sales tool. Start with a small budget and then optimize it based on the performance.
We also recommend setting up specific workflows and triggers. So once they take that desired action on your ads, you can spark up a conversation that’ll lead to a conversion.
If the reason you’re losing leads is because of your messages or not building the right connections, this is the best time to act. Create highly personalized messages based on the actions they take on your website.
In addition to their company, job title, and name, include details like personalized images and videos that contextually suit their needs. Not only will you stand out in their inbox, but it’ll make them feel heard and seen. Everyone wants to do business with a company that makes them a priority.
It’s also possible to do this level of personalization on a large scale. With an automation tool like Lemlist, you can include several layers of personalization that’ll switch a generic email template to one that converts.
Don’t just stick to emails In fact, 62% of B2B consumers say they are overwhelmed with the amount of emails they receive. So to capture their attention again, you need to be on the platforms they actually use and will respond on.
For example, if your prospect is very active on Linkedin, it just makes sense to connect with them there and build a relationship. Some prospects also prefer to have conversations over the phone.
The key to using these channels is to use a multi-channel approach and not be spammy.
So use multi-channel outreach tools that’ll send automatic connections, comment on their posts, and send tailored messages.
Don’t lose these leads again. Instead, give them a reason to get locked in by offering time-bound promotions. Make sure that whatever promotion or incentive you’re offering is actually something they are interested in.
For example, if they’ve been worried about the pricing, a Black Friday sale is the perfect opportunity to lock them into an annual plan.
The most important strategy for re-engaging leads is to keep optimizing for success. So when running any of the other steps above, we recommend splitting your campaigns.
With an A/B test, you can see what variation is working best and double down on that. Review your sales pipeline and don’t be scared to switch things up if they aren’t working.
Also, consider optimizing your speed response time. When a prospect has a question, assign a member of your sales team to deal with these queries or even invest in a chatbot. This way, your leads won’t feel unheard and take their business elsewhere.
The best time to re-engage lost leads varies depending on your business or strategy. But you can start implementing these strategies above when;
Understanding your sales process and journey is a key step in re-engaging your lost leads. Improve the process with the right lead engagement tool like lemlist to get better results for your business.
G2 Rating | Price | Best for | Standout feature | Con | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.9 star star star star star | $30/mo $75/mo $2,999/mo | Large, distributed sales teams | AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs | Lack of tracking system | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Sales operations and finance teams | Powerful configurability | Limited training resources and complex to navigate | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Mid-market and enterprise businesses | Comprehensive incentive management | Potentially high cost and steep learning curve | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $15/user/mo $40/user/mo Enterprise: custom price | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Collaborative teams | Connected planning | Complexity and steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with complex sales structures | Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy | Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts | Simplicity and ease of use | Lack of features like redirection | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $30/user/mo $35/user/mo Custom: upon request | Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software | Ease of use and adoption | Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs | |
4.8 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights | A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility | Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow | |
4.9 star star star star star | $30/user/mo $50/user/mo | Smaller sales teams | Powerful automation | Lesser user base and average user interface | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with scalable needs | Automated Commission Calculations | Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app |
PRM Tool | Rating | Feature | Pro | Con | Mobile App | Integrations | Free Plan | Pricing |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.65 star star star star star-half | Org-wide alignment | User-friendly layout and database | Suboptimal as a personal CRM | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-check | Team: $20/month Business: $45/month | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Social Media Integration | Easy contact data collection | No marketing/sales features | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-xmark 7-day trial | $12/month | |
4.75 star star star star star-half | Block Functions | High customization capability | Not a dedicated CRM | square-check | Limited | square-check | Plus: €7.50/month Business: €14/month | |
N/A | Open-source | Open-source flexibility | Requires extensive manual input | square-xmark | Limited | square-check Self-hosted | $9/month or $90/year | |
3.1 star star star | Simple iOS app | Ideal for non-tech-savvy users | iPhone only | square-check iOS only | Limited | square-xmark 1-month trial | $1.49/month or $14.99/month | |
3.6 star star star star-half | Smart Contact Management | Feature-rich and flexible | Reported bugs | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 7-day trial | Premium: $13.99/month Teams: $17.99/month | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Customizable Interface | Customizable for teamwork | Pricey for personal use | square-check | Rich | square-xmark | Standard: $24/member Premium: $39/member | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Integrated Calling | Integrated Calling | Too sales-oriented & pricey | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | Startup: $59/user/month Professional: $329/user/month | |
4.8 star star star star star | Business Card Scanning | Business Card Scanning | Mobile only | square-check | Limited | square-check | $9.99/month | |
4.45 star star star star star-half | 160+ app integrations | Comprehensive integrations | No free app version | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | $29.90/month or $24.90/month (billed annually) |
Capterra Rating | Free Trial | Free Plan | Starting Price (excluding the free plan) | Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan) | Best for | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-check | €15/month/seat billed annually | €792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat | Versatility and free plan | |
4.2 star star star star | square-check 30-day | square-xmark But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations | €25/user/month | €500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI) | Best overall operational CRM | |
4.3 star star star star star-half | square-xmark | square-check Limited to 3 users | Comprehensive incentive management | €52/user/month billed annually | Small-medium businesses and automation | |
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-xmark | €14/seat/month billed annually | €99/seat/month billed annually | Sales teams and ease of use | |
4.1 star star star star | square-xmark | square-check Limited 10 users | $9.99/user/month billed annually | $64.99/user/month billed annually | Free plan for very small teams up to 10 |
CRM goal | Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months. | ||||
SMART Breakdown | 1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation). | 2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking. | 3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements. | 4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives. | 5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date. |
Actions | Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation. | Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior. | Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads. | Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up. | Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization. |
Outcomes | Increased sales and revenue | Improved marketing automation ROI | Marketing and sales alignment | Data-driven marketing optimization |