Are you unknowingly throwing money down the drain by failing to convert your leads into sales? So often we hear ‘I need more leads’ when the reality is, you just need to convert more of the leads you already get into sales. It’s easy to blame a lack of sales on lack of leads, but if your sales process is broken more leads just means more costs and more lost opportunity and more frustration.
Let me share a story that might hit close to home.
I’d been following this guy for a while—let’s call him a well-known figure in the marketing world. You’d probably recognize the name if you’re in the industry. His work and his reputation are solid!
I consumed his content religiously—followed his socials, downloaded his freebies, and read his emails. I was a textbook example of the customer journey.
When the timing felt right, I finally decided to take the next step. I submitted a form and waited for the follow-up email from his sales team.
Sure enough, the email arrived, polished and professional (with that unmistakable American flair). I booked a call and was starting to get excited about working with this guy I’d been following for so long.
The call was good—exactly what I expected. I was genuinely interested in what he was offering. But this was no small investment—around $10k when you convert it into our tumbling Aussie dollars. Naturally, I wanted to consult with Jo (my wife and business partner) and my mastermind group before making a decision.
I was upfront with the sales rep and asked, “Do you want to follow me up on Tuesday, Monday your time?”
His response left me speechless. “No. Not really. I don’t want to go on some wild goose chase.”
At first I thought he was joking. But then I realised he meant it. He had no intention of following me up.
Now, call me old-fashioned, but I’ve always believed that the magic of sales lies in the follow-up. Maybe times have changed, but in that split second, that one careless sentence shattered 18 months of trust that had been built.
What was the cost of that mistake?
I was a serious buyer, ready to invest. But instead of working with him, I took my business to someone else offering a similar service for the same price.
Here’s the kicker: it must’ve cost that business owner a fortune to get me to that point in the sales funnel.
- Ad spend (cold audience branding and retargeting)
- Setting up the nurturing campaigns
- Creating the freebies I downloaded
- The sales rep’s wages
Months of work, strategically moving me through his sales funnel, through the customer journey only for it to be ruined in an instant.
Does it really matter? It’s only one prospect?
Think about it: only a small percentage of people who see your ads will enter your funnel. An even smaller percentage will become genuine leads, and fewer still will convert into buyers—even when you’re doing everything right. So it may be only 1 prospect, but that one prospect represents a lot of others who fell out of your sales funnel along the way.
So, what went wrong? Maybe I wasn’t their ideal client. Maybe they were so overwhelmed with work that they didn’t need the extra sales. Or maybe their process was just plain broken. I guess I’ll never know.
Here’s what we do know: a weak sales process can cost you big time. And considering the cost of getting someone that far into your funnel, it’s a loss you can’t afford.
So, let me ask you:
- How tight is your sales process?
- Are you actively listening to your sales team’s calls?
- Are you tracking conversion rates?
- Are you constantly looking for ways to optimize and improve?
If you’re not across all these things, then all that money you’re pouring into ads might as well be going straight down the drain. And the buck stops with you as the business owner, director of sales or marketing lead. And yes, sales is 100% a part of marketing.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ramp up your marketing and start bringing in more leads, it just means you need to consider WHY you think your leads are the problem. If you’re not getting consistent leads then, yes, you definitely need a system to fix that. (SHAMELESS SALES PLUG. BOOK A CALL WITH US, WE CAN HELP. IT’S KIND OF WHAT WE DO. BOOK A CALL HERE)
But if you’re getting leads and just not converting them, it’s time to take a hard look at your sales process and ask yourself: are you leaving money on the table? Because trust me, the cost of not following up could be far greater than you think.
What’s your next move?