Leads are essential to the growth of any business, but not all leads are ready to buy right away. Some leads—known as “cold leads“—have shown interest in the past but haven’t engaged with you in a while.
Maybe it’s been weeks or even months, and that lead is starting to feel a little cold. You might’ve started to wonder what to do with them.
Should you give up? Absolutely not! A cold lead isn’t a lead to give up on. It doesn’t have to stay cold forever.
In fact, warming up cold leads is a crucial part of generating leads consistently. So, what can you do today—right now—to start warming up those leads?
How to Warn Up Cold Leads
It’s easier than you think. Small, thoughtful actions can go a long way in re-establishing connections and building trust.
But, with the right approach, you can re-ignite that spark and turn those cold leads into warm opportunities.
Let’s walk through different methods that you can utilize to warm up leads and convert them into sales.
- Pay Attention to Their Needs
- Understand Your Cold Leads
- Segment Your Cold Leads
- Personalize Your Outreach
- Send a Re-Engagement Email Campaign
- Check Up On Them
- Offer Value, Not a Sales Pitch
- Use Pre-Suasion and Retargeting
- Re-engage via Multiple Channels
- Create a Time-Sensitive Offer
Pay Attention to Their Needs
Before re-engaging cold leads, it’s essential to understand why they went cold in the first place. Maybe they weren’t ready to buy, or perhaps your offer didn’t fully match their needs at the time. Cold leads are still valuable because they’re already familiar with your product or service, and you have some insight into their business.
- Start by researching your leads again.
- Have their needs or challenges changed?
- Why might they have dropped out of your pipeline?
For example, if you think pricing was an issue, you can offer a discount. Or, if they were unsure how your product fits their business, reach out with specific feedback or a case study showing how your solution can address their concerns. Start by addressing the potential reasons why they disengaged.
By paying attention to their unique requirements, you can tailor your approach to their needs.
Learn how to classify your sales leads.
Understand Your Cold Leads
Once you’ve considered their needs, take a moment to understand them. Think about it like this: if someone approached you without knowing who you are or what you need, you’d probably ignore them, right? It’s the same with leads. To reconnect, you need to show that you understand them.
Start by reviewing any past interactions you’ve had. What were their pain points or challenges? Did they show interest in a particular product or service? If you have a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool, use it to track these details. If not, try to recall any specifics from emails or meetings.
Check out the 4 Must-have CRM Features and Tools for Remote Sales
Segment Your Cold Leads
Now that you understand your leads better, it’s time to segment your cold leads. Not all cold leads are the same, and grouping them will help you communicate more effectively. So make sure to segment your leads based on factors like:
- How long it’s been since they last interacted with you
- Their industry or job role
- The type of product or service they showed interest in
By segmenting, you can customize your outreach. A one-size-fits-all approach isn’t as effective as a targeted message that speaks directly to their situation. With segmentation, you can address specific pain points for each group.
Fill your pipeline with qualified leads and sales appointments.
Personalize Your Outreach
Now that your leads are segmented, it’s time to reach out. But hey! No one likes receiving generic messages. People want to feel like you remember them and understand their business. So make sure to personalize your outreach to catch their attention.
Here are some ways to personalize your communication:
- Use their name in the email. It sounds simple, but many people skip this step
- Reference their last interaction with your company (e.g., a product demo, an eBook they downloaded)
- Tailor your message to their specific industry or business challenges
Pro Tip: “If you know they’ve been struggling with a particular issue, mention that. Show them you’ve done your homework.”
Remember, personalization doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be genuine. A little effort in crafting your message can go a long way in making cold leads feel valued.
Send a Re-Engagement Email Campaign
If your leads have gone cold, sometimes all they need is a little nudge to come back. One of the best ways to do this is by sending a re-engagement email campaign. These emails are designed specifically to remind your leads why they connected with you in the first place.
Here’s how to create an effective re-engagement email today:
- Subject Line: Grab their attention with something like, “We Miss You!” or “Still Interested?”
- Offer Something Valuable: Give them a reason to open the email, like a discount, free trial, or an informative resource.
- Clear CTA: Include a clear call-to-action, like booking a meeting, downloading an eBook, or reading a case study.
Related: Creating A Successful Email Marketing Campaign
Check Up On Them
Sometimes, it’s good to take a step back from selling and focus on building relationships. Instead of sending a direct sales message, try sending a personal email to check in on their business. Ask how they’re doing and offer any assistance they might need.
This approach shows that you’re interested in helping them, not just making a sale. It’s also a great way to build trust, which is essential when warming up cold leads. Even if they don’t buy from you now, you’ll stay on top of their mind when they are ready.
Pro Tip: “This approach can lead to referrals. Even if the lead doesn’t buy from you, they might recommend you to someone in their network.”
Offer Value, Not a Sales Pitch
One of the biggest mistakes marketers make with cold leads is jumping straight into a sales pitch. Instead, focus on offering value. Share a blog post or article that addresses a problem they’re facing, or provide a free resource like an eBook or a webinar. The key here is to offer something useful without asking for anything in return.
When you offer value, you’re showing that you care about their needs—not just about making a sale. This helps build trust and establishes you as a helpful resource, which can lead to a future purchase when they’re ready.
Build more sales opportunities with targeted outreach.
Use Pre-Suasion and Retargeting
The term pre-suasion is attributed to Robert Cialdini where it is described as the process of making recipients of a message receptive even before it is received.
One way of doing this is to retarget hyper-specific ads to cold leads based on social media platforms. For instance, Facebook has a custom audience feature where you can feed it email addresses of your cold leads to direct ads at them.
This way, you can “reach them” with your pitch before you even send them an email or direct message.
Popular ways of doing this are to highlight a problem that they’re having with an ad, make your brand visible, or put something thought-provoking related to your pitch.
You might want to explore the 7 Elevator Pitch to get your target audiences’ attention.
Re-engage via Multiple Channel
When it comes to warming up cold leads, don’t stick to just one method. Some people respond better to emails, while others might engage more on social media or through a phone call. By using multiple touchpoints, you increase your chances of reconnecting with them.
For example, send an email today, and follow up in a few days with a message on LinkedIn. If they’ve been active on Twitter, try engaging with their content there. Reaching out on different platforms helps ensure that you don’t lose touch with them.
Strengthen your lead generation with effective multichannel marketing.
Create a Time-Sensitive Offer
Creating a sense of urgency can be a powerful motivator for cold leads. A time-sensitive offer, like a limited-time discount or a free consultation, can encourage leads to take action now instead of putting it off.
For example, you could offer a 10% discount on your service if they sign up within 7 days. The key here is to make the offer appealing without being overly aggressive. You might scare away your leads, learn how to avoid losing B2B leads.
Conclusion
As you can see, warming up cold leads doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. By taking thoughtful actions like personalizing your outreach, offering value, checking in, and using multiple channels, you can start turning those cold leads into warm prospects.
You can also secure the assistance of a third-party company for a lead generation and nurturing service that can fine-tune your strategies and realign your targeting.
So, what are you waiting for? Pick one or two of these strategies, and take action today. Your next warm lead could be just an email away!
