For obvious reasons, aka $$$, we never want to lose qualified leads. The reason I was inspired to write this post is because I experienced this first hand. No, I did not lose a qualified lead but a company I recently (sort-of) engaged with did. Here is what happened.
I identified a need from a client that required telemarketing/meeting setting services.
I researched various companies and chose my 3 top options to explore further.
I visited each of their respective websites and either a) booked a meeting using their online meeting tool or b) submitted a form to book a meeting.
Now I am going to breakdown each experience.
Company A
I submitted a form labeled 'Quick Quote'. This form had 17 fields required which indicates a pretty valuable lead when someone submits and shares this much information. Someone called me about 30 mins later and booked the meeting.
We had the meeting and I am presenting them as a viable option to my client.
Company B
I booked a meeting directly on the site.
We had the meeting and I am presenting them as an alternative option to my client.
Company C
I booked a meeting directly on the site. On the day of the meeting I received this email:
Thanks again for taking the time to book a meeting with our sales team to explore our services.
Unfortunately, however, upon doing research on this upcoming meeting we discovered we might not be the right fit for you to fulfill your needs because we see a potential overlap with our respective service offerings and are therefore canceling this scheduled call. Please accept our apologies, as we do not wish to waste your time, nor our own.
I understand why they feel this way. They did their research after all and determined we compete. Did it cross their minds at all on why I would book a meeting?
This company missed out on a qualified lead - me - who was researching options for a client. Services, might I add, that I do not offer directly. We have budget, we have a need, we have urgency and they didn't bother to even inquire further. Just a cancelled meeting and that's the end of that.
If I were on the marketing team at Company C, I would be PISSED! We work hard to get leads in the door and they just had a qualified lead come to them and they lost it.
TIP: Do your research but never assume anything. Just asking a simple question like 'what made you reach out' could make all the difference.