4 Ways to Keep Your B2B Sales Leads Warm

b2b-sales-leadsIf you’re a regular reader of our blog, you may remember reading Persistence in Selling is Key Success Factor.

The post outlined a story from one of our clients in which an opportunity took just over 3 years to close. It might sound hard to believe that a B2B sales lead was kept warm and alive for 3 years before a successful close, but with the right tools and the right strategy it’s more than possible.

This post will share 4 tactics you can use to help make sure your B2B sales leads stay warm until they’re ready to buy.

1. Schedule Activities and Follow-Up On Promises

If you want to keep a B2B sales lead warm, you need to get organized, and one of the best ways to get organized is with a CRM. A good CRM tool will allow you to record all your interactions with your prospect and schedule activities for the future.

These activities will help you make good on your promises, whether they are sending over additional content or calling in at a specified time. By consistently making good on your promises you will be able to build a strong relationship with your prospect. Need a little more convincing that a CRM is worth having? Check out Sales CRM systems…a must for any organization.

2. Be Visible & Stay Top of Mind

There are lots of quick and easy ways to stay visible to your prospects. Great social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter are not only perfect for sharing your own content, but are also great channel to share your prospects’ posts and content (which can lead to a better relationship – who doesn’t like a RT?). Newsletters can also be a handy way of regularly sending through value-added content. As an added touch, consider sending interesting industry-related articles that you think your prospect might enjoy, send congratulations on any big news they may announce, or send them best wishes around major holidays.

3. Watch for Triggers

For any prospect you are pursuing it’s always worth watching for organizational or industry news that can serve as trigger events or help identify any windows of dissatisfaction.  If you’re looking for more information on what a trigger event is, a great source of information is Craig Elias, the CEO of SHiFT Selling. In essence, a trigger event and the window of dissatisfaction represent opportunities in which your message may become more readily accepted or welcomed by your prospect. Be sure to follow-up with your prospect whenever you identify a key trigger event. To learn more about trigger events and the window of dissatisfaction, be sure to check out Win the Sale 74% of the Time by Leveraging Trigger Events over at Inside Sales.

4. Review Your Funnel

Set aside some time to periodically review your sales funnel to ensure that your information is up to date and no opportunities are slipping through the cracks. It can be helpful to examine when the last activity for an account was, when the next activity will be, when the opportunity is expected to close, and the opportunities potential size.

A quick review is your chance to step back, see how opportunities are progressing and to see if you have been making good on your commitment to stay in touch. For our readers in a management role that are looking to help their sales reps develop, I recommend taking the time to review the funnel together. This can be a strong learning opportunity and allows for both advice and feedback on the continuing pursuit of opportunities.


Be sure to put these 4 proven tips to the test to help you keep your B2B sales leads warm and moving through your sales funnel. To get more great sales and marketing content delivered straight to your inbox every month, be sure to sign up for our newsletter.

4 Ways to Keep Your B2B Sales Leads Warm