Nurturing leads is how successful salespeople turn interested browsers into paying customers. In the past, potential customers who didn’t make a quick purchase were often dismissed as not being worth the effort. At that time, nurturing leads often involved an expensive and time-consuming wooing process on the part of the salesperson. With the advent of automated marketing and content marketing, sales nurturing has become an inexpensive way to increase the pool of potential customers. However, not all leads respond well to automated efforts, and it can still be worthwhile to take a more hands-on approach. If you’re a salesperson who needs to walk a lead through the sales funnel, here are three tips to make your job easier.

Provide Useful, Relatable Content

You know your product like nobody else. You know the specs, the best features and, more importantly, how customers are using your products in the field. This type of knowledge is crucial for changing your product from an item on a shelf into a tool in the hands of your lead. Until they can envision themselves using the product, it will be impossible to show them its value. Using your knowledge of the product, and how it’s being used, provide them with content that will paint a mental picture of the product in use. Better yet, provide them with articles or videos demonstrating how other buyers have gotten value out of your product. The benefits of this are twofold: first, they will see the real-world value of the product; second, they will see that you’re truly interested in whether they can personally benefit from the product. They’ll not only see the value of the product, but they’ll also see the value of buying it from you.

Engaging Conversation

Most businesses have some kind of social media page where customers can discuss their experiences with the products and services the business provides. Be sure to invite your leads to those pages so they can join in on the conversation. Hearing real people discuss the benefits of your product is more powerful than any sales pitch you can put together. Seeing how quickly you respond to customer problems is also a powerful advertisement for your business. Nurturing leads is about developing a comfortable relationship between interested parties and your products. A robust dialog that showcases your products and your customer service skills is a great way to go about creating that relationship.

Get Them in the Action

Nurturing leads is about getting people to engage with your company. An unengaged lead is unlikely to ever move farther into the sales funnel. They may read your blog, open your emails, or comment on your social media posts, but they still won’t move any closer to becoming a customer. Engagement can be as simple as a call to action (CTA) on your blog or website, prompting the lead to download a file, vote in a poll, or any other action you want them to take. You can also run simple contests through social media sites, encouraging an active level of participation from leads. If you can get leads to start interacting with your business, it’s more likely that they’ll find more blogs, posts, and landing pages that appeal directly to their interests. Using this method for nurturing leads allows them to find their own way deeper into the sales funnel, and makes your job easier in the end. When you’re nurturing leads, the end goal is to turn them into customers-that all begins with engagement.