Why Getting More Leads Isn’t Always the Answer (and What to Focus on Instead)
It’s one of the most common things we hear from business owners: “We just want more leads.” This article explains why more leads won’t grow your business if your sales process, follow-ups and customer journey aren’t working properly.
The thing is, while lead generation is very important, it’s usually not the only reason why growth isn’t happening as fast as you want.
If your business is struggling to convert leads into customers, getting more enquiries isn’t necessarily the fix you’re hoping for, especially if you have cracks and gaps in your sales and marketing process.
Before You Focus on Getting More Leads, Fix These 5 Things
1. Know your numbers (really know them)
Can you answer these questions?
- How many leads is my business currently getting per month?
- What percentage of them are “qualified leads”?
- How many have we converted into paying customers?
- What is my customer acquisition cost?
If you don’t know these numbers, you’re flying blind.
If you’d like to start tracking these numbers properly - download our free Leads and SalesTracking Template, and keep track of all your leads, where they came from, quotes provided and sales conversions - all in the one spreadsheet. Our template makes it easy!
Once you know your average revenue per client, your gross profit per client, and what the marketing cost was to attract the people who decide to work with you, you will have a clear idea of your ‘acquisition cost’, which is the amount of money you need to spend in order to make a sale.
If this cost is high and swallows up too much of your net profit, then you either have to reduce your marketing expenses by focusing on the highest converting sources, or you need to find ways to improve your sales conversion rate.
Download our ROI Tracking Template, add your advertising costs and sales data, and immediately see which marketing campaigns are delivering the best returns, and which are not.
The other number to factor in is the lifetime value of your average client. If your acquisition cost is high, but clients continue to purchase from you over time through repeat purchases and / or upsells, then a high acquisition cost is justified. But if you’re spending $100 to acquire a client who spends $200 and never contacts you again, it’s time for a new approach.
2. Review your sales process
Good marketing strategies and campaigns attract the right people, but it’s great sales processes that turn them into customers.
Many small businesses lose clients before they have even had the chance to serve them because of delayed follow-ups, unclear quotes and a customer journey that doesn’t have a clear structure.
Based on my experience, here’s what to aim for:
- Follow up leads within an hour or faster, and no longer than within 24 hours
- Design a quoting system that is quick and easy to understand, for your sales team and for your clients
- Implement a structured follow-up sequence that will reach out to leads automatically, keep them engaged and draw them down your funnel, even if they don’t decide to buy straight away.
Without these elements, even keen buyers can lose interest, so there’s no point having an avalanche of leads if you’re not taking the right steps to build trust and value, and convert them.
Case study:
Commonsense Marketing worked with one client who was frustrated with low conversions. When we dug into their process, we discovered they were actually getting 60 leads a month, which was more than they needed. The problem was that they weren’t following up on them effectively.
Once we refined the client’s process and helped to shorten follow-up time, conversions improved and so did the business’s finances. It didn’t take an expensive marketing campaign to make it happen.
3. Conduct a website health check
Your website is often the first touchpoint for people, but it needs to do more than look good and act as a digital billboard.
One of our clients, a tourist accommodation park, came to us after months of poor performance. Their site was basic but looked okay, but it turned out it had been sabotaged by a previous agency and wasn’t visible to Google. And if Google can’t see it, nobody can!
After we fixed this problem and launched fresh Google ads, social media and email campaigns they saw a 1,200% return on investment, in just three months.
So, before you think about how to get more leads, make sure your website is doing the groundwork by being:
- Mobile-friendly and fast
- Equipped with lead capture forms and booking links that actually work (you’d be surprised at how often these forms go nowhere, or send lead notification emails to an email account nobody ever looks at)
- Correctly indexed and optimised so people can find it on Google and other search engines like Bing (Microsoft).
Fixing these basics can dramatically increase your visibility and give you more leads.
Read more: How to optimise your website for maximum leads.
4. Focus on quality over quantity
Not every lead is a good lead. A lower number of high-quality, well-targeted leads is far more valuable than a flood of irrelevant enquiries. This is why going viral feels exciting but often ends up being a waste of time; you’re being exposed to the whole world, but 99% of these people don’t have any reason to buy from you.
As the saying goes, if you sell to everyone, you’re selling to no one.
You need to be clear on who your ideal client is, what problem you solve for them, and how your message speaks directly to their needs. This will help attract better leads who are interested in what you have to offer and far more likely to convert and stay loyal.
This idea is echoed by industry experts, who point out that more leads without the right systems rarely lead to better outcomes.
5. Build journeys, not just campaigns
Great marketing doesn’t end when someone gets in touch. You need to stay connected and offer ongoing reasons for them to continue engaging with you, even after they have made their first purchase.
That means considering:
- What happens after someone fills out an enquiry form? For example, do they get a friendly acknowledgement email and text, a callback or an automated quote? How often do you follow them up? Do you provide ongoing value to build trust and authority?
- What happens once they commit to buy? Do you have a clear customer onboarding process that really shows how much you appreciate their business and ensures that you deliver on your promise with incredible efficiency?
- Do you stay in touch with valuable tips in a newsletter, invite them to special “customer only” sales events, ask them what else you can do to help - in terms of other products or services they may need?
A well-mapped customer journey will improve conversions, repeat business and referrals, so it’s worth investing in.
Wondering How to Get More Leads? Look at What You Really Need First
More leads might feel like the answer, but if you don’t have the right systems in place, the avalanche of enquiries you’re dreaming about can lead to frustration, backlogs and even damage to your reputation.
So, before you boost your ad spend, fix your follow-ups.
Before you launch a campaign, check your customer journey.
And before you blame your marketing, check your metrics.
Real results don’t come from more noise—they come from better strategy.
Need help to fix your lead funnel and follow-up process?
Commonsense Marketing can get you there.
