A Full Sales Pipeline Keeps Phones Ringing

How many postcards do I need to mail to start getting calls?

It's a question we are asked all the time. We respond by asking a question back, "What size sales pipeline do you want to build?"

Building a full sales pipeline will result in a steady stream of phone calls to your moving company. It all begins with obtaining qualified leads, determining the number of leads to contact and making a strong "ask" at just the right time. 

Below we discuss building a pipeline using the leads from MovingLeads.com, but you can use similar strategies for all your marketing resources, (internet leads, website, google, etc), and implement strategies to build a pipeline for each source.

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Top of the Funnel: Reach the Best Leads in 3 Simple Steps

1. Target the "Best" Leads

By the "best" lead, we mean qualified leads. With our moving leads, we identify homeowners that have just listed their homes for sale and are ready to hire a mover. However, you'll pinpoint potential sales even better if you understand your ideal customer.  Use these questions to define who they are:

Where do they live? Are there certain neighborhoods that you tend to win business in? Can this area be defined by mile radius, zip code or county?

What is your average move size? Do you tend to book three bedroom homes or six bedroom homes? You can refine your leads list by understanding the real estate market and average asking prices specific to your area.

For some movers, the sweet spot is middle range homes (250-700K), so it doesn't make sense to include the high end list price homes. Others prefer multi-million dollar homes and don't set a maximum asking price. You can win more bookings by looking at your past jobs and figuring out who is most likely to hire you.

2. Quantify Goals based on Budget

The quantity of leads you contact should be based on your budget. There is no magic number of postcards that need to be mailed to make the phone ring. Any quantity will generate calls.

With that said, we can give you a feel for response rate based on our customers' feedback. 

* Our customers' average a 1-3% call rate, with some up to 5% from postcards. The number of bookings depends on your staff and sales process. Some customers tell us they book 100% of the calls. Others report 1 in 3 bookings off the calls. 

Additionally, customers report booking larger moves, averaging $3,0000-$5,000/move. And depending on the area of the country, your rates may be even higher.

At a cost of $83 (100 postcards @.83each) per $3,000 job, we can report that postcards work for most moving companies!

Automate the Leads!

You've defined your lead criteria and the quantity leads you want. Now you need to to make sure you automatically receive new leads as homes pop up on the market. A steady flow of new listings and fresh leads will consistently replenish the top of your sales pipeline.

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Middle of the Funnel - The "Ask"