A Basic Guide to Lead Nurturing for Moving Companies
There’s an abundance of information about nurturing leads on the internet – a quick search and you’ll find countless how-tos, tips, and tricks to help you convert a lead. But the moving industry is a unique one, and there is little guidance for moving companies on how to effectively convert a lead to a confirmed reservation.
In this post, you’ll find actionable advice for how to nurture your leads through your CRM, ultimately booking more customers and driving additional revenue for your business.
Why should I nurture my leads?
If you spend money on digital advertising, you know how expensive, time-consuming, and difficult it can be to get the most bang for your buck. You may do a great job at bringing in warm leads – attracting potential movers to your website or calling your sales hotline – but many movers aren’t ready to purchase on the spot. They want to engage, but they’re not ready to buy.
To push your leads over the finish line, we recommend investing time in lead nurturing via HQ Sales or your CRM. If you don’t already use a CRM, you should. Here’s why.
Lead nurturing is the process of cultivating relationships with qualified leads, regardless of whether they’re ready to book, with the goal of earning their business when they are ready. It’s like dating – you can’t force someone into marriage right off the bat, but you can earn their trust and prove you’re a worthwhile partner during a courtship!
If a lead inquires about pricing, they’ll likely be ready to book shortly. It’s up to you to give them the information they need about your company and, most importantly, be available when they’re ready to book.
Lead nurturing drives trust
We know that branding is crucial in the moving industry. If a prospect recognizes your truck from an ad or from seeing your trucks on the road, they might already feel connected to your brand. All people – including those preparing to move – are subject to emotional influences over their decision-making, particularly when they’re handing over all their worldly possessions to strangers.
Fear plays a huge role in selecting a moving company – people don’t want their belongings broken, or worse, stolen. Personal risk can be an intimidating blocker to booking, which is the main reason our industry is so referral-driven.
People trust other people. When you ask a friend about the moving company they hired and you already trust that person, your decision is more likely to be a good one. Therefore, two of the most important attributes you need to convey during lead nurturing are credibility and trust.
Should I nurture my existing leads even though they may not be moving?
Yes, yes, and yes! Your existing leads are a community of people who have either been interested in your services at one point or were previous customers. These people may be preparing to move again, know someone who is preparing to move, or simply be interested in keeping up with the latest and greatest news about your company.
How do I get started?
Lead nurturing is implemented via a series of carefully crafted email campaigns. These emails are targeted to specific groups through HQ Sales or your CRM system.
We recommend two types of lead nurturing campaigns for moving companies:
1. Hot Lead Campaigns
2. KIT (Keep in Touch) Campaigns
Let’s talk about hot leads first.
Hot Lead Campaigns
Picture this: a lead fills out your MoveIQ form on your website (or your own form that your company built). This is your chance to make a positive first impression.
Think about it this way – if you were to meet a complete stranger on the street for the first time, the way you act, what you say, and what you’re wearing all affect how they perceive you. A hot lead is no different.
First things first, lay a great foundation. Make sure that your form asks the right questions to determine if the lead is ready to book a job or not. At MoveHQ, we call leads that are qualified “sales-ready.” Do you know which web pages your hot lead visited? Do you know what search term they used to find you? Are they a repeat customer? Were they referred? How big of a job will this be?
Regardless of what questions you ask, implementing a hot lead campaign begins with knowing the answers to the above questions.
Next, you want to craft a campaign that is relevant to the customer, based on their approximate move date. It wouldn’t make sense to send seven days’ worth of nurture emails if the move is in just three days. Here are some ideas for helpful, contextual, and relevant hot lead emails:
- Last-minute packing tips
- Answers to your most frequently asked moving questions
- A guide to new neighborhoods with discounts from participating merchants
- Reminder for frequently forgotten to-dos
KIT (Keep in Touch) Campaigns
Keeping in touch with leads who are not yet ready to book is crucial – if you don’t, they’ll book with someone who did stay in touch.
The goal of your KIT campaigns is to educate these potential customers about their upcoming move, build trust with your brand, and establish credibility for your services.
By sending KIT Campaigns, you’re keeping your company top of mind so the lead will think of you as a helpful resource when it’s time to book.
You’ll want to figure out what type of customer a particular lead will be and create KIT campaigns that suit their specific personas. For example, a mom who inquired a few days ago about moving a suburban family of five will likely ask different questions than a college student moving alone. To make your campaigns more relevant, create specific campaigns for each of them – it will show that you understand their unique needs.
Who are your customers? Make a list! You can also use personas to help the sales team cater to each type of customer.
You can segment your KIT campaigns by:
- Type of move (HHG vs. commercial)
- Customer persona (suburban mom vs. college student on a budget)
- Customer purchase stage (just exploring vs. scheduling an estimate vs. booking)
Always keep in mind your customers’ attention spans and the time between initial contact and the date of booking.
Also, remember that your emails should be helpful, not promotional.
Think about your own email habits. If you reached out to a new accountant about his tax services, what would you want to receive from him via email before you schedule your first appointment? Helpful content! What documents to bring with you, how to prepare, and how the cost is broken down. You wouldn’t want emails he personally wrote touting how great he is at tax preparation, would you?
The impact of lead nurturing
You’re probably pretty skilled at driving leads to your website or sales hotline, but not as good at staying in touch with the leads that need more time. Because of this, opportunities can fall through the cracks.
A great way to measure the impact of lead nurturing is to examine the “estimates completed” metric over a given period of time. You can then calculate how many of those estimates were created from hot leads that sales converted immediately vs. older leads that received your KIT campaigns.
Most of the leads who visit your website today are there to conduct research on your company. The majority of them will book with you or your competitor. Therefore, your marketing and sales teams need to work together to effectively nurture your leads and – most importantly – be ready and available when your leads are ready to book.
