Traffic   >  Leads   > Sales > Profit > Life-Time Value

Traffic

Choosing your method of obtaining traffic is one of the most important aspects of your website.    If you get the wrong traffic it won’t convert into leads or sales.  The wrong traffic could also cost too much that would put you in the red on your marketing budget every month.    Without a clear cut plan most businesses will fail.  Don’t be one of the statistics.  Put together a solid plan and your business will have the best chance of success.

Leads

In some businesses, your leads are the gasoline that make the engine run.   In other businesses, leads are cast away because  of a lack of business experience.  In every business, you should have several pools that you are constantly circulating.  You must add people to your lead pool as well as converting leads into sales pool on a regular basis.  You should be consistently finding new ways to enhance your customers through other products and sales.  Your goal should be increasing the life-time value of each of your clients.  This life-time value can help you determine your marketing budget.

Sales

What is your sales process?  How long is your sales cycle?   If leads are the gasoline, then sales are the engine that keeps the business running.  Do you need a customer relations manager?  Is each lead treated with care?  Do you have reporting to know?  Managing your sales team is crucial for your traffic and leads to be effective.  You can have the best leads but if your sales people don’t manage them well, it will be a loss.    Keeping your sales people turn-over low will also be critical to your business success.

Profit

How long does it take to incubate a lead and turn it into profit?   Figuring out the timeline is important so you know how much if any revenue you need to float.   You may need to let your leads sit for a week or two to make the most from your sales.  For some internet leads you need to call them immediately, each hour can cost you $10 – $100′s in profit.   Once you know how to pull the most profit out of your sales cycle, you will be ready to examine your life-time value of your clients.

Life-Time Value

Long-term planning is the most important part of a successful company.  Most companies fail because they only look at the short-term.  Stepping back and looking at the life-time value of each lead will give you a new perspective on each sale.  Some of your smaller sales may not make any money in the first cycle, but by adding more cycles and processes you could increase the life-time value of those clients.    Once you have obtained a customer, the cost for marketing back to those customers is exponentially less expensive and can be more effective.