A Lead Is a Seed
Full disclosure: I am neither a domain expert in sales nor gardening, but the parallels between growing a flower in the earth and acquiring a customer are inescapable to me.
Here are my thoughts on all of their similarities.
A lead is a seed
To grow a flower, step 1 is to grab a seed and stick it in some dirt.
To acquire a customer, step 1 is to grab a lead and stick it in a CRM.
Your next step in growing a flower requires continuous water (and nutrients) on some sort of schedule.
Similarly, your next step in acquiring a customer requires continuous outreach – email, phone – on some sort of schedule.
If you don’t water your seed, it will wither and die (unless, of course, it’s a cactus).
If you fail to get through to your lead (not just successfully connecting with them, but getting them to engage with you), over time, you’ll likely end up marking them as dead (unless, of course, they were going to buy anyway).
If you continuously nurture your seed, and the environment is right, it will sprout and start to grow.
If you continuously nurture your lead, and the opportunity is right, it will respond and your relationship will start to grow.
If you continue to take care of your sprout it will eventually bloom with a flower.
If you continue to offer value to your opportunity it will eventually bloom into a customer.
The best seeds come from other flowers.
The best leads come from other customers.
I hope you enjoyed my poetic rambling. May your wallets be as green as your thumbs!