I normally leave that stuff until after work or the weekend, especially if it’s raining. So why then do we down tools and leave the office at 5.30pm Monday to Friday, when busy people are more likely to be sorting out their paperwork and enquiring about our products and services?
The internet doesn’t have opening and closing time - it operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – and it’s time more businesses recognised that and stop ignoring valuable opportunities. Look at supermarkets, for example, they aren’t just booming because they have everything under one roof, they also open late and on weekends. Even my local butcher has started to stay open until 7pm on week nights to compete.
The reality is that if you are ignoring weekend and evening leads you will still be paying for them indirectly. The cost of orphan leads will be incorporated into the overall cost, meaning you are paying for them, but with absolutely no chance of making a return. Here are some suggestions on how you could start making weekend and evening leads work for your business.
1. If you want to get ahead, I can guarantee that staying open later and at weekends is one way to do it. You need to adapt your business model to work in today’s digital society, and if that means changing your office hours, then why not give it a go? Try changing your hours to 10-8, or start opening on alternate Saturdays to see whether it makes a difference.
2. Alternatively, you could try going home early on a Friday, when everybody is more preoccupied with their weekend plans, and coming in on Saturday morning instead. Or, work less during quiet periods and more when you know you will be busier.
3. Speak to a lead generator to see when their busiest times are for your type of product or service and go from there. Also, don’t be put off if you can’t follow the leads up immediately. The reality is that a lead that comes through at 11pm isn’t expecting you to call them straight away. Send them an email or text and follow up with a call first thing.
4. One way to maximise success with evening and weekend leads is to know exactly where your lead has come from. That way you can tell the person exactly where they applied, reassuring them and helping them to trust you and build a relationship.
5. In terms of cost, work with your lead generator to come up with a strategy that works for you. If you do decide to change your hours, then a 24/7 lead price, which removes peaks and troughs could be a cost effective strategy (reducing the overall price to much less than it would be at peak times with a bidding model).
At the end of the day (whenever that is), if you want to get ahead you need to adapt, change and give potential customers what they want. If that means changing your opening hours, then it is something you might need to think about, it’s as simple as that.
