Business owners think that the reason why the leads don’t convert into sales is that the leads are not of high quality. Sometimes it is true, but in most cases, the leads don’t convert into sales because the leads are not warmed up and nurtured properly and the conversion process is weak.

There can be only 3 reasons for it:

• The leads are not of high-quality and well-targeted
• The leads have not been nurtured enough
• Weak sales and conversion process that doesn’t convert the leads

Let’s look at each of these reasons in-depth.

1. Lead Generation & Community

Most businesses fail because they do not understand their target audience very clearly. This happens because business owners assume that there is a market and market need and they build products for it. The products do not sell by themselves because there is no clear demand for them.

We have to build targeted customer avatars to understand what people want. And a good understanding of your customer avatar can be built only through a community.

Even before I sold my first product, I built a community. It was a simple group on Facebook and it started with a few hundred members who came from my email list. I interacted with people, spoke to them, and even met them in person.

Before I created and launched my first course, I asked people what they wanted (the most). Most people said that they wanted to learn Google AdWords (now Google ads) and I created a course on Google Ads. I launched the course and brought in the sales even before I made the course. It was an MVP.

I built the product confidently because I knew that that’s what people wanted. I knew that there was a clear demand for it.

If you want to build something, build a community of people even before you build the product. The community is an asset. Through the community, you can understand the needs of the market.

You can build a community by creating a lead magnet, creating a lead capture page, and driving some traffic to the lead capture page. Once you have an email list of, say, 500 people, you can start adding value to them through content and community. This community is very important for building your customer avatars and a clear understanding of who your target customer is, and their needs.

2. Warming Up & Nurturing The Leads

When you start generating leads, your leads do not know you well enough, and they do not know you long enough. You cannot get them to trust you unless you start adding value to them first.

Most businesses generate leads and they try to sell something to them directly. But even if the target market is right and the product is a good fit, the sales will not happen because the leads do not trust you enough to make the transaction right away.

The best way to add value to your leads is through content, interaction, and community. Create a follow-up email sequence for the leads. Give valuable content in every email. Create a blog and add relevant content for them (like this blog). Create a podcast. Create a YouTube channel.

Drive traffic to all these content properties using your email list. You will start seeing some traction. Remember, you have to get people’s attention before you can gain their trust. And you have to gain their trust before they can pay you money.

With time, you will build reputation and the process will become faster, but every relationship, whether business or personal has to go through all these stages.

3. Pitch and Conversion

The final stage, the toughest part and the most exciting stage is the conversion. Once you have a set of leads that are part of your email list, community and are well nurtured, you are ready to sell.

If the price point is less than $500, you can sell it via a sales page (ideally with a VSL – video sales letter). Just drive traffic to the page and you will start seeing conversions.

An alternative to this is to convert the leads into sales in a sales webinar. In a sales webinar, you can have price points of up to $1000. You are doing the sales pitch live, interacting with the audience and answering their questions. The downside with a live sales webinar is that it has to be scheduled and done manually.

However, a webinar sales pitch can have hundreds, if not thousands of attendees. When you have thousands of attendees, the cost to do it live is less and the returns are more. Because your sales pitch is scalable.

If the price of the product is $1,000 or more, it is best converted through a 1on1 sales call. Some people prefer to call the leads directly without an appointment but I wouldn’t recommend that. The prospect might not be having the attention, time or patience to listen to the sales pitch.

1on1 sales calls are best done with an appointment. And the best way to book appointments is to use a tool like calendly. Open up your calendar for slots and let the prospects book a sales call with you. In such a call, people are expecting to be sold to and there is lesser resistance for a sales pitch.

How to construct your pitch, present it to the prospect and convert them into a paying customer is an art and science in itself, which I will cover in the future blog posts.

“The resiliency of consumers continues to power the American economy, and we are confident there will be moderate but steady growth through the end of the year,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Successful retailers offer consumers products and services when, where and how they want to shop with prices they want to pay.”

The 2024 sales forecast compares with 3.6% annual sales growth of $5.1 trillion in 2023. The 2024 forecast is in line with the 10-year pre-pandemic average annual sales growth of 3.6%.

Non-store and online sales, which are included in the total figure, are expected to grow between 7% and 9% year over year to a range of $1.47 trillion to $1.50 trillion. That compares with non-store and online sales of $1.38 trillion in 2023.

NRF projects full-year GDP growth of around 2.3%, a slower speed than the 2.5% in 2023 but strong enough to sustain job growth. Inflation prices are also expected to moderate to 2.2% on a year-over-year basis, due to a cooling economy, the labor and product market coming into better balance and retreating housing costs.

“The economy is primarily supported by consumers who have shown much greater resilience than expected, and it’s hard to be bearish on the consumer,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “The question for 2024 ultimately is, will consumer spending maintain its resilience?”

A tight labor market, with its robust job growth and wage gains fueling consumer spending, is expected to cool in 2024. With the pace of the economy slowing in 2024, NRF expects about 100,000 fewer jobs on average per month compared with 2023 and the unemployment rate to average 4% for the full year.

Kleinhenz also noted that consumer balance sheets and debt servicing levels remain in good condition. Rising home and stock prices in 2023 likely stimulated greater consumer spending via the so-called wealth effect and this should continue in 2024. Several surveys reveal that consumers appear to have a favorable outlook which should also support their willingness to spend. Yet, many consumers are feeling a pinch from tighter credit and inflation.

As the leading authority and voice for the retail industry, NRF provides data on retail sales each month and also forecasts annual retail sales and spending for key periods such as the holiday season.

NRF’s calculation of retail sales excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants to focus on core retail. The 2024 retail sales forecast is based on economic modeling that considers a variety of indicators including employment, wages, consumer confidence, disposable income, consumer credit, previous retail sales and weather. NRF produces forecasts and other analyses using data from a range of U.S. government sources as well as the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, powered by Affinity Solutions.

For frequently asked questions regarding NRF’s annual forecast, visit here.

The grocery market has seen significant fragmentation in recent times. While some shoppers stick to their regular supermarkets, others explore niche markets for specialty foods and seasonal goods. Additionally, a growing number of customers prefer the convenience of online shopping, relying on fulfillment apps to shop for them and deliver groceries to their doorsteps within hours.

Amazon’s latest offering aims to cater to these diverse shopping preferences by providing a grocery delivery service that promises to be convenient and cost-effective. Available for $9.99 per month (or $4.99 for SNAP/EBT customers), the subscription offers unlimited delivery on orders over $35 across 3,500 cities in the U.S. Prime members can also enjoy a 30-day free trial of the service.

Key features of the Prime grocery delivery subscription include:

• Availability at Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh, and other local grocery and specialty retailers on Amazon.com
• One-hour delivery windows
• Priority access to recurring reservations on weekly orders

In Amazon’s announcement, Tony Hoggett, senior VP of worldwide grocery stores, highlighted the new subscription as a means to provide additional value and savings on delivery fees for customers who regularly order groceries from Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and other retailers on Amazon.com. The ultimate goal, he said, is to offer a “best-in-class grocery shopping experience, whether in store or online, grounded in the values Amazon is known for: price, selection, and convenience.”

The new Amazon subscription also provides access to a wide range of national brands and natural and organic foods. It includes one-hour delivery windows at no extra cost where available, unlimited 30-minute pickup on any size order, and priority access to recurring reservations for weekly grocery orders. Customers can shop from local grocery and specialty retailers like Cardenas Markets, Bartell Drugs, Save Mart, Rite Aid, Mission Wine & Spirits, and Pet Food Express.

The new grocery delivery service builds on a pilot program launched in late 2023 in Columbus, Ohio; Sacramento, California; and Denver, Colorado. A recent survey from the pilot showed that over 85% of respondents were extremely or very satisfied with the unlimited free delivery benefit. Customers highlighted savings on delivery fees and increased convenience as key reasons for staying subscribed.

In addition to the delivery benefits, Prime members shopping at Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market will have access to exclusive deals both online and in-store. Eligible Prime members can earn unlimited 5% back on purchases when using their Prime Visa online at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market.

Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion has played a significant role in expanding its presence in the brick-and-mortar grocery space. The company has since lowered prices, particularly for Prime members, and enhanced its reach in the grocery market.