People who know me are rarely aware that I moonlight as a marriage counselor. I tell workaholic spouses that they had better “Date your wife (or husband) or someone else will.” The same can be said to salespeople: Date your leads or someone else will.

Sadly, I see far too many sales professionals buy leads and then completely drop the ball on nurturing those leads. That is the equivalent of spending months of your life wooing your sweetheart, finally convincing the person to marry you, and then completely ignoring him or her for the rest of your married life… which would probably be a very short-lived marriage. You must continue to nurture your relationship with your leads until they finally decide to hire you.

The nurturing process commences as soon as you receive the lead. In most cases, you are not the only salesperson receiving the lead. Your lead generation service probably sent the lead to several other salespeople in your area, and the first person to contact the lead has the best chance, by far, of ultimately landing the sale.

Tip: You should have a system that enables you to check incoming leads wherever you may be.

After that first contact, keep in touch with your lead. One of the best ways to do this is to add the person to a drip email campaign. With drip email, a series of messages are sent out automatically once every week or so, so the prospect does not have the opportunity to forget about you. When they eventually decide to buy, he or she can quickly open your email message to obtain your contact information and call or email you to obtain more information. You can set up a drip email campaign online at any of several drip email management sites. I use Rainmaker E-Central at www.rainmakerecentral.com.

At the same time, you should mail a marketing packet to your prospective client. Your packet should include a folder with the following materials:

• Your business card
• A letter of introduction describing who you are and how you help your clients
• Your resume
• Your company, team, or personal mission statement
• A brochure
• Reprints of any positive press your received in the newspapers

Remember, your marketing packet represents you, so invest in an attractive layout and design. To establish a brand presence in the mind of the person receiving the packet, every item in your marketing packet should have a consistent look and feel.

If you do not hear back from your lead, call the person sooner rather than later. Ask where he or she is in the decision process and whether you can do anything right now to assist them.

Whatever you do, do not let that lead off the hook. Before my wife agreed to marry me, I had to ask her 11 times. Remain persistent without nagging, and transform those leads into commissions, or in my case, a sweetheart for life!