There is a strange thing sitting inside a lot of businesses right now.

It contains names of people who called. People who filled out forms. People who requested estimates. People who asked questions. People who were interested enough to have an actual conversation about spending money.

Then, somehow, everybody forgot about them.

It’s called the CRM.

Over the years, I’ve looked at plenty of customer databases, and one thing continues to amaze me: businesses can spend thousands of dollars generating new leads while hundreds or even thousands of old leads sit quietly inside the CRM doing absolutely nothing.

It’s like complaining there’s nothing to eat while standing in front of a full refrigerator.

Before spending another dollar trying to get somebody new to raise a hand, it might be worth figuring out what happened to everybody who already did.

Not Every “No” Was Actually a No

This is probably the biggest misconception surrounding old leads.

If somebody didn’t buy, that person must not have been interested.

Not necessarily.

• Maybe the timing was bad.
• Maybe the money wasn’t available yet.
• Maybe the project got delayed.
• Maybe the prospect needed to talk to a spouse, business partner, boss, accountant, attorney, cousin Eddie or whoever else gets involved in these decisions.

Sometimes people simply get busy.

A prospect can be genuinely interested on Tuesday and completely consumed by something else on Wednesday.

Three months later, the original need may still exist.

The problem is that the salesperson has usually moved on to whatever came through the door this morning.

The CRM Has Receipts

A properly maintained CRM tells a story.

1. When did the lead come in?
2. Where did it come from?
3. What service was requested?
4. Was there a phone call?
5. Was an appointment scheduled?
6. Was an estimate sent?
7. What happened next?

That last question is where things get interesting.

I’ve seen CRM records that essentially say:

• Lead received.
• Called.
• Appointment.
• Estimate sent.

And then…

Nothing.

That’s not a completed sales process. That’s the season finale of a television show that got canceled before anybody found out what happened.

Those records deserve attention.

Start Looking for the Loose Ends

One of the easiest ways to find forgotten opportunities is to search for records that never reached a definitive conclusion.

• Look at estimates that were sent but never accepted or declined.
• Look at leads marked “follow up” from eight months ago.
• Look at appointments that were canceled but never rescheduled.
• Look at prospects who said to call back in six months.

Spoiler alert: six months ago was nine months ago.

These are the loose ends hiding inside the database.

Not every one of them is going to turn into business. Some people moved on. Some changed their minds. Some hired somebody else.

That’s fine.

The important part is knowing the difference between a lost opportunity and an abandoned one.

Notes Are More Valuable Than Most People Realize

This is where good CRM habits become incredibly important.

“Called customer” isn’t a useful note.

1. What happened?
2. Did the person answer?
3. Was the project postponed?
4. Was price an issue?
5. Was another decision-maker involved?
6. Did the prospect say to call back after tax season?
7. Did the prospect disappear into the Bermuda Triangle?

Details matter.

A note saying “Interested, but project delayed until fall” creates an obvious future action.

A note saying “LM” means somebody left a message.

Fantastic.

Future generations will appreciate the historical record.

Sort by Inactivity

Another useful approach is looking at the last activity date.

Find prospects who had several interactions and then suddenly went quiet.

That pattern can be interesting.

If somebody filled out a form, answered a phone call, scheduled an appointment and received an estimate, there was obviously some degree of interest.

If communication stopped afterward, figuring out why may be worthwhile.

CRM data makes those patterns easier to identify because everything can be sorted and filtered.

Instead of staring at 4,000 contacts and contemplating an early retirement, the database can be narrowed to specific groups.

• Estimate sent but no decision.
• No activity for 90 days.
• Follow-up requested.
• Appointment canceled.
• Proposal viewed.
• Previous customer.

Suddenly, 4,000 records might become 73 worth examining.

That’s much more manageable.

Automation Can Help Find the Humans

This is one of the things about automation that gets misunderstood.

Automation doesn’t necessarily mean replacing human interaction.

Sometimes automation simply finds the human interactions that should be happening.

A system can identify records that meet certain conditions and flag them for review.

That’s considerably different from blasting every person in the database with:

“HEY JOHN!!! STILL NEED A ROOF?!?!”

Please don’t do that.

The goal should be relevance.

Someone who requested an estimate six months ago and said the project was being postponed deserves different treatment from someone who clearly said no.

Technology can identify the record.

Context determines what happens next.

Old Leads Can Also Expose Bigger Problems

CRM data can reveal more than forgotten prospects.

It can expose patterns.

Suppose 100 people requested estimates and 62 disappeared immediately afterward.

Interesting.

• Maybe pricing needs examination.
• Maybe estimates are taking too long.
• Maybe follow-up is inconsistent.
• Maybe prospects aren’t receiving enough information to make a decision.
• Maybe the salesperson keeps forgetting to call people because the salesperson has 900 sticky notes attached to a computer monitor.

The CRM can help expose where conversations repeatedly stop.

That information can be just as valuable as the individual leads themselves.

Stop Treating the CRM Like a Digital Junk Drawer

A CRM shouldn’t be the place where leads go to die.

It should provide a history of conversations, decisions, follow-ups and outcomes.

That requires maintaining the data.

Statuses need to mean something.

Notes need context.

Follow-up dates need to actually trigger follow-ups.

Closed opportunities should explain why they closed.

Otherwise, the CRM eventually becomes the digital equivalent of that kitchen drawer containing batteries, expired coupons, three mystery keys and a charger for a phone nobody has owned since 2014.

There’s probably something useful in there.

Nobody knows where it is.

After years in marketing, one lesson continues to hold up: businesses are often so focused on finding the next lead that they forget about the last one.

Before searching the entire internet for another prospect, take a look inside the CRM.

Somebody may already be waiting for that follow-up.

And has been since February.

How Rhino Can Help

Lead Rescue connects your CRM to immediate response, automated nurture and reactivation campaigns, so forgotten opportunities get worked again. Request a free marketing assessment to find what is sitting untouched.