I was recently talking to one of my team members about our current funnels and what happens when a cold lead comes into our email sequence.

(If it sounds like I’m speaking a different language right now, I’m referring to collecting names and emails and then marketing to those people via email.)

And she mentioned how one of the top influencers and business owners in our industry shared that it actually takes their new leads about three years to finally purchase from them.

THREE YEARS!

I was blown away by that stat. This is someone who is renowned for adding value and warming up their audience religiously.

But the truth is, sometimes it takes longer for people to feel comfortable enough with you (or know, like and trust you enough) to get out their credit card and purchase.

If you’re a business owner in the online space, you probably know what I’m talking about. From my perspective, there are a few categories of leads in the mix…

The Quick Decision Maker: These leads take action quickly and buy right away. They literally just “met you” and are quick to become your new favorite client or biggest fan.

The Lurker: You can see these leads are opening up all your emails, liking all the posts but they may or may not ever buy.

The Slow Burners: Those who will buy but it takes them a long time to do so. They want to be on every webinar, look at every post and review the sales page at least 5x before purchasing.

The Wet Blanket: Those who will never actually buy or participate. They may have sent you to spam without you ever knowing it. (They aren’t really wet blankets — just not your ideal client!)

As you can imagine, with the different types of buyers on your list, it’s key that you have a pulse on which percentage of your list falls into each category so you can have some predictability in your business.

Lovely, I admit; I was slow to really get this.

Last year we did something that we should have done a LONG time ago; we started meticulously tracking our sales.

We tracked where someone came into our funnel, via which opt-in and how long it took them to purchase. We committed to asking our clients why they purchased from us. We began to really collect and review the metrics.

For driven women like us, Lovely, (and those of us who are dreamers and want to do all the things at once), taking time to look at the numbers can feel unnatural, but I am writing today to make sure that you know just how important this is.

Without the numbers, you’re still throwing spaghetti against the wall. You’re still guessing. And worse, you may be taking action that’s not actually getting the results you want. You don’t have predictability.

I hope this resonates with you today and that you can see how imperative this is to your success.

Can’t wait to see you implement this process and experience mega results!