As per Gartner - Lead nurturing is an increasingly automated approach used to help potential leads progress through the sales funnel and their buying journey. Lead nurturing is essential to both engaging potential buyers and providing qualified prospects for sales. A CRM software operationalizes the lead nurturing process. From customer segmentation to campaign launch & lead scoring to performance tracking. While defining CRM requirements, an organization should define features for lead nurturing and make it part of their product evaluation.

3. When we work with clients on CRM consulting projects, often the
discussion starts around lead management, lead allocation, sales
pipeline and reporting. Chats are limited to capturing leads from
multiple sources and seamless allocation. Tracking of leads is limited
to capturing the lead source and the campaign from which it
originated. There is hardly any discussion on lead nurturing. As a
CRM consulting services company, we believe lead nurturing (if done
well) can vastly improve the lead-to-conversion ratio.

4. As per Gartner - Lead nurturing is an increasingly automated approach
used to help potential leads progress through the sales funnel and their
buying journey. Lead nurturing is essential to both engaging potential
buyers and providing qualified prospects for sales.
A CRM software operationalizes the lead nurturing process. From customer
segmentation to campaign launch & lead scoring to performance tracking.
While defining CRM requirements, an organization should define features
for lead nurturing and make it part of their product evaluation.

5. Also, the CRM suite and features required might differ based on the
company type (B2B/B2C). A B2B company might need features of
segmentation, email marketing, & tracking of content downloads and
landing pages. A B2C company might need more. E.g., push notifications,
tracking app downloads, in-app notifications etc. The CRM team and the
CRM advisory services partner should be aware of these requirements to
make the right CRM selection.

7. In light of the above context.
Let's look at how a CRM can
operationalize the lead
nurturing process:

8. Communication segments
CRM allows the creation of segments. This means your communication,
leads & customer database can be grouped into common attributes like
industry, company size, user persona etc. This helps in targeted
communication and improves the engagement rate. A CRM software can
create groups and send out targeted communications.
Tracking the buyer journey
Consumer-driven purchases are becoming a reality, so tracking buyer
journeys and launching campaigns are essential. An individual who has
visited your landing page, downloaded a case study, or visited the pricing
page, has greater potential to convert than somebody who has filled up the
query form. A CRM can track this behavior and send out custom
campaigns across channels.

9. Lead scoring
Based on user engagement, it is critical to do lead scoring. Lead scoring
allows the categorization of leads (hot, warm, cold) and brings greater
focus to sales engagement and communication. A CRM can auto-calculate
the lead score based on user engagement and bucket leads into the
mentioned attributes. Furthermore, it can trigger custom campaigns for
each category and alert the sales team.
Track, measure, and optimize
Lead nurturing strategies should be measured and tweaked to keep them
effective. CRM software helps to track engagement, lead qualification, and
conversion rates. Reports and dashboards are designed to measure the
success of each step in the buyer/user journey.

10. The process of nurturing leads is not as simple as it sounds.
When building your strategy keep realistic goals. Be ready for
changes and process realignment as it takes time to achieve
results. CRMs should be agile enough to adapt to these changes
quickly.
Due to feature limitations, pricing, etc., it is not always
possible to achieve everything with a single CRM application.
The suite might be completed by a combination of business
applications. Consequently, CRM selection becomes a very
important step, which is why a CRM consulting services company could
be of great help.