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So you’ve got a promising prospect who tells you they’re interested in the insurance you sell—and asks you to keep in touch. Or maybe you’ve got a list of leads that you’re trying to build into an effective business. There are plenty of ways to nurture those leads toward a sale, but it helps to have a specific system. Here are a few tips.

Know where they are in the sales cycle. If they mentioned a specific need, you can fast track through the steps and get to the point where you sell them on a phone call. Send an email mentioning the project and saying you’d like to get them on the phone—mention a benefit of talking to you; maybe you’re sure you can save them money on their insurance or get them coverage better suited to their business. Specify a few times.

People who haven’t mentioned a specific need, but did say they have a general need for the insurance you sell—people you had a conversation with—require a different nurturing strategy. Same with people you don’t know personally but who gave you their information. Each one needs a separate lead nurturing system.

Know that they’re quality. There’s very little you can do in lead nurturing that will make up for not having strong, quality leads. Be sure you’re prequalifying. Not everyone is worth your time. Be sure your sales funnel is aimed in the right direction and collecting the right information.

Contact them quickly. This is where it’s a good idea to automate; have an automatic message that alerts the prospect that you’ll be in touch. You can customize these to provide some details about what you discussed earlier, if applicable, and mention what you plan on discussing later (and the benefits of talking to you—for example, you’re planning on discussing how they can save money on certain insurance coverage). If you already told the person you’d contact them within a specified time, do what you promised.

Stay in regular touch. This could mean personally, with periodic emails providing information of interest or opportunities for the customer—or it could mean a regular email newsletter, your social media feed, and other marketing opportunities. The more you show up in the prospect’s feed and inbox, the more you’ll stay top-of-mind.

Keep track of results. Track what’s working and what’s not, so you can have a better idea of where to focus your efforts.

Having an established system can go a long way toward making lead nurturing more effective and less time-consuming. Plug each lead into your system at the point that’s appropriate to them—whether they’ve expressed an interest by supplying their information, or you’ve met them in person, or they’ve expressed a specific need. With these techniques, your lead generation efforts should result in a lot more business.