Do you have 8 high touch points when prospecting?
Vast majority of leads are long term so you need to have a system in place for numerous touches. Email nurture plays a role as do other tools like your CRM.
There are strategies to automate your touches and they "type" of touch also matters a ton.
Either way, you need to have a process in place for multiple high level touches to convert a prospect to each new step in your sales funnel.