How to Maximize Your Web-Generated Sales Leads
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Congratulations! Someone is interested in your product [or business opportunity]. Maybe they filled out a web form or mentioned your brand in a tweet. Regardless, if you’re in sales [or online marketing], it’s time to pounce.
But how quickly? What days and times are best to follow up on leads? How persistent should you be before it’s no longer worth your time?
James Oldroyd, PhD of Ohio State University, and David Elkington, CEO of InsideSales.com, conducted research on three years of data from companies that deal with web-generated leads. They found that timing is key. The likelihood of making a sale drops off dramatically more than five minutes after initial contact.
See their other insights in the graphic below.
(click the image to enlarge)
InsideSales.com Study Details
The study focused on one question, which was:
“For the best results, how should companies respond to their leads?”
The first call from the company or salesperson is important. It should be done at a time and day that maximizes results and minimizes efforts. Many of the results in this study are based on first call attempts, indicating how to get the job done right the first time.
The study outlines that the Best Days to make contact with a web-generated sales lead is Wednesday and Thursday. In fact, Thursday is the best working day to make contact. Saturday and Sunday were not accounted for in the study. The worst day to contact a person to make your sales pitch is Tuesday with Monday close behind.
Here’s how the days of the work week rank, according to the study:
#1 – Thursday
#2 – Wednesday
#3 – Friday
#4 – Monday
#5 – Tuesday
There is a 49% difference of successfully closing a sale when you contact a sales lead on Tuesday versus Thursday. That’s almost a 50% easier time closing the sale, just because you contacted a lead on Thursday instead of Tuesday. Any salesperson could use that extra boost to convert a lead into a sale.
The next part of the study focused on the Best Times to make contact with a web-generated sales lead.
First, the qualifying rates were higher in late afternoon versus early afternoon.
How much higher?
By a whopping 164%.
The two best times of the day to contact a sales lead after they submit their contact information through a web-based form are:
Best Time To Call
Between 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Second Best Time To Call
Between 8:00 am to 9:00 am.
Another area that the InsideSales.com study looked at was how quickly you should make contact with your web-generated sales leads.
The study determined that the best time to contact a sales lead was immediately, within 5 minutes of that person submitting their name and phone number. Timing is vital and the faster you make contact, the easier it is to qualify that lead.
In fact, it’s so important, the chance of qualifying a lead decreases by 10 times when the clock goes beyond that 5-minute window of opportunity. You still have a chance at the 10-minute mark, but not too much.
If you are getting leads with phone numbers throughout your website, you better hire a staff that promptly responds to those web-generated leads in 5 minutes or less.
The study discovered that the more persistent a salesperson or sales team is the more likely it will result in a sold product. The sixth phone call seems like the magic number, as it results in a 90% chance of closing the sale.
Here’s how the different calls rank:
1st Call – 30%
2nd Call – 50%
3rd Call – 65%
4th Call – 72%
5th Call – 78%
6th Call – 90%
Here’s a few other important facts from the study:
– The average company or salesperson only makes 1.5 attempts to follow-up with a web-generated sales lead.
– The average company or salesperson takes 44 hours to respond to leads.
– 55% of companies don’t respond to a sales lead at all.
According to the research of InsideSales.com, “Most companies throw away business by failing to respond to leads properly.”
Don’t throw away your business or disregard your leads. Learn how to properly market to your core audience and make contact with prospective customers who are interested in your business, brand and products.
Join the Empower Network to get the full training you need:
via How to Capitalize on Web-Generated Sales Leads (Mashable.com)