Category: Lead Response
Salespeople Stop Attempting to Contact Prospects Too Soon
Studies show the average number of times companies try to reach an online inquiry is only 1.25 times
“An online inquiry is gold,” says Adam Berkson, president of LiveVoice, an answering service call center that provides a lead response service. “It represents a prospect hungry to buy, and it doesn’t take much effort to close the deal.”
Even so the efforts at too many companies, too often result in an epic fail rather than a cause for celebration. In earlier posts we’ve revealed that a shocking 41 to 49 percent of the time no one even bothers to respond. However, those who do, have a 37 percent chance of closing on their first contact, jumping all the way up to 95 percent if they make twelve contact attempts.
Yet most sales reps give up too soon, well before they make that twelfth call. How much too soon? The numbers vary from survey to survey, from making a dismal 1.07 attempts per inquiry to a high of 2.6 attempts. The composite average of six significant research studies stands at a paltry 1.25 attempts to reach an interested, ready-to-buy prospect.
This startling data is courtesy of Dave Elkington CEO and chairman of InsideSales.com, a lead management and sales automation provider. Among other things, Elkington’s presentation reveals that salespeople routinely waste the leads their marketing teams provide to them.
“Between not calling back at all and stopping too soon when they do, I estimate these companies are effectively squandering over 75 percent of their marketing dollars through the inaction and the lack of persistence of their sales team,” adds Berkson. “There’s no excuse for such lackadaisical behavior.”
Steve Knight, senior VP of client services at TeleServices Direct, a worldwide provider of outsource call center services concurs. “Too often the marketing folks are blamed for a bad campaign, when the fault lies with the sales reps tasked with follow up,” he says. “I fear this happens more often than anyone realizes.”
For its part, LiveVoice’s goal when responding to online information requests for their clients is to react within one minute. “When you can respond that fast you have a high rate of success on the first contact,” says Berkson. “But in those rare cases we don’t reach someone on the first try, we keep at it until we do. Persistence pays off.”
Peter DeHaan, PhD, is a freelance writer, call center authority, and publisher of Connections Magazine, which covers the call center industry.
