Leads that are responded to quickly (WITHIN THE HOUR) make money – FACT
Whatever response time we are aiming for on enquiry, it’s not always easy to keep it consistent, with the peaks and troughs of demand that we experience, and the challenge of managing that effectively with the resource in place. There are some top tips coming up on how to handle that scenario, but before, lets look at how easy it is to be good at enquiry response 🙂
Be the first to respond
I have certainly been surprised recently at the lack of response received to business enquiries that I have made. Phones not answered. No voicemails. Online enquiry forms sent out and no response back.
Having sent out 5 for the same service, how many do you think got back to me?
TWO! One was within 2 hours, one was within 12 hours, and the others I NEVER HEARD FROM.
You can guess who got the business.
It completely reflected research from InsideSales.com showing that 35–50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first.
This is your chance to make an impression, and a quick response shows good service, starts to build trust, and if the response is bespoke to the enquiry, and has clearly had thought put into it, all the better!
A survey conducted by Prof. James Oldroyd at MIT, in conjunction with InsideSales.com, showed that the odds of qualifying a lead if you contact them 30 minutes after an enquiry drops by a factor of 21 times compared to a 5-minute reply!
If you can get back to a client when they are feeling excited to have found your service and it is present in their mind, it is much easier to make an impact and qualify/convert a sale.
Harvard Business Review’s article and study of 2,241 U.S. companies data showed that:
- 37% responded within an hour
- 16% responded within 1-24 hours
- 24% took more than 24 hours
- 23% never responded at all
The good news is that increasing response rates from 27% to 92% can cause a 314% lift in results.
There is little point in spending money on generating new leads if you haven’t got to grips with what’s coming in already and have a team in place to react appropriately.
Top tips for when you are battling with those enquiries flooding in:
- HAVE AN AUTO RESPONSE TO YOUR ONLINE ENQUIRY FORM that provides information on when they can expect to get a response and can relax knowing that you have received their details. If you get inundated with enquiries and struggle to meet your usual target response time, adjust the auto response. You can also ask clients to flag up to you if their enquiry is urgent and when they need a response by. That way time can be managed according to client needs as identified by them and allows you to prioritise more effectively.
- PULL RESOURCE FROM OTHER TEAMS, ASK FOR HELP
Sounds simple yes but it’s all too easy to sit in the office stressing over a backlog. Are there any other team members working elsewhere in the business that can help you? If you don’t ask you won’t know!
- SHOUT ABOUT HOW BUSY YOU ARE, TO BOOST SALES!
Don’t underestimate the power of demand to convert sales more quickly. Scarcity makes people perceive your service as valuable and it encourages them to take action. Limited availability has the power to increase leads and conversion, clients are forced to make a decision, especially where there is exclusivity.
- ONLINE CHAT FACILITY
If your business does not have this in place yet, think about whether it can support an online chat facility for clients to submit queries and get an instant response. This would allow you to commit to shortened target response times for increased conversion/sales
Hope this is helpful ? please do comment.
Interested to learn more or chat to me about how Bamboo can support you?
References:
Insidesales and Dr. James Oldroyd study, is available under the title “The Lead Response Management Study”
HBR’s study, “The Short Life of Online Sales Leads”
