Time is of the Essence: Contacting Leads From Web Submissions
I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to instruct our salespeople that immediate contact is critical to web leads. We have tried automatic email replies, personalized responses, and phone calls within 24 hours. But, I continue to believe that getting that warm lead on the phone within one hour is critical. RIS media put this out:
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conducted research into the effectiveness of online marketing and found that leads contacted within one hour of submission were 10 times more likely to result in successful contact than those not contacted within one hour. An auto-responder is better than nothing, but a personal phone call is even better: not only are you likely to find the submitter still at their computer and available to talk, you will absolutely blow the submitter away with your superior service.
I will say, however, that quality of the conversation is just as important to the speed of the contact. For some of our leads that are generated over the weekend, we usually catch those leads on Monday. The telephone marketer that I employ is incredible with outbound call times that average 36 minutes.
How are you following up with your leads?
