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How Fast Should You Follow Up on a Lead?

A lead is a person who has expressed interest in your company, a person who has a need for a product or service.  And whether it’s a product or a service, your company has the solution to their need. So, when should you follow up with that lead to help drive the sale?  The answer: as soon as possible.

In a day and age where solutions are a mere click away,response time can be instrumental in closing a sale.  Drift Lead Response[1]conducted a survey in 2017 that found that more than 50% of companies did not follow-up with their leads within a five-day period.  This delayed response time gives your competitor the opportunity to strike, leaving your sale open to a loss.

Let’s say you met this lead through a networking event, sales booth or even through a trusted professional on SalesGig.  You want the lead to remember you, to remember why you were introduced to them in the first place.   This personal connection can lose momentum if you don’t follow up within the right amount of time.

Lead Response Time

A survey[2]was conducted by InsideSales.com with Omniture to track the lead response time of approximately 700 companies - the results were alarming.  Less than 5% of companies called a lead within 24 hours.  The average sales response time via telephone was 36 hours, 57 minutes with a whopping 45.2% of companies not responding to the lead at all.

The early bird gets the worm and in sales, this is quite true.  Results from the survey showed that a lead was 21 times more likely to qualify and go on to become a customer if the lead was called within five minutes. Responding to a lead while the issue is forefront on their mind is the best approach you can take.  The odds of qualifying a lead continually decrease the longer you let time lag before contacting them.  The survey shows that qualifying a lead drops 21% between 5 minutes and 30 minutes.  Waiting only an hour to respond can potentially lose your lead completely.

Follow-Up Routines

Don’t be disheartened if your first contact with a lead doesn’t close a sale.  Having a follow-up routine has been shown to increase results. When designing your follow-up routine, it’s important to take into consideration which contact mediums are available (email, phone, etc.) and which medium your lead would prefer.

Sirius Decisions[3]released a study showing that the majority of sales associates only made an average of two attempts to follow up with a lead.  When it comes to marketing, persistence is key.  It may take a few emails or phone calls for the lead to become a sale.

Your contact with the lead should be substantive.  If there is no value in the conversation,you’ve likely lost the lead.  Stay on message and be helpful.  Remember that you’re there to solve a problem, to fill a need for them.

With SalesGig, lead generation has never been simpler.  Put those referrals to good use and start closing sales.

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SalesGig creates seamless lead generation with limitless opportunities by connecting companies with referral partners.  Sign up today and get connected.

[1] https://www.drift.com/blog/lead-response-survey/

[2] http://www.leadresponsemanagement.org/lrm_study

[3] https://intelligentgrowth.siriusdecisions.com/studies

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