I forgot my cell phone one day when I went to work. I was lost, unable to do things that not too long ago were impossible with a land line. I can call, text, email, tweet, find a restaurant, make a reservation, get turn by turn directions … hey there’s an app for just about anything.

A prospect who fills out a form on your website is looking for a solution, NOW. They have a problem and it’s unacceptable to contact them 2 days after or not at all.

inside|sales has done research with MIT professor, James Oldroyd, covering the topic of Lead Management with a goal to discover the best time to contact an interested prospect. The results surprised us, as we learned that companies don’t have the luxury of waiting 2 days to contact: or 2 hours. Whether you are a B2B company, or a B2C company, […]]]> Technology has trained us to expect things, NOW. When I have a question I’ll Google it and millions of possible answers will be at my fingertips in .27 seconds. I forget that I used to have to go to the library or call a company by looking through the yellow pages.

I forgot my cell phone one day when I went to work. I was lost, unable to do things that not too long ago were impossible with a land line. I can call, text, email, tweet, find a restaurant, make a reservation, get turn by turn directions … hey there’s an app for just about anything.

A prospect who fills out a form on your website is looking for a solution, NOW. They have a problem and it’s unacceptable to contact them 2 days after or not at all.

inside|sales has done research with MIT professor, James Oldroyd, covering the topic of Lead Management with a goal to discover the best time to contact an interested prospect. The results surprised us, as we learned that companies don’t have the luxury of waiting 2 days to contact: or 2 hours. Whether you are a B2B company, or a B2C company, Dr. Oldroyd’s study shows that companies have a 5 minute window to contact an interested prospect before that web lead’s interest drops dramatically.

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Contact ratios will increase 100 times when you call an interested web lead within 5 minutes. More importantly, qualifying rates increase 21 times the amount if you delay past the 5 minute mark. Why?
• The prospect is still at the computer which typically means they are by a phone.
• They are thinking about the problem they have at that moment. In 2 hours they are trying to get dinner on, or in a meeting.
• It’s a “WOW” experience. You are giving insight into how your company treats its clients, by demonstrating that you are on top of their concerns.

Technology expedites our “wants” into “haves” faster than ever before, making it harder for businesses to close consumers with little patience. Now, technology has come to the rescue, once again, by giving companies the ability to reach fickle consumers before their interest dies out.

Update! Great article on Nowism.

Download the study mentioned in this post