Fundamentals to Get The Most of Your Inside Sales Efforts
What good is an ‘A’ for effort if it doesn’t yield any results? It’s useless. To help your sales reps use their efforts more effectively, give them the tools and knowledge they need to be productive. By utilizing research consolidated in the Lead Response Management study conducted by XANT and Dr. James Oldroyd, PhD., reps gain access to powerful resources that will turn their effort into efficiency and dramatically increase lead conversions.
The two fundamental reasons that a sales team doesn’t yield the results they expect are: 1) Companies don’t respond fast enough, and 2) They don’t respond persistently enough. The good news is these two outcomes are easily fixed by focusing the efforts of a sales rep.
How would you feel if you walked into a department store ready to buy, and the salesperson told you to come back in two days and they would be happy to sell you the shoes you’ve had your eye on? You wouldn’t be very happy and would probably take your business to a different department store. This same principle applies to leads generated from the internet. These leads are hot and ready to buy – so contact them within 5 minutes of them submitting their lead! Research has shown that the odds of contacting a lead if called within five minutes versus even 30 minutes are 100x greater. Probably even more important, the odds of that lead entering into your sales cycle increase by 21x if called within the same time frame.
Think about it. This all makes perfect sense. If you call back a lead immediately, you are still at the top of their mind. They were just thinking about me. This has a huge impact in terms of lead qualifications.
Some other tips that can be used to ensure that a sales reps effort creates the most waves is to understand the best time of day to call and the best days of the week to call. Through research, XANT has determined that calling from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. will result in a higher chance of contact. The absolute worst time a rep can call a lead is from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday are the best days for making contact.
Before getting back on the phone, remember that the effort of a sales rep depends greatly on if they understand when they will be the most successful. Remember that data trumps intuition. By utilizing and understanding the research, the effort put into your calls can turn into significant results.
Check out my webinar series for an additional resource in how to maximize the impact of your effort. Pay particular attention to 31:12 to 44:12 for effort specific information.
Author: Ken Krogue | Google+
Summary of Ken Krogue’s Forbes articles