In a nutshell, my job is to drive highly qualified leads to my Denver area clients. Clients receive leads in one of two ways: the prospect will call my client directly, or the prospect will complete a form request with their information. Whether a prospect chooses to call or fill out a form varies greatly by industry, but all industries I work with receive both types of leads.
Once the lead is generated and is sent to my client, the sales process starts. My clients must work with the leads from this point forward and are responsible for converting prospects into clients.
Experience tells us that following up on a lead as quickly as possible is a very important factor in converting a prospect to a client. The client can immediately gauge the responsiveness of the company by how quickly they respond to a form request. Business owners are in effect being tested at that very moment. It may serve as a preview to the prospect of what kind of service level they can expect should they choose to do business with the company.
To assist my clients in making sure that they respond quickly to prospect requests, I have implemented text messaging systems to ensure that my clients receive lead notifications as they arrive. This will allow them to respond quickly and increase the chance of converting the prospect into a client.
How Fast Should Denver Businesses Follow Up on Leads?
What I didn't know was just how fast leads need to be tended to. Over at SearchEngineLand.com, they discuss how M.I.T. did a study in conjunction with InsideSales.com, and the results were shocking.
"...Delaying your first-dial response time from 5 to just 30 minutes decreases your chances of qualifying the lead by 21 times! ..."
Waiting 30 minutes - instead of calling a prospect back promptly within 5 minutes - decreases your chance at converting a prospect to almost nothing. Clients need to incorporate this information into their sales process and make sure that they are responsive to prospects as they arrive.
How Does This Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?
If you're a Denver small business owner who is actively generating leads but is lax on follow up, this should be your wake-up call. You need to make sure that someone in your organization is responsible for following-up with leads as they come in in a timely fashion. Your sales process provides a sneak peek to a prospect at the level of service that your business provides. Lead generation can be an expensive process. You can greatly enhance the ROI of your marketing efforts just by making sure you follow up with prospects promptly.