What does it take to close a deal? Salespeople spend a lot of time asking themselves this question. Little do they know, the answer is right at their fingertips.
To uncover the best possible process for maximizing your chances of closing a deal, Velocify conducted research examining the outreach methods of thousands of salespeople. Entitled “The Ultimate Guide to Inquiry Response,” the study looked at which steps to contact and follow up with leads ultimately resulted in a higher rate of secured deals.
Salespeople are notoriously relentless when following up with leads…or are they? According to our study, salespeople regularly failed to follow the best processes for contacting prospects. Thus, our study provides an excellent starting place for sales leaders to re-evaluate their team’s process and learn the methods that shape a highly successful team of salespeople, following the right steps at the right time.
Highlights of the study include:
• Only 12 percent of leads received the right number of voicemails. According to our study, leads who received two voicemails on six missed calls were 34 percent more likely to convert than those who did not receive any voicemails.
• Only eight percent of unresponsive leads received the optimal number of calls, between five and seven, which results in the best ROI.
• Only three percent of leads received calls within one minute, even though contacting leads within one minute lead to doubled conversion rates.
When comparing actual behaviors to optimal processes, the study revealed that salespeople are not even close to the best practices for contacting leads. Let’s dive into these categories further.
How often would you email a lead? According to the study, salespeople were widely underperforming in their email attempts. With our increasing dependence on the digital workplace and an increase in marketing automation technology, one would think that email responses would be a no-brainer. Instead, the study found that prior to moving into a nurture status, only seven percent of leads received between four and six emails from a salesperson, the ideal number. Even more astounding, 28 percent of leads were completely neglected, never receiving an email at all.
Phone
In our past studies, we uncovered that the optimal number of call attempts was six. However, this study showed that a mere eight percent of leads receive between five and seven calls. Furthermore, if contacted within 30 minutes, leads are 1.72 times more likely to covert, and if called back within one minute, they are 2.14 times more likely to convert. But with teams’ average response time coming within 48 hours, most organizations are vastly underperforming.
Voicemail
You may be thinking, does anyone still leave voicemails? While many may think that voicemails are unimportant, this study found that leads who received two voicemails on six missed calls were 34 percent more likely to convert than leads who do not receive any voicemails. The ideal approach here is to leave two voicemails within the optimal six call attempts. How many voicemails did leads actually receive? Unfortunately, only 12 percent of leads were left two voicemails, while almost half of the prospects weren’t left any voicemails.
We can see how salespeople need to rethink their current approach. With Velocify’s “Ultimate Guide to Inquiry Response,” sales leaders can ensure that their teams are kept abreast of the most efficient and effective processes when handling a company’s most valuable assets, its leads.
