We have discussed lead conversion best practices in the past, but given their importance they bear repeating. There are 4 key practices that every lead buyer should faithfully follow in order to improve their conversion rates.
- Be the first to Contact the Consumer
- Be Diligent and Methodical with Your Follow-Up
- Earn the Consumer’s Trust
- Recycle Older Leads
Today we will cover points 1 & 2 and follow up with 3 & 4 in a subsequent post.
Practice #1: Be the First to Contact the Consumer
While this may seem obvious, you might be surprised by how much of an impact it has. If your lead provider does not deliver real-time leads, you are already at a disadvantage. LeadPoint has a call center where we interact with consumers that we have matched with buyers in our network. Invariably, the number one consumer complaint is that the consumer was not contacted by all of the buyers with whom they were matched.
Thus, not only are buyers not calling on the leads as soon as they are received, many buyers’ sales representatives are not even calling on the leads at all. Time-to-contact is the key component to success with data leads. While it is not likely that you will get the deal on the initial call, you need to attempt to be the very first company that the consumer speaks with. Consumers want to entertain other offers, but being the first to speak to the consumer will help you succeed in Practice #3 (Earn the Consumer’s Trust) and you will become the benchmark against which all other conversations will be measured. However, being the first to contact is only one piece of the pie.
Even if you purchase an exclusive lead from LeadPoint you may not be the only company competing for the consumers’ business. After submitting their inquiry with a LeadPoint partner, consumers may continue to pursue other inquiries over the Internet.
Practice #2: Be Diligent and Methodical with your Follow-Up
Upon receiving the lead, you should do all of the following:
- Immediately contact the consumer at all available phone numbers.
- “Preferred” call times (a field that some leads include) are great for follow up, but if you adhere to them for the initial contact then you will be left in the dust.
- If you don’t have the means to set up an auto-generated email response to the lead, then have a standard introductory letter that you fire off to the consumer manually, immediately upon receiving the lead.
If the consumer is not contacted on the initial call, then call a minimum of 3 more times per day during the first day (4 calls total), and during the subsequent 3 days thereafter until the consumer is contacted. Leave a message, however, only on the last call of the day. Perform the above processes consistently and religiously!
Bonus Tip – Call on weekends!
Consumers are more likely to answer their phone. They are likely to have all the necessary documentation in front of them. And they generally have more freedom to speak than they might while at work.
To be continued….
