There is a fine line between overdoing and doing enough, and treading that line can be difficult. There are many types of contacts so there isn’t a one-size-fits-all process anymore. A sales person can call, email, send direct mail and, in today’s fast paced era, some customers may even prefer a text conversation.

Click to listen to a sample call recording.

One thing to remember is your contacts submitted the lead because they want to hear from you. Based on available information, we know the typical lead is given anywhere between 1 and 3 contact attempts before a salesperson moves on. We also know that collectively only 10% of sales are accomplished within the first 3 contacts. What about the other 90%? Too often those leads are abandoned which can result in them purchasing elsewhere. The 10% is what most refer to as the “low hanging fruit.” It is safe to assume that the customer has already spent the time researching online or browsing through brochures and knows exactly what they want and when they want it before ever coming in contact with a salesperson. While that 10% is every bit as important, it is necessary to stay in contact with the other 90% to improve the possibility of a sale with them in the future.

Most sales happen between the 8th and 10th contact.

The first step to establishing a lead nurturing system that helps to manage these contacts. When a lead comes in, over-communicating is encouraged until you have heard back. It can be discouraging when a customer doesn’t call or email back, but it doesn’t have to end there. Keep trying until you have made contact.

Establish a connection within the first 10 minutes of receiving a lead.

• The chances of connecting with your lead decrease between 7-10x with failure to contact within the first hour.
• You increase your odds of connecting with a web based lead by 900% by reaching out within the first 5 minutes.

To review, it is extremely important to call your leads until you have established contact.  The customer wants to hear from you. Once contact has been established, decide with the customer what outlet(phone, email, text) and time is best to contact them. It is important to make this as simple and easy as possible for the customer. Never give up and never get discouraged.

Read more about the Lead Follow Up Process here.