Inbound Lead Qualification & Appointment Setting
Your company is contacted by prospective new customers from various sources – inbound phone calls and e-mails, forms from your website, paid digital advertising, social media, and so on. Timely, consistent, and aggressive follow up to qualify leads is an art and a science. Our team of experts is prepared to handle inbound leads as soon as they are received … the clock is literally ticking!
Common Mistakes To Avoid & Our Solutions
Here are 5 mistakes to avoid in your inbound lead qualification process:
Mistake #1 – Waiting too long to contact an inbound lead
- Did you know that contact and qualification rates drop dramatically in just minutes after a form is submitted and continue to decrease? Customers should be contacted within 5 minutes of submitting a lead.
- Always assume the customer submitted more than one form and the first to contact wins.
- Our Solution: When a prospective customer raises their hand to be contact it must take priority. We contact all inbound leads in a matter of minutes … and win regularly.
Mistake #2 – Only making 1 attempt to contact
- Most companies give up on contacting and qualifying inbound leads too soon. After 1 attempt, they expect the customer to call back. Companies should make a minimum of 6 contact attempts to make contact with new prospective customers.
- Our Solution: We view this as both a sprint and a marathon and never assume your customer is going to return our first phone call or e-mail. We will be respectfully persistent on your behalf.
Mistake #3 – Only contacting customers at the same time every day
- There is data-driven evidence that the most efficient way to qualify inbound leads vary by the time of day and the actual day of the week. Companies should not only attempt to contact inbound leads during a set, pre-determined time.
- Our Solution: We contact customers at various times throughout the day in order to improve our ability to complete the qualification process. We must be flexible on behalf of new prospective customers.
Mistake #4 – Only contacting customers via one contact method
- Contacting inbound leads should involve an integrated approach of contacting via the phone, leaving voice-mails, and sending e-mails. Some customers will prefer one method over another, even texting. Never assume your customers preferred method of contact.
- Our Solution: Every customer is different. We effectively work to understand how the customer would like to be contacted and try various methods to improve our ability to contact them.
Mistake #5 – Having your Field Sales Team make the first contact attempts to new inbound leads
- Field sales team members have weekly and monthly revenue target to hit. They should be focused on managing the proper areas of the sales funnel (middle to bottom) and not spending precious sales time qualifying new customers. Sales team members are paid to sell, not to chase customers for initial qualification.
- Our Solution: We know that properly qualifying inbound leads via the right team and process not only improves the customer experience but also increases average sale price and future lifetime value. Invest in the proper way to do this and your sales team will love you.