When prospects reach out to your business and become a lead, they want you to reach out fast! Speed-to-Lead helps drive higher conversion rates, and yet nearly half of businesses do not respond to a lead within 24 hours! As an industry, we need to do better to serve our customers. The other issue is that the companies that do believe in fast outreach still don't know how to respond effectively.
Sellers have a lot of misconceptions about speed-to-lead so we want to highlight the truths so you can improve your sales funnel.
The First Sales Myth: Fast Outreach Makes Customers Uncomfortable
As a salesperson, we often forget that a qualified lead is going to have many suitors. If you believe you're the only business that can solve their needs, you might have a bigger problem than just speed-to-lead. Back to our point, here are three great reasons to reach out as fast as possible when you get a lead:
- Staying top of mind — if someone takes the time to fill out one of your company forms it's just good customer service to respond. Doing so quickly makes sure your brand stays with the lead, getting them into your sales cycle.
- First to Impress — Instant gratification is a real thing and if you can trigger that in your lead you're doing something right. You still need to finish the sales process but a good first impression always helps.
- They're In the Right Environment — If you can get back to them within 5 to 10 minutes, they are in the right mindset to hear back from you. It's that simple.
The Second Sales Myth: You Need to Hire too Many Reps to Do It Right
Hiring more sales professionals is going to slow down the process. Every new rep you bring you, you're adding training time and there's a need to break bad habits and build the good ones. A handful of average salespeople will never beat out the great salespeople. It doesn't mean you shouldn't hire, but when you do make sure it's a move you need to take.
One thing to consider is looking for tools that make B2B sales easier, while also improving speed-to-lead. Poseidon has some great features that will improve your sales tactics across the board including how fast you respond to qualified leads.
The Third Sales Myth: Outreach like Cold Calls and Text Don't Work
Phones are still a thing even today. Cold calls can work really well to reach out to a prospect that has just filled out your lead form. But to make things interesting you can also text. It's a sales strategy that is not taught enough in sales training, but it should be. Why does it work? First, you avoid the dreaded voicemails, and second, it's still pretty unique. If you can craft the right message that's approachable, you can count on a better chance of getting that demo.
