The Best Time for B2B Companies to Contact New Leads for Optimal Conversion Rates

One of the key things in any lead generation program is how well the marketing qualified leads (MQL) convert into a sales qualified lead (SQL).  A recent 2010 study of 126,695 B2B observations by Lead Response Management highlighted how imperative it is for B2B sales people to follow up on sales leads within the first 20 minutes. Beyond 20 minutes, the probability of qualifying the lead levels off and gradually degrades to zero within 24 hours, when all contact methods are equally ineffective. After the sweet spot of 20 minutes has past, it takes a lot more effort and an aggressive contact approach to pursue qualifications.

Phone followed by email clearly stood out as most effective for B2B lead qualification. Though sending an email immediately after a phone contact is much less effective than delaying the email for 2 to 13 -hours.  Phone contact allows a bit more time for following-up and shows more receptiveness while initial email contact is a turn off.  Considering that many of these leads may have started through email and have gone as far as email can nurture them, it is no surprise that this becomes less effective.

Action in the first 1 to 2 hours can yield over 50% effectiveness, but a long plateau of under 30% opens up from 2 to 14 hours. The effectiveness of contacts made at 5 minutes after interest is established was 7.8 times more likely to qualify than at 30 minutes, with a continued sharp drop-off in effectiveness over time. So ultimately, you need to have an efficient and timely transfer of information between your marketing department and sales such that sales can catch these leads within the 2 hour window.  If sales are unable to contact these prospects with that 2 hour window, it then becomes a game of phone tag and the priority for the prospect may be gone.

In qualified leads, phone contact is the most effective method up to the point of approximately 4 to 6 months, when email overtakes in effectiveness. After about 4 months the effectiveness of phone contact drops to the point where a cheaper nurturing approach makes sense.  These are prime leads that can be handed back to your marketing department for lead nurturing with marketing automation software.

Another interesting fact was that the sectors of communications and information technology are highly time sensitive, showing a rapid drop off almost immediately within a 48 hour period. Software as a Service (SaaS) and professional services firms showed a moderate and more levelled drop off, and financial and healthcare lead qualifications were reasonably effective out ?to 24 hours. Still, ultimately all sectors show the need for a response within 24 hours, IT shows the need for follow-up within an 8 hour period.

Ultimately qualifying leads was 32 times more successful when contacting 1 hour after interest event versus 24 hours.  For most organizations to achieve this, they need to make sure that marketing is able to transfer these leads almost instantly and that sales are committed to calling immediately.  In order to get sales to buy into this, there are two important steps:  first, have a unified definition of what a leads is, and second, show sales how they obtain greater results the quicker they respond. The quicker they respond the greater the results for them.  This can be achieving by sharing with them the results of this study.