Here’s a Quick Way to Increase Lead Conversion Rates
Recent research shows that qualifying leads are 32 times more successful when contacted 1 hour after interest event versus 24 hours. But for many organizations it is hard enough to get sales to follow up on these leads period, let alone within the optimal time. With many organizations starting to implement Inbound Marketing and Marketing Automation process, the quality and quantity of leads has greatly increased. But there is still one big mistake that many organizations are still making; they are handing these leads off to a quota caring sales person instead of a lead qualification team.
In having worked with many organizations to implement inbound marketing and lead nurturing practices, there are a few things that I have noticed. Noteworthy for this blog is that, marketing automation is not a replacement for the need for sales to qualify leads. As a matter of fact, marketing automation makes the lead qualification function more efficient; that is, and they can qualify more leads in less time. This is because with lead nurturing, prospects have already started to be qualified, but there still is the need to fully qualify them.
For many larger organizations, the most successful lead generation/lead management programs have dedicated phone services whose sole job in life is to take raw inquiries and qualify them before they are sent to sales. For many organizations that have a lead qualification team, they are able to convert up to 65% of the leads, whereas organizations without are more in the 10% range. The key for these organizations is to have a human tied to a phone-based function that sits in between lead generation and the sales team. What they do is follow up on leads from marketing based on a set of qualification criteria, decide which ones should go to sales, and which ones should be sent back to marketing for further nurturing. This can be either done in-house or can be outsourced. The important thing is that raw, unfiltered leads are not being sent directly to sales.
Here are some reasons why this works:
- Most sales people pride themselves on being closers
Sales exists to close business, and often they are very good at it. So let them do their jobs. Just look at the numbers: today it takes on average 6-8 touches to generate a qualified lead. That is not something that you want an expensive, quota caring sale rep to be working on. Instead you want them working on what they do best, closing business and making money.
- Closers don’t have time to, or want to follow up on leads
They don’t, they won’t, and it’s a pain in the butt to get them to do it. Often when a sales rep is planning his or her day, they are looking at where the money is today, not where it may be down the road. When they get swamped, the first that that gets put off is the follow up on new leads. When you consider qualified leads are 32 times more successful when contacted 1 hour after interest event versus 24 hours, this can be very costly for many organizations.
- The numbers speak for themselves
For many marketing teams; the key benchmark has changed from MQL (Marketing Qualified Leads) to SAL (Sales Accepted Leads). With this change there has come the need for ensuring that you team is converting as high a ratio as possible. When you consider that a sales qualification team can convert up to 6X as many opportunities, the numbers speak for themselves. You won’t come close with sales doing their first voicemail follow-up. You want someone whose sole job it is in life is to reach your leads, overcome objections, make sure they are a fit, and get them connected to sales teams.
When looking at your lead generation and lead conversion process in your organization, you not only need to consider lead generation (inbound marketing) and lead nurturing (marketing automation) but you also need to consider lead conversion. With a strong lead qualification plan that includes an individual committed to the sole purpose of qualify leads, your organization can achieve much greater ROI (Return on Investment) in all your lead generation and lead nurturing initiatives.