Let’s not beat around the bush here – this is blindingly obvious. Driving new business is not easy, so if someone makes an inbound enquiry then you don’t want to let them go without a fight!
If someone gets in touch with you about your products or services – you should get back to them as quickly as you can and in a way that shows you give a damn! (i.e. as personally as possible).
The research speaks for itself;
“Companies that try to contact potential customers within an hour of receiving queries are nearly 7 times as likely to have meaningful conversations with key decision-makers as firms that try to contact prospects even an hour later. Yet only 37% of companies respond to queries within an hour.” Source – Hubspot
So why are we talking about it? Because it just doesn’t happen.
It’s pretty scary how quickly customers move on. But it is even scarier just how many businesses are turning their back on people who are actively asking them to take their money.
Are business just so ‘up themselves’ that they are happy to ignore new prospects? Do they have more money than they need?
Probably neither. The issue is that businesses are stretched. Very few are sat there twiddling their thumbs, and despite the fact that if you ask them – they would most likely say they believe a quick follow up is a good idea – the reality is they simply don’t have the resource to actually make it happen.
You need to be honest with yourself and recognise your ability to handle this crucial process – and where you need help.
A large part of what we do here at Shortlist is managing businesses inbound follow up.
That’s not us handling the whole sales process – (although that is another service we offer), it’s us using our expertise and dedicated resource to respond personally and immediately to your incoming leads. So, the people are asking for help, get it at the point they are looking for it.
Whatever you have going on, you’ll have a dedicated resource focused solely on the lifeblood of your business; capturing, managing and converting inbound leads.
Not only will you lose fewer leads. But, with a specific team working with those initial contacts, the prospects that are passed to your sales team are more likely to convert.
It’s common sense – once you have the resource to make it happen.
Check out how we have helped our past clients with their inbound enquiries. If you’d like a chat about how we could help you capture and convert more of your inbound enquiries give us a call on 0115 882 0116 or drop us a note at info@shortlistmarketing.co.uk