Successfully converting online leads to sales is one of the greatest challenges for businesses today.
There are a variety of reasons for this: online leads are disruptive to the normal business development team, there’s no existing relationship with online leads, or most companies don’t have an adequate sales automation program. But the number one reason that online leads don’t easily convert to sales is slow follow-up time.
The simple fact is, when consumers or businesses request information online they expect an immediate response, and most businesses aren’t equipped to respond immediately to online leads.
We recently helped a client, Celtic Bank, enhance its online lead generation program by adding an automated inside sales operation. Before the enhancement, Celtic Bank would generate leads, which then would be placed into the standard sales funnel. Even when given priority, most of those leads wouldn’t receive a follow-up action within 24 hours.
After the enhancement, which included a CRM, automated dialing, and outsourced inside sales support, leads are being followed up within less than five seconds after they are received. Moreover, we’ve added several layers of lead qualification so that the leads that actually do land on the desk of a business development officer’s desk are right-sized, have a quality credit score, and are ready to get a loan.
The new process has resulted in a significant increase in conversions.