By: Joanna Ellis-Escobar —

In the fast-paced world of online commerce, following up on leads immediately can make the difference between snagging that conversion and losing that sale to another company. Rapid response times can also impress potential customers and promote a positive image for your business, allowing you to achieve an improved market position and to boost your sales and profitability. Live chat services can be a valuable tool for lead acquisition. Responding to those leads in a timely way, however, can be the key to higher conversion rates.

Time Is of the Essence

A research study conducted in 2011 and published by the Harvard Business Review indicates that many businesses fail to follow up on sales leads in a timely way. According to the study, the average time taken to respond to a lead after its generation was 42 hours. By contrast, companies that attempted first contact within an hour after the lead was initiated were almost seven times more likely to achieve a meaningful dialogue with the potential customer. The study also found that after 24 hours had elapsed, the chances of making significant contact with the customer decreased significantly.

Persistence and Patience

Fast response times are only part of the story, however. In 2012, Forbes noted that the average number of attempts made to call on a lead is only 1.3. Research performed in-house at Forbes indicates that less than 30 percent of all leads are ever contacted. This failure on the part of sales staff and managers can drastically reduce the overall profitability of online companies and can result in the loss of market position and audience for products and services.

Timing Is Everything

Forbes also collaborated with Dr. James Oldroyd on a research study intended to determine the best times to contact leads. Oldroyd discovered that certain days of the week and certain times of day were far better for reaching potential customers:

• Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days for making contact.
• Early morning and late afternoon are also suggested times, with 4 to 6 p.m. being the most productive.

Taking these results into consideration when following up on acquired leads can help companies make the most effective use of these marketing tools.

Making the Most of Chat

Live chat services can help you gather leads more efficiently at all hours of the day and on weekends. Choosing a service that forwards leads to your sales team immediately upon receipt of information can help you increase your contact and conversion rates to boost overall profitability for your online enterprises.

At Chat 24/7 Live, we specialize in providing the fastest possible delivery times for lead information to ensure that you can respond more quickly to potential customers. Our friendly and expert chat operators can help you increase conversion rates to give you a competitive edge in the online marketplace.