By Joanna-Ellis-Escobar

The Shocking Reality of How Fast Online Leads Become “Cold”

The Harvard Business Review conducted a study several years ago of 1.25 million sales leads received by B2C and B2B companies across the U.S. The eye-opening results confirmed that firms that contacted potential customers within an hour of receiving a query were nearly seven times as likely to qualify the lead (which we defined as having a meaningful conversation with a key decision maker) as those that tried to contact the customer even an hour later—and more than 60 times as likely as companies that waited 24 hours or longer.

In a recent article, “Optimizing Your Franchise Lead Follow-Up Process”, Eli Robinson cited a study of 3.5 million online leads by Velocify.com which supports the Harvard Business Review’s finding that the potential for lead conversion decreases dramatically if the lead is not contacted within 1 hour of acquisition.

These findings were confirmed in The Annual 2014 Lead Response Report by Inside Sales.Com. The Report found that the likelihood of contacting a lead decreases sharply with time:

• Contact made within five minutes were 100 times more likely to reach the subject than those who tried just 25 minutes later.

• Conversion rates for those contacted within five minutes were 21 times greater than those achieved for leads not contacted for 30 minutes after submission.

Use Live Chat in Place of Online Forms

Since the advent of the internet, online forms have become the predominant method used by brands to generate both franchise and consumer prospects.

Online forms most often reflect a “shopper” seeking information, but not currently interested in personal engagement. Moreover, forms are just an option, not an obligation, to respond by your sales team members. The reality is that forms do not provide the requisite real time engagement or obligation for either party to communicate necessary to generate conversions.

Portals and brand websites can save sales teams valuable time by giving online visitors the option of filling out a form or engaging in live chat, essentially replacing the form with a selection option. Odds are that visitors selecting the form option will be higher up on the sales funnel (less likely to convert) than the prospect selecting live chat, with the same qualifying information being transmitted in either case.

Teleconference Chat Prospects with Your Sales Team In Real Time

Live chat provides potential leads with a chance to engage in real time with a live person, receive answers to questions as well as franchise information, and communicate immediately with sales team members through teleconferencing.

Teleconferencing allows sales team members to instantly qualify leads, merging the two-step form-follow up process into a single, immediate qualifying engagement, increasing chances of conversion.

Schedule Appointments with Prospects During Live Chat Sessions

If a sales team member is not available for a teleconference, the chat assistant can set up an appointment, with auto-reminders, creating mutual obligations to communicate by phone or in person. Appointment reminders increase the likelihood that the desired communication for lead qualification and conversion occurs.

Receive Prospect Contact Information Instantly After Chats Complete

If teleconferencing or appointment scheduling is not available through your live chat service, your sales team will still be able to follow up with potential leads within minutes. Transcripts with prospects’ contact and qualification information are forwarded via email or text immediately after chats complete.

In summary, live chat technology can both generate more leads, as well as, reduce the cost of conversion by allowing fewer of your leads to grow cold. Through teleconferencing at the point of acquisition, creating mutual communication obligations through appointments, and instantly transmitting prospect information to sales team members, you’ll significantly increase conversion rates and dramatically improve bottom line results.

For more information on how Chat 24/7 Live can solve this problem for your brand in less than one hour, contact us.