Lead Response Time
When it comes to lead response, speed is essential to increasing sales reps’ odds of success. The data seems to confirm what our instincts tell us -- that prospects equate a responsive company with a good company. Since Harvard’s study on response outcomes showed that sales reps that contacted leads within 1 hour were seven times more likely to have a meaningful conversation with a decision maker, other studies have affirmed the findings.
The only question then has been not when to respond, but who should respond. Is some sort of automation such as an email or robo call enough? Don’t kid yourself. There’s really no substitute for a personal phone call by an actual sales rep. To measure this, you’ll need to track inbound and outbound phone calls within salesforce.com and look at how quickly your team, on average, responds. With few exceptions, try to ensure that your sales team responds within 1 hour.
Rate of Contact
One thing we’ve learned from connecting call metrics to salesforce.com is that virtually every good sales manager wants to make sure that outbound call volume is high estimates that reps should be generating roughly 32 opportunities per 1,000 outbound calls. Keep in mind that those numbers were for outbound prospecting, a term that tends to include many calls that are relatively cold. So keep an eye on those call logs. If lots of activity doesn’t lead to achievement, it may be time to start listening to sample call recordings to try to work on the pitch.
Rate of Follow Up Contact
Persistence pays off. A National Sales Executive Association survey found that 48% of sales agents never follow up with leads a second time. This is significant since 10% of sales are closed on the fourth contact, and 80% are made on the fifth to 12th contact. As a sales manager, you hope to look at every lead record that is being worked over time and see multiple leads and