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Inbound Lead Follow-Up Tips to Convert More Customers
simplestrat.com
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“Just like any lead, B2B prospects want fast follow-up, made as simple as possible through their preferred communication channels.” Sales contributes to revenue goals by effectively working the leads through the funnel with follow-up, qualification, and (hopefully) high conversion. Sure, there’s lead scoring and lead management and feedback loops…and everything in between that can help streamline and improve your sales and marketing. But what you need to know to truly go from marketing qualified lead (MQL) to sales qualified lead (SQL) to customer is actually pretty basic. As soon as the prospect becomes an MQL, it’s time for sales development to pounce. This means your inside sales reps (ISRs) and sales development reps (SDRs) need to act fast. “30 minutes or less is the gold standard response time for converting SQLs,” says Seth. “Your returns diminish significantly after 24 hours, and after 48 hours, the prospect begins to forget about you altogether.” Remember that they’re not just looking at your product/service—you should always assume they’ve provided contact information to several companies during their sourcing phase. In this early courting stage, it’s imperative that you’re faster than your competition in providing the information your potential customer is looking for. Develop an Effective Inbound Sales Follow-Up Process Start by creating a lead follow-up schedule that identifies your touchpoints—when and how you’ll be contacting your leads. Typically, it takes between 8 and 12 touchpoints over various communication channels to engage with an inbound lead. Seth and the ISS sales development team, for example, have perfected an ideal cadence through a 24-touchpoint lead follow-up process that uses a blend of LinkedIn, phone, and email. The process goes something like this… Start immediately with a triple-touch approach: A quick LinkedIn message to further educate and build trust and credibility early. This shouldn’t be a sales-heavy message, just a soft CTA. Immediately follow-up with a phone call.
“There’s an extra layer of complexity selling to an entire organization as opposed to an individual. Navigating hierarchies and approval processes can be difficult.” Sales contributes to revenue goals by effectively working the leads through the funnel with follow-up, qualification, and (hopefully) high conversion. Sure, there’s lead scoring and lead management and feedback loops…and everything in between that can help streamline and improve your sales and marketing. But what you need to know to truly go from marketing qualified lead (MQL) to sales qualified lead (SQL) to customer is actually pretty basic. As soon as the prospect becomes an MQL, it’s time for sales development to pounce. This means your inside sales reps (ISRs) and sales development reps (SDRs) need to act fast. “30 minutes or less is the gold standard response time for converting SQLs,” says Seth. “Your returns diminish significantly after 24 hours, and after 48 hours, the prospect begins to forget about you altogether.” Remember that they’re not just looking at your product/service—you should always assume they’ve provided contact information to several companies during their sourcing phase. In this early courting stage, it’s imperative that you’re faster than your competition in providing the information your potential customer is looking for. Develop an Effective Inbound Sales Follow-Up Process Start by creating a lead follow-up schedule that identifies your touchpoints—when and how you’ll be contacting your leads. Typically, it takes between 8 and 12 touchpoints over various communication channels to engage with an inbound lead. Seth and the ISS sales development team, for example, have perfected an ideal cadence through a 24-touchpoint lead follow-up process that uses a blend of LinkedIn, phone, and email. The process goes something like this… Start immediately with a triple-touch approach: A quick LinkedIn message to further educate and build trust and credibility early. This shouldn’t be a sales-heavy message, just a soft CTA. Immediately follow-up with a phone call.
“The decision-making process often consists of a 5-to-7-person committee.” Sales contributes to revenue goals by effectively working the leads through the funnel with follow-up, qualification, and (hopefully) high conversion. Sure, there’s lead scoring and lead management and feedback loops…and everything in between that can help streamline and improve your sales and marketing. But what you need to know to truly go from marketing qualified lead (MQL) to sales qualified lead (SQL) to customer is actually pretty basic. As soon as the prospect becomes an MQL, it’s time for sales development to pounce. This means your inside sales reps (ISRs) and sales development reps (SDRs) need to act fast. “30 minutes or less is the gold standard response time for converting SQLs,” says Seth. “Your returns diminish significantly after 24 hours, and after 48 hours, the prospect begins to forget about you altogether.” Remember that they’re not just looking at your product/service—you should always assume they’ve provided contact information to several companies during their sourcing phase. In this early courting stage, it’s imperative that you’re faster than your competition in providing the information your potential customer is looking for. Develop an Effective Inbound Sales Follow-Up Process Start by creating a lead follow-up schedule that identifies your touchpoints—when and how you’ll be contacting your leads. Typically, it takes between 8 and 12 touchpoints over various communication channels to engage with an inbound lead. Seth and the ISS sales development team, for example, have perfected an ideal cadence through a 24-touchpoint lead follow-up process that uses a blend of LinkedIn, phone, and email. The process goes something like this… Start immediately with a triple-touch approach: A quick LinkedIn message to further educate and build trust and credibility early. This shouldn’t be a sales-heavy message, just a soft CTA. Immediately follow-up with a phone call.
“Understand how all the different titles and personas play into the process…get the champion on board first...then try to get facetime with other decision makers.” Sales contributes to revenue goals by effectively working the leads through the funnel with follow-up, qualification, and (hopefully) high conversion. Sure, there’s lead scoring and lead management and feedback loops…and everything in between that can help streamline and improve your sales and marketing. But what you need to know to truly go from marketing qualified lead (MQL) to sales qualified lead (SQL) to customer is actually pretty basic. As soon as the prospect becomes an MQL, it’s time for sales development to pounce. This means your inside sales reps (ISRs) and sales development reps (SDRs) need to act fast. “30 minutes or less is the gold standard response time for converting SQLs,” says Seth. “Your returns diminish significantly after 24 hours, and after 48 hours, the prospect begins to forget about you altogether.” Remember that they’re not just looking at your product/service—you should always assume they’ve provided contact information to several companies during their sourcing phase. In this early courting stage, it’s imperative that you’re faster than your competition in providing the information your potential customer is looking for. Develop an Effective Inbound Sales Follow-Up Process Start by creating a lead follow-up schedule that identifies your touchpoints—when and how you’ll be contacting your leads. Typically, it takes between 8 and 12 touchpoints over various communication channels to engage with an inbound lead. Seth and the ISS sales development team, for example, have perfected an ideal cadence through a 24-touchpoint lead follow-up process that uses a blend of LinkedIn, phone, and email. The process goes something like this… Start immediately with a triple-touch approach: A quick LinkedIn message to further educate and build trust and credibility early. This shouldn’t be a sales-heavy message, just a soft CTA. Immediately follow-up with a phone call.
You’re a B2B tech company with a truly exceptional product, service, or solution. It fills a need, solves a problem, and eases the pain of your target audience. So, in an effort to get some solid leads into your funnel, you launch a content marketing strategy to attract, engage, and delight potential customers. The marketing is working! The leads are steady, consistent, and qualified. Revenue must be through the roof…business is booming, right? Not so fast. Unless you have a flawless lead follow-up process, you might be struggling to convert most…some…or (*gasp*) any of your inbound leads. We promise you’re not alone. And we’re here to help. More specifically, Seth Kinney, VP of Global Sales at Inside Sales Solutions, is here to help. A client of Simple Strat, Inside Sales Solutions (ISS) generates over 10,000 sales appointments each year for their clients – primarily B2B technology companies. Needless to say, Seth knows a thing or two about the sales development process, so we sat down with him to get some advice and proven lead follow-up tips. How is the Lead Follow-Up Process Different for B2B Sales? Just like any lead, B2B prospects want fast follow-up, made as simple as possible through their preferred communication channels. With a twist. There’s an extra layer of complexity selling to an entire organization as opposed to an individual. Navigating hierarchies and approval processes can be difficult. “The main thing with B2B sales is it’s not just one person,” advises Seth. “The decision-making process often consists of a 5-to-7-person committee. Understand how all the different titles and personas play into the process…get the champion on board first...then try to get facetime with other decision makers.” Master the Marketing-Sales Handoff…and Make it Snappy When you really think about it, the inbound sales and marketing funnel isn’t very complicated… Marketing contributes to revenue goals by generating quality top-of-funnel leads. “Sure, there’s lead scoring and lead management and feedback loops…and everything in between that can help streamline and improve your sales and marketing.” LinkedIn can be a slow-developing channel depending on how often the prospect checks their account. It’s a good start, but getting them on the phone asap is the ultimate goal. If there’s no answer on the call, leave a voicemail and follow-up with an email. From here the process gets phone-heavy, averaging 3-4 calls per every email you send. The entire 24-point process consists of about 5 emails and a LinkedIn message or two. The rest are phone calls. Lead follow-up by phone During the process, you’ll find the right mix of communication. When relying heavily on phone follow-up, Seth recommends a persistent and consistent approach. “There’s an art and science to it, really. Throughout the 24-point lead follow-up process, our SDRs will make a call and leave a voicemail if there’s no answer. Then we wait 36 hours before following-up with a ‘quick touch’ call (a call with no voicemail)…wait another 24 hours and rinse and repeat.” Ultimately, it’s important to strike a balance between giving leads time to respond and being persistent so they don’t move on to another service provider. As long as you continue to be professional, build trust, and educate along the way, most B2B inbound leads will respect and appreciate your staying top-of-mind with regular follow-ups. When should you call vs. email? This depends on a few factors. We’ve stressed the importance and success of lead follow-up via phone for a reason—80% of the ISS team’s success in closing inbound sales comes over the phone. But there are times when an email-centric follow-up approach is appropriate and can be effective. When your prospect’s motivation is high, a timely email follow-up is all it takes to further qualify the lead and keep them progressing through the funnel. “Only start the follow-up process with email when there has already been some education done,” insists Seth. “If the lead info comes as a result of a demo, trial, or consultation request, email follow-up is very much appropriate.”
You’re a B2B tech company with a truly exceptional product, service, or solution. It fills a need, solves a problem, and eases the pain of your target audience. So, in an effort to get some solid leads into your funnel, you launch a content marketing strategy to attract, engage, and delight potential customers. The marketing is working! The leads are steady, consistent, and qualified. Revenue must be through the roof…business is booming, right? Not so fast. Unless you have a flawless lead follow-up process, you might be struggling to convert most…some…or (*gasp*) any of your inbound leads. We promise you’re not alone. And we’re here to help. More specifically, Seth Kinney, VP of Global Sales at Inside Sales Solutions, is here to help. A client of Simple Strat, Inside Sales Solutions (ISS) generates over 10,000 sales appointments each year for their clients – primarily B2B technology companies. Needless to say, Seth knows a thing or two about the sales development process, so we sat down with him to get some advice and proven lead follow-up tips. How is the Lead Follow-Up Process Different for B2B Sales? Just like any lead, B2B prospects want fast follow-up, made as simple as possible through their preferred communication channels. With a twist. There’s an extra layer of complexity selling to an entire organization as opposed to an individual. Navigating hierarchies and approval processes can be difficult. “The main thing with B2B sales is it’s not just one person,” advises Seth. “The decision-making process often consists of a 5-to-7-person committee. Understand how all the different titles and personas play into the process…get the champion on board first...then try to get facetime with other decision makers.” Master the Marketing-Sales Handoff…and Make it Snappy When you really think about it, the inbound sales and marketing funnel isn’t very complicated… Marketing contributes to revenue goals by generating quality top-of-funnel leads. “A quick LinkedIn message to further educate and build trust and credibility early. This shouldn’t be a sales-heavy message, just a soft CTA.” LinkedIn can be a slow-developing channel depending on how often the prospect checks their account. It’s a good start, but getting them on the phone asap is the ultimate goal. If there’s no answer on the call, leave a voicemail and follow-up with an email. From here the process gets phone-heavy, averaging 3-4 calls per every email you send. The entire 24-point process consists of about 5 emails and a LinkedIn message or two. The rest are phone calls. Lead follow-up by phone During the process, you’ll find the right mix of communication. When relying heavily on phone follow-up, Seth recommends a persistent and consistent approach. “There’s an art and science to it, really. Throughout the 24-point lead follow-up process, our SDRs will make a call and leave a voicemail if there’s no answer. Then we wait 36 hours before following-up with a ‘quick touch’ call (a call with no voicemail)…wait another 24 hours and rinse and repeat.” Ultimately, it’s important to strike a balance between giving leads time to respond and being persistent so they don’t move on to another service provider. As long as you continue to be professional, build trust, and educate along the way, most B2B inbound leads will respect and appreciate your staying top-of-mind with regular follow-ups. When should you call vs. email? This depends on a few factors. We’ve stressed the importance and success of lead follow-up via phone for a reason—80% of the ISS team’s success in closing inbound sales comes over the phone. But there are times when an email-centric follow-up approach is appropriate and can be effective. When your prospect’s motivation is high, a timely email follow-up is all it takes to further qualify the lead and keep them progressing through the funnel. “Only start the follow-up process with email when there has already been some education done,” insists Seth. “If the lead info comes as a result of a demo, trial, or consultation request, email follow-up is very much appropriate.”