Waiting
What kind of service do you want to get? When you’re the customer, what do you want? Do you want a quick response? We’ve all been in a situation where we are waiting for help. Ready to do business with someone and they cannot find the time to engage with us. It’s a frustrating experience as a consumer, but even more than the frustration is something closer to befuddlement. Why, we wonder, why and what in the world do you have to do that is more important than engaging with your customers. If that is not your job, then what is? This experience is all too common in actual physical stores, but it seems to be even more prevalent with online inquiries. Secret shopper studies in the insurance and banking industries have shown that major players both industries are providing substandard service in terms of lead follow up.
It is entirely possible to respond to online inquiries within a minute. Meaning that if a prospect fills out a form on your website or the website of a lead provider, it is possible to have that lead distributed to whichever sales rep is ready to make the call. It’s an up-for-grabs type of situation where only the quickest sales rep claims the lead; and as soon as he does, the call is placed automatically. Leveraging the competitive nature of a sales team means a quicker response for prospects making inquiries.
If contact times of under a minute are more aggressive than what you are used to, consider this: Leads are 391% more likely to close when they are contacted in under a minute. If you’re tempted to think that internet response times should be longer than response times for customers who are waiting in a store, think again. With a lead management system that intelligently distributes leads and leverages an integrated lead dialer, response times can, should and will be shorter than those in a store. It’s up to you if you want to be an early adopter of this technology, and scoop up market share from those who don’t or if you want to be the one who gets scooped.
