How to Best Leverage the Shelf Life of a Lead to Convert into Real Customers
Lead Generation: What’s the shelf life of a lead? Originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
As Rajesh indicated, you start losing value right away. You should make every attempt to contact the lead within minutes from the time they submit a web form or leave a message. Here are a few reasons why:
It Can Reduce or Eliminate Your Competition
Think about a potential buyer who is looking for a product or service from a vendor online. This person is most likely using search engines or other connecting points to see what type of companies might be able to help them. They are typically filling out multiple contact forms in one sitting. If you contact that person right away it has a strong likelihood of making them discontinue their search for other possible vendors. They may spend the next few moments talking to you instead of talking to the competition.
It Sets a Great Tone for Talking About Customer Service
If you call them back within a few minutes it helps establish that your company cares about your customers and their need for help. Prospects will be pleasantly surprised about the response time, and they will be likely to tell friends about your company because this type of response is so rare.
It Often Allows You to Frame Their Discussions with Other Vendors
Most vendors believe that different aspects of a product or service are more important than others. If you can talk to the lead first, you can often stress some of your company’s strengths and often encourage the lead to ask questions of the next few vendors they speak with that help build your company’s position within a comparison.
It Is One Way Small Businesses Can Beat Larger Companies
Typically, large companies will not be able to match your response time. That is not always the case, but many times larger companies have difficulty distributing the leads to the right person in an efficient manner. It sets a good tone for speaking about how working with a smaller company has its advantages.
Contributed by Michael Browning, Founder – Activation Ventures
