Making calls might not be the most important part of your day, but sprucing up your callback etiquette can be one of the easiest ways to improve sales and strengthen sales relationships with your clients. Here are 10 quick facts that prove just how important those calls and callbacks can be.
Thursday morning callbacks are the best time for conversions
In a recent study by the Kellogg School of Management, Dr. James Oldroyd found that cold calls on Thursdays were better by far, converting 20% more potential customers than the worst day of the week: Friday. Also, calls between 8am-9am were 164% more likely to qualify a lead than one made between 1pm-2pm.
The likelihood of qualifying a lead if called within 5 minutes is 21 times higher than waiting 30 minutes
Dr. Oldroyd continued his callback study to show that leads called back within the first 5 minutes were significantly easier to qualify and convert. Why is this? Oldroyd said it’s a combination of location, presence, and impression. Calling back fast means you know where potential customers are and that they’re thinking about your company. It is also impressive to get immediate service, and it lends to qualification.
Increasing average response time to one day can double close rates
In an informal study by Forbes writer Ken Krogue, an large insurance provider was asked to increase their average callback time from 6 days to one. They found their close rates increased from 3.2% to 7.5%.
Leaving a message longer than 30 seconds means 2% fewer callbacks
InsideSales.com shared company statistics that showed that messages are most effective if under 30 seconds, with 18 seconds being the optimal amount of time. Any longer, and your potential client will tune you out and turn you off.
Ethnic-sounding names may decrease callback rates by up to 50%
A study by the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business found that applicants with ethnic-sounding names received callbacks for jobs 50% less of the time than those with Caucasian-sounding names. Although this finding is not directly sales related, race has been found to have an impact on sales success in several studies.
Callers with a personal connection to the recipient are 5x more likely to receive a return call
Whether you share a direct connection or indirect, you are five times more likely to get a callback if you connect with a potential client on a personal level. That makes establishing rapport a top priority, even when leaving a callback message. In addition, a direct personal connection increases the likelihood of callback 11 times.
92% of CEOs say they never respond to cold emails or calls
If you’re expecting callbacks from the top decision maker, think again. In this 2012 study by the University of North Carolina School of Business, researchers showed that knowing the right level of executive to contact is one of the greatest blocks to a successful callback.
Industry leaders “warm up” their cold calls
The University of North Carolina study also showed that the highest-performing sales companies use competitive intelligence (social media technology, additional research) to “warm up” a cold call 36% more often than those in the industry average.
Leads unready to purchase are twice as likely to purchase later if they are consistently called back on a regular basis (lead nurturing)
Typically, only 10% of qualified leads that are not ready to purchase eventually become sales. Yet, a report by Gleanster showed that 15-20% of qualified leads that have been nurtured over time are converted.
90% of nurture marketing for qualified leads comes from email drip campaigns
With email drip campaigns, a previously qualified lead continues to be “called back” on an automated schedule. An automated callback email system like Prophet CRM has been shown to eliminate the workload of the sales professional while still maintaining the relationship that eventually leads to more sales.
If you’ve got more insights for us, let us know in the comments!