Lead generation is a fundamental part of business success. And successful lead generation is all about being able to convert those leads to customers. To do that well, studies show that you need to respond to inbound leads quickly - within 5 minutes - and create a positive customer experience. An inbound lead call response tool can help you achieve both, and make it easier to convert those leads to paying customers!
In this post, you’ll learn more details about why you need an inbound lead call response tool, and how to choose the right one for you.
Let’s jump in.
Inbound Lead Generation in 2022
Did you know that by 2040, it's estimated that 95% of all purchases will be through an online platform? How much of your business are you projecting to be online by then?
You can’t just leave it to chance that new customers will find their way to their product or service on their own. An “if you build it, they will come” strategy just doesn’t work for the highly competitive world of digital sales and marketing. It is an ongoing process that is crucial to business survival.
That said, lead generation is most effective if your costs are low and your conversion is high. On average, the cost per lead (CPL) in 2020 was $198. However, CPL depends on the industry, the target audience, and the competition. In the tech industry, the CPL was $208 in 2020. In the telecom industry, it was $45 in 2020. If your lead converts and you've priced your product or service correctly, your costs are covered - and you've made a profit.
So, how can you lower your lead cost and increase your conversion rates? Invest in a fast inbound lead call response tool.
An inbound lead call response tool will assist your sales team in responding to leads faster and with a personal touch. This is important because most interested customers will only wait a very short time to hear from a business they've contacted. If they don't, they move on.
Studies show companies contacting new leads within 5 minutes are 100x more likely to convert than those that reply in 30 minutes. In fact, if you don’t connect with a lead within the first hour, you’re unlikely to ever connect with them. After five minutes, the odds of connecting and qualifying with the lead drop 80%. And you've thrown $198 down the drain.
What is an Inbound Lead Call Response Tool?
An inbound lead response tool is a technology that makes it easier to respond to inbound leads with a phone call.
These tools most often offer some sort of automation to make it fast and efficient for you to respond to inbound leads quickly. Here at Calldrip, we sometimes use the phrase “automated lead-to-call software” to describe inbound lead call response tools.
Any inbound lead call response tool should be designed to make it easier for your sales team to respond quickly, confidently, and helpfully to your leads at their peak moment of interest.
We've established that a swift response is imperative to your business. An effective inbound lead call response tool triggers a call from a sales team member to inbound leads within minutes.
Timeliness is crucial but so is human interaction. 82% of U.S. consumers want more of it. Technology supporting customer communications works seamlessly back and forth, without the customer knowing it is happening. However, 59% of consumers feel many brands have used tech to walk away from the human element of customer experience. We talk more about this important element of sales in our recent blog titled "All of Calldrip's Conversational Sales Solutions, Explained."
An inbound lead call response tool must not only be fast but also effectively connect humans. Calldrip’s Respond does just that. The software not only connects your sales team to inbound leads by phone but also by text. You will meet your potential customers where they are.
If you need some guidance in choosing a good lead response tool, our recent blog called How to Pick the Best Rapid Lead Response Solution will help.
Benefits of Fast Inbound Lead Response
We've already talked about how responding to an inbound lead within five minutes is 100x more likely to convert. Also, according to a study by Lead Connect, 78% of customers buy from the company that responds to their inquiry first. We can't stress enough how important it is to avoid delays in responding to inbound leads.
Nearly 80% of American consumers say that convenience, speed, well-informed assistance, and friendly service are critical factors in any positive customer experience. When you add a human to the inbound lead response function, the customer experience is enhanced.
There are other benefits. When you are successful in qualifying and converting an inbound lead, you've optimized the advertising and marketing dollars you've spent. You can examine those conversions on how and where the leads came to you and use that knowledge to refine your marketing strategy. This lowers your cost per lead and increases your bottom line.
Why Lead Response Time is So Important
We've been focusing on our fast inbound lead response tool because we've seen how powerful lead response time has become in cultivating and converting new business in both the B2C and B2B space.
The longer your sales team takes to contact a lead after they request information or a demo, the less likely you are to close that deal.
An inbound lead call response tool will make it easier for you to spark that conversation with a lead, faster.
We specialize in inbound lead call response tools that let you automatically follow up with each and every inbound lead with a phone call and text message.
If you'd like to discuss how Calldrip can help your sales team convert more leads, click here for a demo of our inbound lead response tool.
