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How to Make the Best Follow-Up Sales Call in 2019

(Image: Pexels)

Written by Meg Prater / Hubspot

If you're in sales, you've likely seen the 2011 "Lead Response Management Study." It analyzed three year's worth of data,100,000 call attempts, six companies, and 15,000 leads and synthesized findings to bring salespeople scientific answers to age-old questions like "What are the best days to call my prospects?" and "What time should I contact my leads?"

This kind of research is invaluable to reps. It helps them plan their weeks, maximize the impact of each call they make, and become more efficient, successful salespeople.

Best Times to Make Sales Calls

These days, many reps are more comfortable sending an automated email than picking up the phone. But, before moving forward, it's worth identifying whether the phone is even the best way to follow up with leads today.

That answer is "Yes." A recent study by sales pro Marc Wayshak shows the phone is still the best tool in selling, with 41.2% of respondents naming their phone as their most effective sales tool.

Continue reading to identify the best days and times to make a follow-up call

How to Make the Perfect Follow-Up Sales Call

I don’t know many sales people that enjoy making prospecting calls. It’s definitely one of the most difficult parts of the job. There are so many things to consider. How quickly are you responding to your leads? What time and Day are you responding? How long are your average calls?

Let’s take a look at some findings from recent studies to help put our finger on the key points.

The complete article from HubSpot can be found here: https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/best-times-to-connect-with-leads-infographic)

Best Days to Call:

Wednesday has shown to be the most successful day for sales calls. Thursday comes in at second place. Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be calling on other days, however, you may want to be sure you are highly productive on those 2 days to take full advantage of the trend.

Best Time to Call:

The best time to call has changed over the years. Several studies found the best time to be between 4:00 PM & 5:00 PM. Another study found the best time to be between 10:00 AM & 11:00 AM. Most studies, however, agree that the worst time for successful calls is between 1:00 PM & 2:00 PM.

Response Time:

The response best time to call new leads. 5 minutes from the trigger of the event. After 5 minutes your odds drop significantly. Waiting longer than 10 minutes to respond means your odds of qualifying have dropped 400%.

Once you’ve responded in a timely manner it’s now time to connect with a meaningful dialogue. Studies have shown that successful follow-up sales calls are almost twice as long as unsuccessful calls. Be informative and keep control of the conversation to maintain focus but don’t waste your potential client’s time.

Educate, be concise, and prove your value offer.

Check out the full article from HubSpot for more takeaways: 
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/best-times-to-connect-with-leads-infographic

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Following up is a key part of any sales job. It's extremely rare that a rep will connect with their prospect on their first attempt, and so they must try again. And again.

But just because this is common sense doesn't mean it's common practice. According to research from InsideSales.com, the median sales outreach persistency rate for inbound leads is a measly one attempt. So much for following up.

Maybe sales reps don't follow up as much as they should simply because they don't see the value. But consider that even if a lead isn't a good fit for your product or service, that contact could still provide a referral to someone who is. For this reason, it's critical to follow up with each and every single person you meet at an event.

The infographic below from CassiusBlue Consulting lists the do's and don'ts of following up after a networking event. While some tips might be akin to reflex -- for instance, connecting on LinkedIn, and personalizing your message -- others are less obvious. Did you know that adding a contact's email address to your marketing list without permission violates the CAN-SPAM act? And forgetting to set a goal for your outreach (an all too common mistake) can result in a squandered opportunity for a referral or meeting.

If you only take one thing away from this graphic, make it this: Following up is central to sales. Just 2% of all sales are made on the first attempt. If you don't persist, you're bound to leave money on the table.






http://blog.hubspot.com/sales/the-dos-and-donts-of-following-up

Source: blog.hubspot.com

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