Do you know what separates the clients that see massive success with our program vs those that see only mediocre results?
In all my 4 years of running marketing and lead generation campaigns, lead response time and follow-up systems are the biggest factors in conversions.
One cannot go without the other.
One of the biggest mistakes I see with roofing entrepreneurs is not having a follow-up system in place for every lead.
Leads are worthless without a follow-up system.
Here are some stats that make the case of the importance of follow-up:
- 80% of sales require five follow-up phone calls after the meeting. [Source: The Marketing Donut]
- 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up.
- The average salesperson only makes 2 attempts to reach a prospect. [Source: Sirius Decisions]
- Research shows that 35% to 50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first. [Source: InsideSales.com]
- If you follow up with web leads within 5 minutes, you’re 9 times more likely to convert them.
In my experience, most salespeople say they follow-up and make an attempt but when they actually track their actions it’s a lot lower than they say it is.
The reason why this happens is that our memories are unreliable.
This is why it’s important that you track everything.
The best way to track your leads, your sales results, your quotes, and your calls is by using a CRM.
What is a CRM?
A CRM is a software that allows managing the relationships in your business. It’s called a Customer Relationship Management.
Every sales organization, and that includes every roofing business, should be using a CRM.
I’d bet that a large percentage of roofing companies don’t even use a CRM. Having a CRM is critically important to your success in converting sales.
Why You Track Everything with a CRM
- How do you know which channel brings you the best leads?
- How many calls have you made to that prospect?
- How many emails have you sent?
These are the questions that a CRM can answer for you.
Having a CRM and using it on a daily basis allows you to track your actions and organize your prospects.
This data is critically important in understanding what is working in your business and what’s not.
Data is king.
Having data allows you to make decisions on what is actually working in your business.
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
CRM’s in the roofing space that has been recommended before are JobNimbus, iRoofing, and AccuLynx.
I can not recommend any because I have not used any of these tools but I have heard good things.
Maybe some people can chime on what they recommend for their own business.
The Importance of Lead Response Time
We live in an instant gratification world.
Every time somebody becomes a lead you have only a few critical minutes before that lead disappears forever.
There are many studies that show that lead response time is the most important factor in conversions.
According to the insidesles.com study done a few years ago
“The odds of contacting a lead if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes drop 100 times. The odds of qualifying a lead if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes drop 21 times.”
From the same study
“The odds drop off dramatically by the first 30 minutes. Specifically, a rep is 100x less likely to make contact if the first call is made 30 minutes after submission. The odds of making contact drop by 3000x if the first call is made 5 hours after lead submission.”
Even if you have a system that allows you to respond to every lead fast the game does not stop there.
You need to also have a follow-up system in place after each appointment.
Most sales will be made in the follow-up.
One cannot go without the other.
You need to not only respond to every lead but you also need to follow-up with every lead even after each appointment
Over 80% of the sales are made after 5 follow-up attempts.
Conclusion
Lead generation is only ½ the solution. The ½ of the solution is having a sales system in place that allows converting leads.
This is why my clients have had different results from our marketing campaigns.
The things that we’ve found that made the biggest difference are lead response time and follow-up.
