Lead Response Times – It’s Not Just Us!
November 5, 2009 by Todd Waller
Filed under Articles, Lead Generation, Training
Ok, so at theRockStarAgent.com we are flat out rabid about responding to your leads quickly! In fact, on our team in Ann Arbor, all the agents are using Blackberry smartphones and have a habit of responding to leads within 15 seconds of the lead coming in. Often times, we catch folks still searching our site when we get them on the phone.
http://media.therockstaragent.com.s3.amazonaws.com/lead-response-intro.flv
But you’ve heard and read all of that before. And quite possibly, you think we’re a little around the bend. Honestly, can’t blame you. However! I’ve got research, statistics all based off research done by M.I.T.
From: THE INSIDESALES.COM/MIT LEAD RESPONSE MANAGEMENT STUDY OVERVIEW
We used the data from the InsideSales.com system (critical to this purpose because it generates and stores quantitative call data linked directly with qualitative lead process and flow information).
We examined 3 years of data across six companies that generate and response to web leads, from over fifteen thousand leads and over one hundred thousand call attempts.
Web Users Want Information NOW!
But that chart is purely about contacting the lead… What about qualifying/converting the lead?
Qualifying a lead drops by a factor of 4 in just 10 minutes after they drop their information. Chances of qualifying a lead drop by 21 times if you wait half an hour.
Summary
The whole report is fascinating. In fact, here is the executive summary of their findings:
The behavioural study revealed when sales representatives had success around calling web-generated leads. To find these facts, we looked at leads that were captured through a web form, and attempted or called at least one time. Summarized below are some of the more interesting findings related to speed and timing when responding to web-generated leads:
- Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to call in order to contact (by 49.7% over the worst day) and qualify (by 24.9% over the worst day) leads. Thursday is the best day to contact a lead in order to qualify that lead (by 19.1% better than the worst day).
- 4 to 6pm is the best time to call to make contact with a lead (by 114% over the worst time block). 8-9am and 4-5pm are the best times to call to qualify a lead (by 164% better 1-2pm, the worst time of the day). 4-5pm is the best time to contact a lead to qualify over 11-12am by 109%).
- The odds of calling to contact a lead decrease by over 10 times in the 1st hour. The odds of calling to qualify a lead decrease by over 6 times in the 1st hour. After 20 hours every additional dial your salespeople make actually hurts your ability to make contact to qualify a lead.
- 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.
theRockStarAgent.com has a Google Adwords Qualified Individual on staff. Our company specializes in generating leads via cost effective real estate internet traffic management and lead capture websites.
Great research and presentation of the findings Todd. While I’ve heard some of this data piecemeal, it’s nice to see it compiled. The addition of the lead conversion data is icing on the cake and is really a critical part of why we respond in the first place.
Walid,
Thanks for the note! I couldn’t believe I hadn’t bumped into that information prior to this post. What a treasure trove of information on lead response, conversion and contact data.
Now you are talkin my kind of lingo!! Awesome validation of the things I end preaching to my member agents daily!!
Permission to use this data on a follow-up post in the future???
Clint, use the information as you see fit…you know how to attribute the source right?
Go for it my friend!
The InsideSales Dialer is the best technology system agents do not use. I can make 60 calls per hour leaving both a personal voicemail and a parallel email message with two clicks from a drop down menu of pre-recorded voice mail messages for all situations and emails. Best of all, my assistant can call my entire contact dbase this way. If the person answers, then she talks to them. If they don’t, then she leaves the voice mail messages I recorded.
You do realize this study and technology was available at least 2 years ago don’t you : )
Great study. I sure didn’t know, even though this was conducted 2 years ago!
I came from training from several coaches that highly recommended a perfect day’s schedule (where each weekday day varies a bit); which stresses focusing ONLY on one thing for 50 minute periods of time max. [Therefore, answering every e-lead form forwarded to ones mobile phone within 5 minutes wasn't encouraged. We were told disruptions to one's daily schedule are "too distracting" and will ruin your 'perfect day schedule' by leaving one scatterbrained, overwhelmed, and at time loss because of need to ALWAYS carry all of their questionnaire paperwork and files plus recall where one left off of the prior project/task on "daily schedule."]
Being a one-person-shop real estate agent is difficult and exhausting if performed responsibly. Yet a consoling motivation to wearing many hats simultaneously could be that real estate agent will hire an experienced and helpful assistant once high enough business income consistently flows in for 3 consecutive months (proof that greatly tweeked procedural-systems/checklists are working)!