The famous proverb “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” has been traced back to American educator Thomas H. Palmer “Teacher’s Manual,” written in the early 1800s. Palmer wrote the words to encourage schoolchildren to do their homework.
Two centuries later, it’s also perfect advice for any salespeople faced with the challenge of cold calling.
When it comes to setting appointments, the odds of succeeding on the first call are extremely low—and only marginally better on the next few calls after that. But the more the caller “tries, tries again,” the better the chance of a positive outcome.
The importance of the follow-up call cannot be overstated. According to Chicago-based sales consulting firm IRC, only 2 percent of sales are made during the first point of contact, compared to 80 percent during the fifth through 12th point of contact.
And yet the same report indicates that 44 percent of salespeople give up after only one follow-up call, and only 8 percent of salespeople follow up more than five times.
That’s a lot of missed opportunities.
There are plenty of viable reasons to follow up, even if a prospect says they’re not interested. Maybe you weren’t speaking to somebody with the authority to make purchasing decisions. Or maybe there’s a different decision maker at the company whose priorities are more aligned with your offering. Or maybe you did reach the right decision maker, but you caught them at the wrong time.
The point is, “no” doesn’t always permanently mean no during the lead generation process. Neither do half-hearted dismissals such as “I’m too busy to talk” or “Just send me some information”. According to the IRC report, 60 percent of customers say no four times before saying yes, which doesn’t bode well for the 92 percent of salespeople who give up after four attempts.
At VSA, we’ve repeatedly seen the value of the follow-up call, in many cases setting quality appointments for our clients after double-digit attempts with the same prospect. Our own metrics show that:
- When we reach a decision maker or high influencer and need to call them back (perhaps because they were too busy to talk), we see a boost in conversation rate to scheduling a meeting by at least 30 to 40 percent.
- Our conversion rate of setting a meeting on an initial cold conversation is 2 to 4 percent. The conversion rate of setting a meeting from a follow-up call is more than 5 percent.
Beyond the statistics, there are multiple practical reasons for making follow-up calls. Here are five of the most important.
1. The more calls you make, the more information you obtain
VSA relies on data we gather over the course of a program to help increase the overall conversion rate, perhaps by targeting different decision makers, changing the times we call, or tweaking the messaging. Every call can be a learning experience.
Not only does each follow-up call increase the odds of setting an appointment with the prospect we’re dialing, but it also potentially provides us with valuable information that makes it easier to set appointments with other prospects.
2. Familiarity increases prospects’ comfort level
Most people are hesitant to talk to strangers, or at least are somewhat leery of them. With every call we make to a prospect, we become less of a stranger to them, and so does your company.
Our Business Development Representatives (BDRs) are adept at making prospects feel comfortable on the phone, but it takes a little time to fully gain their trust. By taking detailed notes on each call, asking the right questions, and referencing previous conversations, our BDRs can make prospects feel appreciated and more likely to want to continue the relationship.
3. You never know if the time is right
Sometimes, we know exactly the best time to reach out to a specific prospect, either because they told us when to call back, or because the data shows a pattern of success at a certain time of day.
Often, though, it’s just a matter of getting lucky and catching a prospect in the right place at the right time—but that’s unlikely to happen without multiple attempts.
Statistics show that 40 percent of the B2B market is looking to buy, but only 3 percent is actively buying. Odds are, you’re not going to catch them at the right time on the first call, but following up increases the chances of being available for them when they are ready to buy.
4. Timely follow-ups keep prospects engaged
You don’t want to come off as pushy by following up too quickly, but you also don’t want to make a prospect feel like you forgot about them. If you tell a prospect you’re going to call back at a better time, or promise to follow up on an email you sent, it’s important to call back while your offering is still fresh on their mind so you’re not starting the lead gen process from scratch.
Timely follow-ups are especially critical with warm leads who have already shown a direct interest in your goods or services via trips to your website, downloads, webinars, etc. If they’re curious about you, they’re likely also curious about your competitors, and statistics indicate that prospects looking to buy often go with the vendor who responds first.
5. Future opportunities
Maybe a prospect isn’t interested in buying now. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be interested in buying six months from now. Maybe their needs will have changed. Or there will be more money in the budget than anticipated. Or there will be a new decision maker in place.
VSA values the long-term partnerships many of our clients have with us, and we are committed to following up on all opportunities on their behalf—even if it’s a few months down the road.
Conclusion
It’s understandable why many companies’ sales teams struggle to properly follow up with potential customers. Follow-up calls can be time-consuming and often frustrating. After a while, it becomes easier to just take no for an answer, or to leave one final email and/or voicemail and move on to the next prospect.
But VSA knows the value of follow-up calls, and we have the experience, expertise, and technology to approach them in ways that make the most sense for each individual client. We know when to say when, but we also know how and when to keep going.
If you need help following up with your leads, give us a call. We promise we’ll always “try, try again.”