The 4 Pillars Of A Winning Lead Contact Approach

The rhythm and pattern of your outreach, known as your contact cadence, plays a pivotal role in converting leads into loyal customers. 

Here, we’ll delve into the essential elements of a winning contact cadence that not only resonates with your leads but also propels your business toward enduring success.

1. Speed to lead
2. Contact persistence
3. Contact diversity
4. Analysis & experimentation

01. Follow Up Quickly = “Speed to Lead”

The adage, “time is of the essence” rings especially true in lead management. The quicker you respond to a lead, the higher the chance of conversion.

Research has shown that the odds of making a successful contact with a lead are 100 times greater when a contact attempt occurs within 5 minutes, compared to 30 minutes after the lead was submitted

Similarly,  the odds of the lead entering the sales process, or becoming qualified, are 21 times greater when contacted within 5 minutes versus 30 minutes after the lead was submitted. (Oldroyd, 2007)

Key Takeaway: 

• Aim to contact new leads within the first hour (ideally within 5 minutes)

02. Follow Up Persistently = Ideal Number of Contact Attempts

We understand that it’s a delicate balance – contact a lead too little, and you miss an opportunity; too much, and you risk becoming a nuisance.

Research suggests that it takes at least 6 to 8 attempts to reach a lead. However, the optimal number can vary based on industry and lead source. Many of our clients make 12+ contact attempts before abandoning leads.

To further improve your success rates be sure to vary the time of day you’re making your contact attempts, which might include a combination of:

• Mornings and afternoons
• Inside and outside business hours 
• Weekend contact attempts 

Key Takeaways: 

• Aim for a minimum of 6 contact attempts per lead (spread over time)
• Tailor your contact strategy to your industry norms and individual testing

03. Contact Medium Diversity

Employ a mix of contact mediums such as emails, phone calls, and text messages to engage leads. 

This multi-channel approach ensures that you are reaching out to leads in a manner that resonates with their communication preferences.

Our highest performing sales teams also use a combination of mobile phone, fixed landline and private numbers to make contact attempts. 

This prevents a lead from screening or blocking a single contact number. 

Key Takeaways:

• Diversify your contact methods across phone, email, text messages and even phone numbers
• Monitor response rates to determine the most effective channels for you

04. Analysis and Experimentation

A winning contact approach is never static. Rather it is a dynamic approach that benefits from continuous improvement via experimentation and analysis.

Running experiments and monitoring the performance impact on your documented contact strategy will help in continuously refining your approach. 

As a starting point, you should evaluate metrics like successful contact rate, contact to appointment rate (qualification rate), and most importantly overall sales conversion rate.

Not sure where to start with your experimentation? You could try:

• Changing the number of contact attempts
• Changing the time between certain contact attempts
• Testing the impact of voicemails vs no voicemails
• Testing different copy/scripts for your text messages, voicemails or emails 

Key Takeaways: 

• Document your contact approach and record key performance metrics
• Adopt a culture of experimentation to improve the approach over time

SUMMARY

A documented and well-orchestrated contact approach is a necessity if your company is to have success with lead management. 

This approach is instrumental in bridging the gap between the initial expression of interest and conversion into revenue for your business.

By adhering to the outlined best practices, you are well on your way to cultivating a winning contact approach and enjoying success with lead management.