One very important characteristic that providers who are capturing more and more opportunity with Internet leads is that they are proactive. But what exactly does that mean?
Let’s be very specific.
If you are a provider who, when you receive a web lead or Internet referral, take 2-3 days to follow up with a phone call and then only give it one try, you are likely capturing less than 5% of available opportunity.
Whereas, if you as a provider are just a little more patient – still take a few days to respond but are willing to call a few times, you will likely get about 10% of available opportunity.
But look what happens when response time improves to within a day . . . the likelihood of capturing this opportunity doubles.
But this is where we really see the lift . . . if you follow up within the hour of receiving a referral and are patient both in following up and managing multiple meetings, you will eventually capture a significant opportunity from available leads. And by significant we are talking between 35% – 40% of available opportunity.
Gartner Group has recently come out with compelling data that speaks to it a bit differently but with the same general conclusion:
- 45% of your web visitors will buy from you or your competitors in the next 12 months. Of those, 75% will buy from the first person they speak to.
- But there is an even more staggering statistic of which to be cognizant. The first provider to get a face-to-face meeting with the prospect has a 5 times greater chance of getting them to move in.
And so it’s actually hard to overstate the importance of getting face to face. I think it speaks to the fact that at some point . . . no matter how internet and technology savvy the shopper is, when it comes to a final decision, they want to have a personal relationship with the provider.
So the data is clear, follow up with referrals and leads quickly. And have as the goal of the follow up conversation to get a face-to-face meeting.
