The Need for Speed, 5 quick ways to pick up speed in Lead Management

generating success
The Need
for Speed
WHY YOUR LEADS DESERVE A PROMPT FOLLOW-UP
5
Whitepaper | Quick and successful lead conversion

generating success
Response time is the overriding factor in successful online lead conversion. Recent
surveys all point in the same direction: not only the first hour, but even the first minutes
are crucial when it comes to contacting the lead and closing the deal. This whitepaper
gives you the facts and some quick ways to pick up speed.
Lead generation is as old as the book, but in
recent years digital channels have added a
whole new chapter. Industries like financial
services, automobiles, education, software,
health care, professional services, and many
others increasingly turn to the Internet to
generate sales leads.
Online advertising is soaring
In 2014, worldwide spending on digital
advertising will reach $137.5 billion.
This means ads served to desktop and laptop
computers, mobile phones and tablets will
make up around one-quarter of total media
ad spending.
The vast majority of these ads is used for
online lead generation, and this channel is
still growing strongly. Over the past two years,
spending in the US increased from nearly
$40 billion to $53.6 billion. In Europe spending
rose from $26.1 to $33.1 billion.
ONLINE ADVERTISING SPENDING
WORLDWIDE 2008-2014
(billions)
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Source: Zenith Optimedia, 2014
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Whitepaper | Quick and successful lead conversion 2

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generating success
Follow-up of leads falters
With these huge investments in online lead
generation, one would expect companies
to be eager to follow-up on their leads.
However, this does not seem to be the case.
A recent audit of more than 2,000 U.S.
companies shows that only 37% responded
to their lead within an hour; 24% took more
than 24 hours and 23% of the companies
never responded at all! The average response
time, among companies that responded
within 30 days, was 42 hours.
MANY FIRMS ARE
SLOW TO RESPOND
26,1 %
6,4 % 4,0 %
3,6 % 5,9 %
24,0 %
22,8 %
2,7 %
0,3 %
0-5
MIN.
RESPONSE
TIME
5-30
MIN.
30-60
MIN.
4,0 %
2-4
HR.
1-2
HR.
4-8
HR.
8-12
HR.
12-24
HR.
> 24
HR.
NO
REPLY
Source: Harvard Business Review, 3/2011

Online leads go cold fast
These are sobering facts, especially since
online leads appear to go cold extremely fast.
To investigate this, Harvard followed over
a million sales leads from different B2C and
B2B companies. Companies that tried to
contact potential customers within an hour
of receiving a query were more than 60 times
as likely to qualify the lead as those that waited
24 hours or longer. Qualifying means there
was a meaningful conversation with a key
decision maker.
Another recent study took a closer look at just
the first hour after receiving a query. It shows
that calling within the first 5 minutes increases
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generating success
the odds of qualifying a lead immensely:
the odds are four times better than after
10 minutes, 20 times better than after half
an hour!
So: how to pick up speed?
The overall message is clear: if you invest
heavily in online lead generation, you should
also organize your follow-up. Pronto.
Otherwise you are literally throwing away
a big chunk of your marketing budget. Online
leads expect a prompt reaction: it’s a matter
of minutes before people are out of your reach
or decide to take their business elsewhere.

1 2 3
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generating success
How can companies respond to online leads at Internet speed?
By taking away the most common barriers.
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1. Change your ‘daily’ routine
Many companies still retrieve leads from
CRM systems’ databases on a daily basis,
rather than continuously. Fully automated
follow-up tools can easily fill this gap.
2. Set the right sales priorities
In many cases, sales people are focused
on generating their own leads, sometimes
even ignoring customer-driven signs
of interest. Handraisers however are
‘hot leads’ that are much easier to convert.
3. Improve distribution
Speed is often hampered by company rules
for distributing sales leads among retailers,
dealers, agents and partners, based on
geography and ‘fairness’. Smart applications
take all these rules into account, whilst
assuring rapid distribution.

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2LEAD BY MMIT
If you’ve read this far, you may have
guessed it by now: MMIT has developed
a tool that helps companies with
quick and successful lead conversion.
2Lead works for all kinds of leads you
generate: online as well as call center
leads, event-generated leads, et cetera.
You can also easily connect 2Lead to
your existing CRM to ensure timely
follow-up on leads that are nurtured
there. 2Lead makes it possible to keep
track of every single lead and logs what
you’ve done - or still need to do - with
them. What’s more: it helps you to get
back to your leads within minutes. If you
want to score business at Internet speed,
2Lead is what you need.
5. Create a ‘no-excuse’ situation
The division of tasks and responsibilities
between Marketing and Sales departments
is not always clear. If you can follow a lead
real-time as it passes through the organization,
it’s easier to discover and eliminate bottlenecks
in your workflow.
5
4. Facilitate follow-up
In many cases, sales people still receive
internally distributed leads by phone or email:
channels that leave room for mistakes and
delay. This is easily solved by a tool that
is dedicated to lead follow-up and gives
Sales all useful information at a glance.

The Need for Speed, 5 quick ways to pick up speed in Lead Management

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The Need for Speed, 5 quick ways to pick up speed in Lead Management