Current customer satisfaction research shows too many sales reps are missing opportunities just because they can’t engage their leads effectively. Learn the most common problems—and avoid the most typical mistakes businesses make when they try to fix them.

WHEN HOT LEADS GO COLD: Three Pitfalls to Avoid

Unfortunately, some of the most typical solutions don’t really address the problems:

Hire more sales repsResearch reveals that new hires will take 10 months to reach full production, and 80 percent of their time will not be spent on revenue generation.5

Create an automated lead scoring system While some leads will make it through the system, others will just sit there, leaving you with the same problem—generating leads that go essentially untouched.

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The Internet sales environment has dramatically changed lead management best practices. Success today requires a more personalized approach to engaging prospects than traditional one-way email marketing applications and a more efficient sales team.

Pitfall 1: Too Many LeadsIt’s a common problem: the leads you’re generating aren’t driving the sales numbers you’re looking for. The common solution: generate more leads. It seems like simple math. More potential leads go in the system, more sales come out.

Current CRM research tells a different story.

The fact is that your business likely has more leads than it can handle already. Many leads never get reached, and many aren’t ready to buy. Sales reps don’t have the information they need to make a connection. Adding more fuel to the mix is not going to create a fire.

What’s more likely to happen:

• System overload. More leads get missed, and reps need more time to contact them.

• He said, she said. Needless conflict between marketing and sales over lead quality.

• Wasted money. Return on investment shrinks as the cost of lead generation outpaces the conversion rate.

Do you really want more leads? 80 percent of leads are never contacted1

It typically takes eight or more calls2

42 percent of reps feel uninformed about the lead3

50 perecent of leads may be qualified but are not ready to buy4

“Lead Management.” InsideSales. Mar. 2011.Hekl, Jason. “Making the Case for Teleprospecting.” SiriusDecisions. 15 June 2012. “New Survey Reveals How Big Data Solves the Lead Generation Battle between Sales and Marketing.” Lattice Engines. 12 Mar. 2013.“Measuring the Impact of Lead Nurturing on the Sales Pipeline.” Gleanster. Feigon, Josiane. “10 Ways Salespeople Waste Time and Lose Focus.” TeleSmart Communications. 07 Apr. 2006. “Sales Performance Optimization: 2012 Key Trends Analysis.” CSO Insights. 2012.

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Pitfall 2: The Wrong Call at the Wrong TimeYou’ve got quality leads who want to buy and quality sales reps ready to close the deal. It should be a perfect match. So why aren’t more of those leads converting to sales?

Data from InsideSales.com suggests that the first five minutes after a lead comes in are crucial.

• If you miss out on that window, you are nine times less likely to close the sale.

• Half the sales go to the person who connects first.

The problem is, all that assumes that you have the right number, the right person and the right time to call. If we dig deeper into what potential buyers really want, it’s clear that customers want more control over how and when you make contact.

In other words, most of your leads are researching you and your competitors on their own time, and almost all of them prefer to connect with you on their own terms.

As with pitfall #1, common solutions can cause more problems:

Automating the system with a power dialer or auto-responder When customers are saying they want to dictate the pace, they’re saying they want to be treated as individuals. Hitting them with formulaic responses won’t meet that need. In some cases a lead won’t even see an automated message. Consider your own inbox—how many automated e-mails end up in the spam folder? The autoresponder has a place in customer service—like shipping notifications and sales announcements—but its chief use is sharing information, not asking for it.

Using predictive analytics Creating a complicated system of profiling limits your future sales to the behaviors of past customers. And even if you can qualify the best leads, you could still be missing out on details that can only be collected in a real-time conversation.

6. Blitzer, Adam. “Demand Generation: Why You Can’t Overlook Stage-Based Marketing.” SalesForce. 11 Dec. 2013.7. Stokes, Tracy. “Consumers Embrace Digital On Their Path To Purchase, But Online Still Trumps Mobile.” Forrester Research. 27 Aug. 2012.8. Kirkpatrick, David. “The Complex Sale.” Marketing Sherpa. 25 Jan. 2012.

90 percent of buyers want to decide when to engage a company6

82 percent of customers want to know more about you before connecting7

73 percent of leads are not ready to buy when they first provide contact information8

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Pitfall 3: Not Knowing What the Lead ThinksEven the best system for generating and connecting with leads can break down if the sales process isn’t solid. Too often the sales process is a source of mystery in an organization. Finding out what buyers think can be an unpleasant surprise.

Bottom line? A sales process that doesn’t meet the needs of either your sales reps or your potential buyers. You need insight into your sales process, not only from your customers, but from those leads that didn’t convert to sales.

Here’s what too many businesses are trying:

Sending secret shoppers and ghosting on calls Data is collected from random encounters, with no certainty that these examples reflect what most leads experience.

Customer surveys Data collected from surveys will catch about 2 percent of the customer base, usually the outliers who really like you or really hate you.

In either case, by the time you hear what the customer says, it’s too late to take any action. Direct questions will elicit the most valuable feedback, and a two-way conversation contributes to lead nurturing far more than an impersonal poll.

No wonder sales reps are struggling to keep up. The sheer amount of follow up required to truly engage, nurture and follow-up with all the leads coming in would take hours to compile—time that could be better spent closing on real sales.

9. Winter, Doug. “Death of the Sales Playbook.” Innovation Insights. Wired. 13 Jan. 2015.10. “Twenty-one Mind-blowing Sales Stats.” Brevet Group. 31 Oct. 2014. 11. Bawla, Nusair. “Don’t Give Up: Why Sales Persistence Pays Off.” Business News Daily. 31 Oct. 2013.

73 percent of buyers don’t think sales reps are knowledgeable enough to help9

87 percent of buyers believe reps are not focused on their needs10

10 percent of sales reps persist in engaging the lead11

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A Better Solution ExistsIt’s clear: the Internet age has changed the way customers want to interact with businesses. Old strategies for engaging leads won’t deliver the best results. But a new technology will. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology closes the gap between simple automation tools and the one-to-one sales call.

No longer in the realm of science fiction, AI for sales goes well beyond computer automation, utilizing natural language processing, advanced machine learning and data science to transform customer interactions.

It also offers one unified solution to address all three of the pitfalls for your leads:

• A virtual sales assistant, powered by AI technology, can contact and qualify each and every lead without sacrificing the time of sales reps.

• The system interprets information communicated by potential buyers individually, collecting data based on their specific desires. When a lead is ready to make contact, the sales rep is prepared to engage them when, where and how that person prefers.

• An AI system can gather information on your sales process in a familiar, conversational way that allows the lead to volunteer essential information, while still generating a data-driven view of each step of the sales process across your organization.

That’s where Conversica comes in. An innovative sales conversion management tool, Conversica engages leads through natural, two-way email exchanges as a custom online persona that can contact, nurture, qualify and follow-up with potential buyers. Sales reps then focus on selling and closing prequalified leads who are prepared to buy. The AI-based technology in Conversica can simplify and enhance sales, marketing and customer support.

Plus, Conversica integrates easily with Salesforce, Marketo, Pardot and Eloqua to increase the effectiveness and ROI of your customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation solutions.

See for yourself how Conversica is revolutionizing sales conversion management. To learn more call +1 (888) 778 1004, email sales@conversica.com or visit www.conversica.com to set up a product demonstration.

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About ConversicaConversica is the leading provider of sales conversion management software for marketing, inside sales and sales organizations. Driven by artificial intelligence, a custom online persona automatically contacts, engages, nurtures, qualifies and follows up with leads via natural, two-way email conversations until the lead converts into an opportunity or opts out. The AI engine interprets the lead’s intention and sentiment based on word classification in the email replies, and extracts key information, such as phone numbers and the best time to call. As a result, enterprises find their next customers more quickly and efficiently, while ensuring no lead is left behind. Conversica’s sales conversion management software is used by more than 7,500 sales representatives worldwide and has assisted in the creation of more than US$7.6 billion in sales revenue. Founded in 2007, Conversica is now a portfolio company of Kennet Partners and is headquartered in Foster City, California. © 2015 Conversica LLC. All rights reserved.Published May 2015