What Is Speed to Lead and How to Improve It
When it comes to lead conversion, time is money. The faster you can connect with a prospect after they express interest, the higher your chances of converting them into a paying customer. This concept is known as "speed to lead," and it's a critical metric for any business looking to optimize its sales process.
In this blog post, we'll delve into what speed to lead means, why it's important, and how you can improve it with a revenue automation intelligence platform like MadKudu.
What Is Speed To Lead?
Speed to lead refers to the amount of time it takes for a company to respond to a lead after they've expressed interest in your product or service. This could be anything from filling out a form on your website, requesting a demo, or even just clicking on a link in an email. The clock starts ticking the moment the lead takes action, and it stops when your sales team makes contact.
Improving speed to lead is invaluable for sales and revenue teams and often part of a service level agreement (SLA). According to a study by Lead Connect, 78% of customers buy from the company that responds to their inquiry first. Another found that a response time of one minute could boost your conversion rate by 391%. In other words, the faster you can respond to a lead, the higher your chances of converting them into a customer.
But it's not just about being fast – your response also needs to be meaningful and provide value to the lead. That’s where AI-powered platforms like MadKudu can help. MadKudu can automatically match leads to accounts, enrich account data, and route leads to the right sales rep. This not only speeds up the lead response time but also ensures that leads are always assigned to the most appropriate rep.
By automating this process, you can significantly reduce your lead response time and improve your speed to lead. That’s critical for a number of reasons.
Why Is Speed To Lead So Important?
In today's digital world, most buyers expect quick responses from businesses they want to work with. A report in the Harvard Business Review found that companies that tried to contact potential customers within an hour of receiving a query were nearly seven times as likely to qualify the lead compared to those that took longer. Compared to those who waited 24 hours or more, this rate shot up to more than 60 times more likely.
These numbers are quite staggering, but there is a silver lining: In the same study, only 37% of companies responded within 24 hours, and 23% never even responded at all. That means there's room for you to squeeze your way in and outperform more than half the competition.
Improving your lead response time stats sends a clear signal that you’re responsive, attentive, and easy to work with. This makes your leads feel cared for and builds trust in your brand—both of which are important for long-term sales success.
Ultimately, the faster you can get to a lead, the more likely they are to convert. And when your team is able to reach out, answer questions, and sell solutions that help your prospects take care of their problems in less time, it's a win-win for everyone.
Next, we’ll review some of the ways you can improve your speed to lead with the help of revenue automation intelligence platforms.
How to Improve Your Speed to Lead
Improving your speed to lead requires a combination of process optimization, technology, and a commitment to responsiveness from your sales team. Here are some strategies to consider:
Automate Lead Processing
One of the biggest bottlenecks in lead response time is the process of sorting and assigning leads. This is often a manual task that involves matching leads to accounts, researching the lead, and then assigning them to a sales rep. Automating this process can significantly reduce your lead response time. For example, MadKudu's AI-powered platform can automatically match leads to accounts, enrich account data, and route leads to the right sales rep. This not only speeds up the lead response time but also ensures that leads are always assigned to the most appropriate rep.
MadKudu's platform can also help you overcome the common challenge of siloed data and long wait times when changes need to be made to your scoring models. By integrating MadKudu with your sales, marketing, and product software, you can aggregate all your data sources in one place. This allows for a more comprehensive view of your leads and their interactions with your business, enabling faster and more accurate lead processing.
Prioritize Your Leads
Not all leads are created equal—some leads are hotter than others and require immediate attention, while others can be nurtured over a longer period. By prioritizing your leads based on their potential value, you can ensure that your sales team is always focusing on the most promising prospects first.
MadKudu's predictive scoring model can help with this. It analyzes your sales, marketing, and product data to surface prospects at the moment they’re ready to buy, allowing you to prioritize your best-fit inbound leads based on key characteristics and behavioral analysis. This predictive scoring model goes beyond traditional lead scoring methods, providing real-time insights into lead behavior and potential, which can significantly improve your speed to lead.
You can also use MadKudu’s Fastlane to score leads right on your website that then are routed to your account executives.
Train Your Sales Team
Improving speed to lead isn't just about optimizing processes and using the right technology – it also requires a commitment from your sales team. Train your sales reps on the importance of speed to lead and set clear expectations around response times. Regularly review performance and provide feedback and coaching to help your reps improve.
MadKudu can support this training process by providing your sales team with actionable insights. For instance, MadKudu's Sales Intelligence feature surfaces key data points for the sales team directly in Salesforce, eliminating the need to log into multiple tools. This not only saves time but also provides your sales team with the context they need to personalize their outreach, further improving your speed to lead.
Use Technology to Your Advantage
There are many tools and technologies available that can help you improve your speed to lead. CRM systems can automate many aspects of the lead management process, while AI-powered revenue intelligence platforms like MadKudu can provide real-time insights into lead behavior and potential.
In addition, consider using communication tools that allow for immediate response, such as live chat or instant messaging. These tools can significantly reduce your response time and provide a more immediate and engaging experience for your leads.
Interested in learning more about how MadKudu can help you improve your speed to lead? Get in touch with us today for a personalized demo.