Every business needs an efficient process in place to close deals. For all business owners, qualifying leads is an essential part of creating a smooth sales process. But your in-house team should be spending their time converting, not qualifying. That’s where a lead qualification service can take your business to the next level.
It’s urgent because your leads have “alternatives”. The “alternatives” have phone numbers. And they might have a dedicated lead response team ready to qualify and quickly push your could-have-been leads to their sales. And you know what that could mean for your business.
It’s important because your revenue depends on converting these leads into customers. There’s also your brand’s reputation that’s involved – it’s a game where you make or break it. A business that responds first, has more chances of converting the lead first. These instantly responsive businesses bag 78% of new business with a prospect!
However, nearly 63% of calls to businesses either go to voicemail or are never answered.
Take time to think about your own business. How many calls are you missing on a daily basis? How many of those callers never call back or fail to answer their phone when you attempt to reach them? Could they fit your ideal customer persona?
One of the best uses of a lead qualification team is that they identify your potential customers and relay the information to your sales team so that no opportunity is missed.
Here are the top 6 reasons why your business needs a lead qualification service.
1) Saving you time
It’s not just about time, it’s also about timing.
Answering your leads’ calls is crucial and calls come in throughout the day. Without a good time management strategy, businesses can miss calls or they end up spending limited time with callers. When you have multiple calls coming in at the same time, it’s easy to put calls on hold or let them go to voicemail. Worse yet, at peak times, some of your calls might even ring out frustrating expectant leads.
When there are time constraints, your lead-nurturing mission falls short of its full potential.
A 24/7 lead qualification service receives all your calls. Live agents begin interacting and filtering these calls. The leads are nurtured and engaged to fatten your sales pipeline with relevant leads.
2) Saving your budget
To handle leads’ calls, you need to hire and train a team of receptionists. The recruitment, training and development, office set-up costs, salaries, and other benefits, can be a big hit on your budget. You might even have to ask other employees to assist with answering calls. Overall, it’s a disorganized strategy and a hindrance to employee productivity. Lead qualification services typically cover your customer answering service needs as well. The services have trained professionals. And, it works out at a fraction of the cost. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals that an answering service costs only about 20% of hiring your own in-house receptionist team. It also operates 24/7, ready to provide support for every call.
3) Increasing your revenue
Hiring a lead qualification service makes it easier to provide consistently seamless support – and caller satisfaction is crucial to your customer experience score.
- Only 56% of B2B companies validate leads before passing them to their sales team (Marketing Sherpa)
- 79% of marketing leads never convert to sales, the main reason being lack of lead-nurturing.
- Upto 50% of sales go to the business that responds first.
And, outbound leads cost 39% more than inbound leads. To engage every lead and keep the sales flowing without affecting your sales budget, you need to answer every inbound call!
4) Engaging your leads (and customers) 24/7 all year long
One of the biggest benefits to hiring a lead qualification service – you get to keep your business open all the time! Both your leads and customers’ calls are handled with care. After-hours, weekends and holidays, your callers will be able to receive the response they need.
Would you believe this? 92% of customer interactions still happen on the phone.
Order-taking, message-taking, scheduling appointments, addressing complaints– every query is attended to. The agents are trained to be patient, professional, and friendly as they interact. You can also customize scripts to maintain your competitive advantage – your brand’s unique personality.
And your leads – they get follow-up calls in addition to all the other answering service benefits.
HelloSells offers an outbound calling campaign to re-engage the old leads to revive their interest in your products and services.
5) Focusing on other high-priority tasks
62% of business owners say the stress of owning a business is higher than they’d expected. You probably already know– a pile of tasks and responsibilities await business owners every new day.
It’s a relief to know you have a dedicated team handling leads and other customer calls for you. That means you can go on a vacation or business trips, and trust that your callers’ needs are being met.
If you need more information on how agents handle your messages when you’re unavailable, find out more here.
6) Delivering quality service
Many small businesses think that their size matters in hiring a lead qualification team. They often assume they might not be the right fit for the service. The common misconception is a result of associating the service with only large call volumes.
While the logic does make sense, there’s one missing piece of information – lead qualification services are caller friendly with tailor-made call scripts. The service works around your call volume and business needs. It’s not only about the usefulness of the service, but also the caliber of professional interactions that the service delivers.
What’s better is to ask yourself these questions, “Do I want to show my leads that I value them from the get-go? Even if it’s just one lead, do I want them to know my customer service is worth it?”
The truth is, a lead qualification service will improve both the quantity of your call capacity and the quality of your customer service. It’s not about the numbers alone, it’s about the experience you want to give your every caller.
Hire an experienced lead qualification service
In an increasingly fast-paced business environment, finding time remains one of the greatest challenges for business owners. But while you have more tasks demanding your attention, lead qualification needs to be consistent and fast to show the best results.
How much smoother could your lead capture and qualification process be? With a focused lead qualification team available 24/7, you can respond quickly and promptly – securing deals before they have contacted an alternative.
The missing link between marketing and sales, HelloSells offers a 24/7 live lead qualification service. We aim to optimize your marketing ROI, support your sales team, and offer your leads a positive brand experience from the first call.
Create cost-effective budgets, take a vacation, and still grow your revenue as your leads are handled effectively and fast.
Any questions? Call or send an email to grow@hellosells.com.