Inbound marketing is certainly a hot topic today, one we’ve written about multiple times (here and here) ourselves. And it is a powerful way to for dental marketers to reach more customers using methods that are more trackable, timely and targeted than traditional tactics.
Yet, getting leads is just half the battle. There needs to be a solid process already in place for following up with each and every lead in order to maximize set rates, conversions and your ROI. Otherwise, you can spend all the money in the world on lead generation without seeing any actual results.
How Lead Generation Worked for One Client…Until It Didn’t
Our client, Weave Communications, is a perfect example of this. Weave came to Doctor Distillery looking to increase the number of virtual software demos. From the outset of their campaigns worked successfully, earning them a 50% set rate (i.e., 50% of dentists who filled out an online form actually showed up for their virtual demo). After 18 months of success, however, their conversions suddenly dropped to 30%.
The source of the leads hadn’t changed, nor had the quality of leads been affected. After careful review, the Weave team realized there was a consistently growing time delay between when the lead was submitted online and when the sales team followed up with each lead.
How to Earn a Better ROI from Online Lead Generation
Weave set an internal goal for sales reps to communicate with leads within 5 minutes or less of submission. For one month, a top sales rep was committed to the 5 minute response time frame. Each incoming lead (during business hours) received a text message within 5 minutes and a phone call within 15 minutes. No other changes were made.
At the end of the month, Weave reviewed their numbers and discovered that their set rate had not only improved, but skyrocketed to over 70%!
This is not just a single phenomenon. A recent study revealed that an online lead is 9 times more likely to convert if contacted within 5 minutes of submission. So if you feel like your inbound efforts only generate mediocre returns, maybe it’s time to examine your internal processes. After all, if the hand off between marketing and sales is flawed, there’s no amount of money in the world that can overcome it.
Naomi Cooper is CEO and Co-Founder of Doctor Distillery. With over 15 years in the dental industry, she is a respected dental marketing executive, strategist, consultant, author, speaker and industry opinion leader. Naomi has worked with dozens of leading companies across the dental industry, helping them to develop a cohesive marketing approach and creating tangible results for their marketing efforts aimed at the dental professional. For more information about how Doctor Distillery can help dental marketers reach 180K dentists online, email Naomi at naomi@doctordistillery.com or simply click here.
