BACK TO ARTICLES 
Which is more important, getting leads or properly following up on them?
I’m sure that many dollars and research hours have been spent by big companies trying to determine which part is more profitable to focus on.
But the question, and the inquiry, fundamentally misses the point. Those two goals work together. They depend on each other. It’s why we shifted our business model from a traditional inbound marketing agency to one that also offers sales enablement services.
SEE ALSO: Core Values 101: Why Your Business Won't Survive Without Them
The truth is that all the leads in the world mean nothing if you’re not following up with them in a timely and effective manner. And you’re not following up on them correctly if you’re taking longer than a few minutes.
A Brief Description of the "5 Minute Follow Up"
Think of the 5 Minute Follow Up as the pinnacle of alignment between your company’s marketing and sales teams. It is exactly what it says: A system for your sales team to follow up on every web-generated inbound lead within 5 minutes of a lead filling out a BOFU (Bottom of the Funnel) form. Here’s a flowchart that we use for the process.
Why the Urgency?
To understand why following up within 5 minutes is so crucial to the sales process, you must only glance at the data. The reality is that:
- The chance of the sales team qualifying a lead decreases 6x after 1 hour has passed.
- The sales team is 21x more likely to qualify a lead by following up in the first 5 minutes as opposed to waiting 30 or more.
- The sales team is 4x more likely to qualify them in the first 5 minutes compared to waiting 10 or more.
Not only that, but a study of U.S. companies found that only 26.1% respond within 5 minutes.
SEE ALSO: 5 Takeaways From Inbound 2017 To Improve Our Agency in 2018
Having a refined lead follow up process differentiates you from the competition. It does so by conveying the impression that you are a timely, efficient company that’s serious about how it conducts itself. The 5 Minute system also increases the likelihood of your sales team qualifying a lead. That translates into more revenue.
Sounds Great, But How Does it Work?
Setting up the 5 Minute Follow Up takes some finesse. It’s much more than just making sure that a lead’s information is entered into the CRM, and a sales team member promptly follows up with them.
- Split your sales team into small groups of 3 or 4 reps so that leads can be claimed by the next available person without doubling up occuring. There shouldn’t be any question or confusion about who’s following up when.
- Document lead details for the CRM in a way that is synchronous with the process.
- Have templates for messaging and calls so sales team reps can refine their follow up process. Reps’ tones should be friendly, helpful, and informative.
- Messaging should be casual. Avoid giving the impression that reps are waiting around idly for leads. (Example language: “Hey there, I had a couple minutes between meetings and wanted to reach out to you about _____.”
- Purge bottlenecks out of the lead follow up system by keeping Sales Ops and management out of the actual process. This is imperative for the 5 Minute Follow Up; give your sales team breathing room!
Automating certain aspects of your lead follow up process with software like Hubspot, Zapier, Slack, PandaDoc, etc. can help you streamline and get it into 5 Minute territory. But remember, what really makes this process effective is a solid, well-documented process and a great team of people.
Want to learn more about the 5 Minute Follow Up process? Watch Hüify co-founder and Chairman, Josh Harcus, break down why and how to implement an immediate follow up process.
Additionally, if you're wondering whether your sales process is up to par, get a free assessment from us and find out.
