Improve Odds Of A Returned Sales Call

by Jack Loechner, Jun 15, 2012, 12:34 AM

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The results of a new study presented in the Value of Connections infographic, released by Reachable, reveal that personal connections can increase the likelihood of salespeople receiving a call back five-fold and improve sales productivity by more than 240%.

The report says that for every 1,000 calls made, only 345 are returned if the caller doesn't have a connection, whereas 849 calls are returned for callers who do have a connection. Overall, the research found that personal connections led to a 243% increase in sales productivity, which delivers maximum ROI for prospecting activities.

For Every 1,000 Calls Made, 243% More Deals Closed With Connection
	No Personal Connection	With Personal Connection
Returned calls	345	849
Leads (@20%)	69	168
Deals (@20% closing)	14	34
Source: Reachable, June 2012

 The research analyzed survey responses from a random sample of business professionals involved in the purchase process at their companies, and showed a high degree of correlation between the caller's and call recipient's common personal connections and the likelihood that sales calls will be returned.

Overall, callers with a personal connection, direct or otherwise, are more than 5 times more likely to receive a return call than those without any connections. For callers with direct connections, the likelihood of receiving a return call increases 11 times.

The Value of Personal Connections In Sales
Connection	Likelihood of Sales Call Returned
Any personal connection	5X More likely
Mutual acquaintance	3X
To make an introduction	4X
Calling a connection directly	11X
Source: Reachable, June 2012

Sales professionals have always used personal connections to improve results, says the report, but social media, email and CRM technology platforms offer new opportunities because connections are now documented in digital form.

According to Gartner, as noted in the report, business-to-business applications for sales use will have the fastest growth and will account for 30% of all social CRM spending by 2015, up from 5% in 2011. Gartner analysts also said they expect the worldwide market for social CRM software licenses and subscriptions to total $2.1 billion in 2012, up from $850 million in 2011.

For more information from Reachable, please visit here.

 

 

 

 

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1 comment on "Improve Odds Of A Returned Sales Call".

1. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited
   

   commented on: June 15, 2012 at 8:40 a.m.
   You needed to spend money on a study to know this ?

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