Real Time Reactions…What is Fast Enough?

Marketing Question: what is considered a quick turnaround in the super-connected world we all live in? Life with smartphones, email, texting and Twitter means that we are available to be touched 24 hours a day. This hyper-access has accelerated people’s expectations of what is a reasonable amount of time they should wait for a response to a query.  How many times have you received a phone call from someone wanting to know if you got their email because you had not responded yet? How fast is fast enough. It appears that the gap is closing.

How much does the rate of response affect ROI?  A comprehensive lead response management survey from MIT and InsideSales.com found that the odds are 21 times greater of qualifying a Web-based lead if it is responded to in five minutes versus 30 minutes.  How do you do that? What tools are available to make that happen?

One answer is cross-media based marketing strategies that include direct mail, email and interactive Internet tools. Utilizing PURLs (personalized URLs) and database digital printing technologies to produce unique printed pieces in one print run, you can drive potential customers to a micro-site that will generate an email notice to your Sales Team in seconds. This allows your team to respond in the critical time period when the prospect is prime for purchasing your goods or services. This all sounds very complex and expensive but the reality is that this technology is very affordable and very simple to incorporate into your current marketing strategy.

What sort of techniques are you using to respond quickly to your prospects? Is it working? Have any of your clients communicated to you that they appreciated your quick response?  Let us know. We are always looking for ideas that work. A marketing plan utilizing cross-media tools to drive prospects to your site and to give you the ability to respond immediately will help generate the immediate responses and ROI you are looking for to succeed.

Steve Davison is a marketing consultant providing marketing and sales support to CustomXM. When he is not doing that Steve is a professional touring guitarist.