Following up with prospects awaiting a reply

IT services company

The company, which has 40 employees, received 600 sales inquiries a year. Five salespeople used a tracking tool, but the notes were incomplete; some inquiries went several days without a reply, and follow-ups depended on each person.

Approach

1. 01

   Frame

   The director wanted to reply within one business day and increase the number of profitable contracts. The project covered incoming inquiries, with human review of offers and messages.

2. 02

   Investigate

   I analyzed the inquiries, response times, won contracts and their margins, and spoke with ten lost prospects to distinguish an unsuitable price, poor qualification and insufficient follow-up.

3. 03

   Explain

   A shortage of new contacts was compared with poor handling of existing contacts. Delays and missed follow-ups justified testing the second diagnosis before increasing advertising.

4. 04

   Build

   We compared simple reminders, AI assistance for qualification and follow-up drafts, higher advertising spending and the status quo. Reminders are used without AI when they are sufficient.

5. 05

   Test

   Over six months, 300 inquiries were split into two groups. The thresholds were 90% of replies within one day and three additional conversion points, at comparable margin. The assisted group achieved 95% fast replies and 18 contracts out of 150, compared with 12 out of 150.

6. 06

   Decide

   This limited sample justified a gradual expansion, without establishing a lasting increase. The director committed $24,000, including $7,000 for strategy, and capped spending until a second measurement of sales actually collected.

7. 07

   Steer

   Monthly tracking links each inquiry to follow-ups, the contract and its contribution. The team checks seasonal effects and narrows the scope if sales grow at the cost of excessive discounts.