Numbers don’t lie! Also, numbers often teach important lessons. That’s why, in this blog post, we have compiled 21 mind-boggling sales facts. Each one comes with a key takeaway that’ll help you rise to the top performers.
In this article:
#1. 92% of all customer interactions happen on the phone. — Salesforce
We knew it and now the numbers prove so as well –– nothing beats talking one-on-one with your prospect.
Emails are great. But put yourself in the customer’s shoes and then think –– would you respond better to another cold email from a stranger or a caller whom you could have a two-way conversation with?
The latter, right?
That’s precisely the reason every customer-facing company worth its salt still has a phone number to ring to.
Otherwise, we all could have just moved to automated chatbots and emails.
Bottom-line? Become an expert at cold calling, make better customer connections and reap higher benefits.
Takeaway: Want more customers? Pick up the phone!
#2. 57% of C-level buyers prefer that salespeople call them. – Rain Group study
Data shows that even C-level executives prefer calls over, say, emails.
Takeaway: Well, you know what to do, don't ya?
Nervous about how to open a cold call with such a senior person? Here’s a list of sales opening lines that’ll help you put your best foot forward.
#3. 59% of buyers think the sales emails they receive are irrelevant. (Direct Marketing Association)
Phone calls stand out!
#4. 75% of prospects are willing to make an appointment or attend an event based on a cold call alone. — DiscoverOrg
Takeaway: Focus on crafting the right sales pitch with an offer prospects can’t refuse, you’ll have conversions – that’s a guarantee! Have a great script but are struggling to close the conversations? Here are some closing phrase ideas to make your prospects say “yes”.
#5. Over one trillion dollars are spent annually on sales teams. (That’s 1 followed by 12 zeros)
And most sales reps make over 100 calls every day.
Obviously, companies'd better try their best to get the most out of those calls.
How?
By perfecting every step of the customer call journey. We are talking about:
Takeaway: Start with breaking down your cold calling process and identify how to do each step better.
#6. 85% of prospects and customers are dissatisfied with their on-the-phone experience. — Salesforce
Takeaway: Always have a sales script plus everything that relates to the current prospect right in front of you. It’s basic reasoning – if you know what to say and how to say it, you'll win your deals.
#7. 42% of sales reps feel they don't have enough information before making a call. — Lattice Engine
Takeaway: Do your homework. Take notes. Learn from your past experience. Repeat.
#8. 50% of leads never get a second cold call from salespeople. –Velocifiy study.
This is a massive mistake as it takes about 6 to 8 calls for a prospect to respond.
So, if you give up after a couple of attempts you are basically passing up a potential sale.
Need more reasons to be regular with your follow-ups?
#9. 46% more conversions are made on Wednesdays compared to Mondays. – CallHippo
Takeaway: The best days to make prospecting calls are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, confirms another comprehensive research from CallHippo.
However, that’s a generic fact.
Each industry and market have their specific nuances which you can only understand by analysing your own call data (you already know where to go 🙌).
#10. 4:00-5:00 PM is the best time slot to hit up prospective customers. – CallHippo
Great, should you start hitting "Dial" between 4:00 - 5:00 PM now?
Nope.
Takeaway: Learn what works for you, not others.
Timing is as important as what you have to say, so spend time perfecting it. Start tracking your call performance metrics, and find out when is the best hour of the day to call your specific customers.
#11. You can 100x your call connection rate by contacting the lead within 5 minutes after they've submitted a web form. — Xant
Takeaway: The best call response time? Within an hour a customer makes an inquiry, says a CallHippo survey.
How do you recognise your sweetest call-response time slot to seal a deal? Our call analytics solution also measures the time it took a salesperson to call a lead.
Just pick out the timespan where you got the highest conversions and make it a rule - there, you’ve cracked it!
#12. 6 is the ideal number of calls to win a sale. – Velocify.
Takeaway: So, be persistent and you’ll not only be able to close, have repeat-customers from up-selling and cross-selling as well. Data also shows that retaining current customers is 6 to 7 times less costly than acquiring new ones.
How many times do your sales team follow up with a lead, do you know?
#13. 71% customers say they want to hear from salespeople when they are looking for ideas to drive strong business results. – Rain Group study
On the other hand, only 13% of customers believe sales people understand their needs. This is because most sales people digress from the central theme of selling anything – “customer is the king”.
Takeaway: Sales, ironically, is NOT about selling your product, it’s about SOLVING your customers’ problem (with your product) – those are two different things.
Until you crack that and diagnose your customers pain points, you don’t stand any chance to sell them your solution.
#14. 60% of buyers said they got relevant information from the salesperson in the early, lead-nurturing phases that ultimately won the account. – SiriusDecsions
Takeaway: Think "How can I help this prospect with their problem?" not "How can I sell this prospect my product?"
#15. 80% of calls go to voicemail, according to RingLead.
Takeaway: Don’t just prepare for a conversation, be prepared to leave an 18-30 second message as well.
Why 30 second? Prospects won’t listen much more than 30 seconds to a cold call message, found an Inside Sales study.
Each additional second used beyond your 30 decreases the chances of connecting with customers by 2%.
#16. 84% of prospects go with recommendations from friends and family. – Nielsen study
#17. Customers converted via referrals are almost 24% more profitable than other customers. – Wharton School of Business
#18. And yet, only 22% of salespeople had a formal referral system. – Heinz Marketing report.
Takeaway: Don’t hesitate and just ask your next customer directly for a referral.
Data says, salespeople who actively seek out and exploit referrals earn 4 to 5 times more than those who don’t.
If stats are to be believed, 91% of your customers will hook you up with your next lead.
#19. 20% of the contact information is outdated. – ZoomInfo
Takeaway: The only systematic solution to tackle this is having automated call logging that shows real-time which calls are deadends.
This way you can at least regularly update the point-of-contact phone number – the rest of the details (like designation, job function, workplace, etc.) can then be updated by a sales rep when on a call.
#20. 35% of sales reps time is spent on redundant paperwork versus just 22% on selling. – Pace Productivity study
Takeaway: Let your sales team focus on selling! Eliminate boring, dragging admin work by automatic processes - call tracking, email tracking, lead tracking, etc.
If you automate call tracking, you straightaway add another 3 hours of calling to a 8 hours work day. Imagine the amount of increase in productivity those additional hours per sales person can fetch you.
#21. 41% of salespeople claim they get leads who are too difficult to reach. – Dreamforce by Conversica survey
Takeaway: Don't waste your time on leads that prove futile to contact. Find out the most effective stopping point for your sales teams by simple call analytics.
Track how many times your calls went unanswered. You can then cross-check this data with the time or day of the week that you’ve been trying to reach these contacts. Maybe you’re calling them at an inconvenient hour and all you need to do is improve your response rate by calling at a more suitable day and time of the week.
If you find yourself falling into these traps, don't continue banging your head against the wall. Sign-up for a free 14-day trial to experience using a call tracking tool that works for you, not against you.