Sales hinge on connections, conversations, and conversions. All three of these are unlikely to happen without effective sales follow-ups. Consistency and persistence are key in 2024!
We’ve gathered insights from top sales companies, including trends from trade shows. We checked them against the real-world experiences of thousands of high-performing sales teams we work with. We delivered them to you in this handy article!
These sales follow-up statistics reveal:
- How to gain a competitive advantage with follow-ups
- What to emphasize about follow-ups in your onboarding and training sessions
- How many times you need to follow up to close a sale
- The role of email and social selling in successful sales follow-ups
Join us as we hand over the keys for you to master your follow-up game in 2024.
The State of Sales Follow-Ups
- Only 3% of your market is actively buying at any given time. And another 40% are ready to start. The rest won’t buy no matter what you do.
- 48% of salespeople never even make a single follow-up attempt after a cold call. Follow-ups are an easy way to gain a competitive edge and beat sales quotas!
- 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up call. Statistically speaking, one follow-up call isn’t enough to land most sales.
- 60% of customers say no four times before saying yes. Resilience in the face of rejection is key.
- 8% of salespeople have more than five follow-up touches. Be the 8% salesperson!
- 80% of sales require five follow-up calls. Since so few salespeople keep up their follow-ups to five calls or more, there’s money left on the table!
- 2% of sales are made on first contact. 3% are made on the second, 5% on the third, 10% on the fourth, and 80% on the fifth to twelfth contact. This emphasizes the importance of nurturing prospective clients throughout the sales process.
The Speed of Sales Follow-Up Statistics
- Web leads are 9x more likely to engage if you follow up within five minutes.
- 35-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first.
- 50% of buyers go for the vendor that replies first.
How Buyers Feel About Sales Follow-Ups
- 75% of online buyers want to receive 2-4 phone calls. Don’t give up before you’ve met or exceeded these expectations. Many sales happen on the fifth call.
- 12% of online buyers would like a company to call until they get a hold of them, often leaving voicemail messages.
- 42% of people would be encouraged to buy at an appointed time. Busy professionals and business owners sometimes appreciate warm calls at a specific time. This way, they can make a clear-headed decision. Offer this option in your follow-up process.
- 57% of people appreciate low-pressure follow-ups. The content of your sales pitch isn’t the only thing that matters. When you follow up, use a helpful and casual tone. This encourages prospects to ask questions, creating a positive sales experience.
How Salespeople Feel About Sales Follow-Ups
- Only 28% of sales professionals expect to meet or exceed quota in 2024. Lean into sales training and education, find the gaps in your sales strategy, and ensure you’re prepared for the new sales landscape.
- 65% of sales reps say they can’t find content to send to prospects. Informative content and helpful resources can be a vital part of the sales process. In particular, challenger sales models rely on education and need it. Start building a content library that serves the real questions and objections your prospects bring up in the sales process. This way, you can include relevant resources in your follow-ups.
Email Sequence Sales Follow-Up Statistics
- 70% of reps only send one email to prospects. This means that if you consistently follow up, you’re bound to beat out the competition and gain clients they’ve left behind.
- Your chance of hearing back is 25% if you send more than one email.
- A first follow-up email can result in a 220% surge in reply rates. Compared to the initial email sent, follow-up emails get better response rates, likely due to increased familiarity.
- Cold email outreach campaigns with three total emails have 9.2% reply rates.
- After three total emails replies decrease by 20%. Sending too many follow-ups won’t necessarily do any damage, but it can be a waste of the sales team’s productivity.
Subject Line Sales Follow-Up Statistics
- 47% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line alone. Keep your subject lines engaging, curiosity-provoking, and personal!
- 69% of email recipients use the subject line to detect spam. Avoid subject lines that look automated, are overly formal, or use “Title Caps.”
Timing of Email Follow-Ups
- Next-day follow-ups reduce replies by 11%. Give prospects 2-3 days to think your email over and reply to you.
- Waiting three days results in a 31% increase in replies. The optimal time between a cold email and follow-up is between 2 and 5 days. Plan your email sequence strategy accordingly! And remember, some emails simply get buried in people’s inboxes. Spacing out your follow-ups will keep you on top of customer interactions.
- Your chances of a response drops to 24% after five days. Don’t wait too long to get in touch with your prospect again!
In-Depth Sales Follow-Up Statistics
- 70% of sales leaders are seeing a decrease in risk-taking. This is company-wide and affects the culture of organizations. While playing it safe may lead to more steady results, leaders should pay special attention to their team’s disposition. If follow-ups feel too risky, reps are unlikely to do them.
- 66% of sales reps say they have too many tools to work with. Simplify your sales CRM, narrow down the most essential sales tools for your team, and ensure everyone has adequate training to optimize your tech stack.
- High-performing reps are 1.9x more likely to use AI. Sales leaders and operations pros see AI as a way to leverage reps’ time. Use new AI innovations to reduce routine and repetitive tasks and data entry. This will give your reps more time to focus on their prospects and customers.
- Sales leadership encourages long-term relationships over short-term wins, say 90% of sales reps. This is a testament to starting off sales relationships strong. Follow-ups strengthen the prospect relationship quickly and build trust in your dedication.
- Over 80% of sales reps find that buyers are more educated. Before a sales conversation even begins, they’ve done their research and have questions prepared. Sellers must pool their resources and be ready to address hard-hitting questions. They must show their company is the right choice above and beyond their competitors to improve customer retention.
Ready to add high-performing closers (who are dedicated to the follow-up) to your team? Contact us today to discuss your hiring needs!
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