Conversion time
In the previous blog we discussed the dissatisfaction with conversion time; the time between making an initial contact and signing a quotation. Many respondents indicated that this is three times longer compared to five years ago. This means that the "sales funnel", the imaginary funnel with potential customers, must be three times larger than 5 years ago for the same turnover. In many cases, this is too expensive to organise with the current sales capacity because three times as many customer contacts have to be made.
Time
We find that two factors play an important role when it comes to the active acquisition of new customers. Firstly, the challenge of "getting to the table" and, secondly, the time it takes to win the customer once they are at the table. The challenge of "getting to the table" is often not met because the potential customer cannot be convinced to make an appointment.
As a result, only a very small part of the turnover from new customers is the result of an active approach. In addition, there is often a lack of capacity to deal with the longer conversion time from first meeting to signing the contract. We are going to investigate how this can be improved!
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This blog is based on the results of our ongoing benchmark research among our clients.
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