17 Stats on the Power of Proactive Prospecting [Infographic]

As if sales development reps didn’t have their jobs cut out for them already. Response rates are dropping, sales are becoming more complex, and as a result it’s getting more and more difficult to break through to the right person.

But does that mean prospecting is dead? Of course not. In fact, as the sales prospecting stats below show, smart SDRs are drawing on new skills and technology to help them develop a much-needed edge.

So don’t just sit there — jump on your leads, get to them first, leverage your network for referrals and connections, and above all, stay persistent and proactive!

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<p><strong>17 Stats on the Power of Proactive Prospecting – An infographic by the team at <a href=”https://labs.openviewpartners.com/sales-prospecting-stats-2015-infographic/”>OpenView Labs</a></strong></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <p><a href=”https://labs.openviewpartners.com/sales-prospecting-stats-2015-infographic/”><img src=”https://openviewpartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/power-of-proactive-prospecting-infographic.jpg” alt=”17 Stats on the Power of Proactive Prospecting” width=”540px” border=”0″ /></a></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <p>

Sources

1. The average sales development rep makes 52 calls daily (The Bridge Group)
2. It takes 18 dials to connect with a single buyer (TOPO)
3. Call-back rates are below 1% (TOPO)
4. Less than 24% of sales emails are opened (TOPO)
5. Leads responded to within 5 minutes are 100x more likely to be contacted and 21x more likely to be qualified (LeadResponseManagement.org)
6. Waiting just 10 minutes drops the likelihood of qualifying the lead 4x (LeadResponseManagement.org)
7. Yet less than 25% of companies who receive a Web lead will respond by phone (InsideSales.com)
8. Only 27% of Web-generated leads get contacted at all (InsideSales.com)
9. Your sales team has a 56% greater chance to attain quota if you engage buyers before they contact a seller (SalesBenchmark Index)
10. The first viable vendor to reach a decision maker and set the buying vision has a 74% average close ratio (Forrester)
11. 50% of buyers choose the vendor that responds first (InsideSales.com)
12. B2B buyers are 5x more likely to engage when introduced (LinkedIn)
13. You are 4.2x more likely to get an appointment if you have a personal connection with a buyer (SalesBenchmark Index)
14. 73% of executives prefer to work with sales professionals referred by someone they know (IDC)
15. 84% of B2B decision makers start the buying process with a referral (SalesBenchmark Index)
16. Referral leads convert 30% better than leads generated from other marketing channels (R&G Technologies)
17. Referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value (Journal of Marketing)

Infographic by: Rachel Worthman

Feature photo by: Veri Ivanova