Your client says the leads are bad. Is follow-up actually the problem?

First, check speed to lead

If they're not following up within five minutes, that's a problem I'd check before accepting that the leads are bad. You need to know how much time passed between the enquiry and the first contact attempt.

I use five minutes as a practical check. It doesn't mean a lead becomes worthless after that, or that responding quickly solves everything. It means you can't properly evaluate the campaign without looking at how the client handles the leads.

If they are responding quickly, then I'd look at the conversation and whether the ads are attracting the right people for the offer.

A lot of people won't answer the first call

Many times, people aren't going to answer on the first call. That doesn't tell you whether they're interested or whether they're a good fit.

The name of the game is follow-up. I want to see an actual sequence of calls, texts and emails, rather than one missed call and a decision that the lead is bad.

We have internal ways of improving how many people answer, but I'm not going into those details here. The important point is that an unanswered first call isn't the end of the process.

When somebody books, the appointment-setting follow-up stops. If they don't want to be contacted, we log it and stop calling and messaging them.

Then look at the conversation

I'd need to see the script they're using and what actually happens on the calls. In broad terms, it's quite straightforward: why were they interested in the offer, what's their current situation, what problems are they facing, and what are their goals?

Then you look at the first appointment they can take with the team. Does that next step make sense for this person?

If people are losing interest in the same part of the conversation, I'd look at that part of the script. You need to know where things are breaking before deciding what to change.

Sometimes the ads are attracting the wrong people

If people are confused about the offer, or thought it was something else, that's a reason to look at the ad and how you're explaining it.

If their budget doesn't fit the service, look at whether your offer and creative are attracting people who can realistically buy it.

Not all leads are going to be good quality. It's impossible to make every person a fit. I want to see a repeated problem across the conversations, not judge the whole campaign from one person.

Find the part that needs fixing

Look at the whole path: the ad and offer, the response time, the follow-up, the conversation and the appointment or live transfer. Then look at what happens when the client's sales team takes over.

An appointment tells you somebody took that step. Whether they buy is another part of the process. Keeping those separate helps you see what needs fixing.

If your agency is bringing in suitable leads but the client isn't contacting them or following up, work on that. If the same offer or budget mismatch keeps coming up, work on the ads and offer.

Give the leads a proper follow-up process

This is where our call center can help. We contact the leads, follow up across the channels and work to book an appointment or transfer them to the sales team.

We do that under your agency's brand. You have another service to sell, and your client has a process for the leads you're generating.

Book your onboarding with me. We'll look at how your clients are handling their leads and where the call center would fit.