…I’m not sales, but in management I’m somewhat responsible for these wacky claims. And I make some ahem optimistic claims myself, to potential customers and upper management alike
People in sales, what is your industry, and what percentage (estimated) of leads actually lead to good business?
Me, I’m specialty chemicals. I’d estimate 10% of all leads lead to sales. That’s just me, though. Maybe y’all do better 
I sell Quickbooks software and attached services. My personal best was 40%. Lately I’ve been averaging 20%.
Interesting. I thought there must be some cross industry studies on that question, but all I can seem to find is that no one agrees on how to define a “lead”!
Yes, exactly. A lead is very hard to define.
For my business, most of our clients come from networking events. My wife might attend an event with 200 people. She actually talks to 50 of them. 3 are interested in what we do to the extent that they have a second contact. 1 signs up to become a client.
So… is it 0.5%, 2% or 33%? That all depends on who you call a lead.
It’s easier to track leads generated from our website. About 20% of the phone inquiries turn into some kind of customer. (We probably have 100 lookers for every caller, but we don’t have solid numbers on the lookers.)
Depends, are these the Glengarry leads we’re talking about because those are only for closers.
Put! That coffee! Down!!
The leads are weak!
What’s my name? Fuck you! That’s my name!
I’m a Realtor, and leads really are the lifeblood of my business.
If I talk to someone directly in person, and they are interested in selling/buying now, then the lead is almost 100%. But for Internet leads, which is 80% of my current lead generation as a newer agent, it breaks down to:
50% I never hear from again
20% will probably be ready to move in the next year
25% I work with now, and we go see houses/start the process
3% turn into a closed sale within the next year
2% result in a closed sale with the next three months
But real estate is weird in sales, because of the sometimes very long shelf life of the lead. I have people who I’ve been sending possibilities to for over a year, and when I talk to them, they’re still in the market. Older agents regularly have people pop up from years ago that are ready now. So lead follow up and communication is key. If you give them some attention for a few months, and then drop them, when they are ready in two years, they’ve completely forgotten your name and go with someone else who happens to get their attention.
When I sold RVs, every single sale came from walk-ins. I inherited a box full of contact cards, but not one of them ever purchased.
Back when I was in PR, the owner really believed:
Ten percent of contacts turned into leads
Ten percent of leads turned into formal presentations
Ten percent of presentations actually led to business
And of course, only 20 percent of business was long-term and profitable.