How Three Industries Compare to the Four Ps: Technology, Telecom, Media, and Entertainment
SimpSocial conducts a hidden shopper survey every year to determine how successful companies are at sales follow-up. We then assess these businesses based on the “4Ps of Sales Effectiveness,” which include:
Promptness refers to how easily a sales team responds to a lead’s follow-up order.
Persistence:
The number of times a sales team contacts a customer after the initial contact.
Personalization:
In a follow-up message, how many personalization elements are included? (e.g. personalized greeting, individual sender, signature with contact information, relevant content, and effort to push the conversation forward),And if the follow-up answer was sent to the Primary mailbox, the Promotions/Social folder, or the dreaded Spam folder.
Of course, our 2020 Sales Effectiveness Report was released during a turbulent year in which businesses grappled with the aftermath of COVID-19 and the resulting economic downturn. Although we don’t have a clear picture of how the pandemic affected each industry, it’s clear that different industries were affected in different ways.
Our research looked at 1,177 businesses in three different industries: technology, telecommunications, and media and entertainment. As consumers reevaluated their budgets, tech companies struggled to generate sales and retain customers. Businesses and customers needed more connectivity to operate remotely, which boosted demand for telecoms. Closures and municipal limitations made it impossible for media and entertainment companies to operate.
Businesses, regardless of sector, needed to engage with their contacts in order to drive sales and keep them updated. Let’s take a look at how each of the three sectors we surveyed fared in terms of the 4Ps.
The Technology Sector
Over 800 technology firms, both B2B and B2C, were surveyed by our hidden shopper. We believed that these businesses will be digitally allowed to thrive through the 4Ps because of their industry.
Did our expectations, however, fit reality?
The Technology industry scored the highest in two of the four Ps (with 25% of companies receiving an A in promptness and 5% receiving an A in persistence) and had the highest number of companies receiving an overall A grade (with 10% of companies consistently performing well in all four Ps).
Although this is good news for the businesses that did well, a significant number of tech companies failed to meet their revenue targets:
Within 5 minutes, 25% of businesses responded to our hidden shopper’s request for follow-up. However, nearly half of those who did not answer within 24 hours received an F. Worse still, 5% of tech companies did not respond to our shopper’s follow-up request at all.
Just 5% of businesses were genuinely diligent with their lead follow-up, contacting prospects 11 to 15 times. About half of the businesses only attempted to reach our mystery shopper once or twice before giving up.
Approximately 30% of tech companies used five personalization elements in their customized contact. Half of the messages made only rudimentary personalization attempts, such as including the lead’s name in the introduction and nothing else.
Just 12% of businesses submitted emails that were regularly delivered to the Primary Inbox. The majority of businesses (48%) sent emails that ended up in the Promotions or Social folders on a regular basis.
Technology is a powerful tool.
punctuality
A percentage of 25% (0-5 mins)
B is 12 percent (6-60 mins)
C is 9 percent (1-8 hrs)
D is 6 percent (9-24 hrs)
Persistence at 48 degrees Fahrenheit (>24 hours)
A 5 percent (optimal: 11-15)
9 percent B (inadequate: 7-10 / 16-20)
24°C (excessive: 3-6°C / 21°C+)
D 57 percent (too few: 1-2)
Personalization is 6% F (none: 0).
A 29 percent (5 elements)
B is 6 percent (4)
4 percent Celsius (3)
ten percent D (2)
Performance of 51 percent F (0-1)
A 12 percent (Primary)
B is 27 percent (Mix)
8% Celsius (Mix)
D is for 48 percent (Promo)
F5% (Spam)
Over our other two sectors, the Technology industry received points for their fast and persistent follow-up. Businesses in the tech sector should place a greater focus on personalizing their outreach to increase their sales effectiveness.
Industry of Telecommunications
Just 4% of the telecommunications firms we looked at received an overall A. This suggests that the telecommunications industry lacks the technological capabilities needed to efficiently follow up with leads and prospects.
Internal problems, such as matching Salesforce capability to increased demand for their services, trouble moving workers to remote work, or budgetary issues, were likely present in these organizations. However, this emphasizes the importance of a digital-first communication approach.
Here are some of the report’s highlights:
Though 17% of telecoms responded to our mystery shopper within 5 minutes, the overwhelming majority (63%) took more than 24 hours to respond. It took many people more than a week to get their first contact. And 6% of people didn’t respond at all.
With 77 percent attempting to contact our hidden shopper twice or less before giving up, the telecommunications industry fell behind in Persistence.
Just 16 percent of businesses hit all five elements of personalized outreach, while 65 percent didn’t personalize anything beyond the lead’s first name.
For emails that ended up in the Promotions or Social files, 58 percent of businesses received a D, and for the rest of messages that ended up in the Spam folder, 6 percent received an F. Just 9% of businesses were regularly placed in the Primary folder.
Telecommunications services
punctuality
A 17 percent (0-5 mins)
B is 12 percent (6-60 mins)
5% carbon dioxide (1-8 hrs)
9-24 hours (4 percent D)
Persistence at 63 degrees Fahrenheit (>24 hours)
A percentage of 1 (optimal: 11-15)
3 percent B (inadequate: 7-10 / 16-20)
Excessive: 3-6 / 21+) 19 percent C
D 71 percent (too few: 1-2)
Personalization is 6% F (none: 0).
A 16 percent (5 elements)
B is 6 percent (4)
7 percent carbon dioxide (3)
D is 6 percent (2)
Performance of 65 percent F (0-1)
A 9 percent (Primary)
B is 24 percent (Mix)
3 percent Celsius (Mix)
D 58 percent (Promo)
F6 (Spam)
The telecommunications industry should consider introducing new technology to help them deliver timely, persistent, and personalized messages at scale in order to increase sales effectiveness.
The Entertainment and Media Industry
Since in-person activities were suspended during the time of our review, we assumed that media and entertainment companies would be the least likely to react. Surprisingly, the Media & Entertainment industry outperformed all other industries in two of the four Ps (Personalization and Performance), with 6% of companies receiving an overall A. These companies may have realized the value of keeping their customers engaged during unpredictable times.
Here’s how the Media & Entertainment industry stacks up to the 4Ps:
The Media & Entertainment industry earned the second-highest percentage of A grades in Promptness (19%) (for answering in 5 minutes or less) and the lowest percentage of F grades (39%). (taking over 24 hours to respond).
Companies fell behind in the field of persistence, with zero receiving an A. The overwhelming majority (70 percent) only attempted to reach our mystery shopper once or twice before giving up.
These businesses excelled at personalization, with 39 percent receiving an A for incorporating all five components. However, almost the same percentage (40%) received a D for only having two items.
Performance was equally strong as a result of these companies’ emphasis on personalization, with 14 percent receiving an A for consistently landing in the Primary folder. Half of the businesses polled (49%) used a hybrid approach of promotional emails that were still customized enough to be prioritized in the Primary folder.
Entertainment & Media
punctuality
A 19 percent (0-5 mins)
B is 12 percent (6-60 mins)
17 percent Celsius (1-8 hrs)
D is 13 percent (8-24 hrs)
Persistence at 39°F (>24 hours)
A 0 percent (optimal: 11-15)
4% B (unsatisfactory: 7-10 / 16-20)
Excessive: 3-6 / 21+) 26 percent C
D 70 percent (too few: 1-2)
Personalization: 0 percent F (none: 0)
A 39 percent (5 elements)
B is 13 percent (4)
5% carbon dioxide (3)
D (four percent) (2)
Performance of 40 percent F (0-1)
A 14 percent (Primary)
B 49 percent (Mix)
C is one percent (Mix)
D is 36 percent (Promo)
0 degrees F (Spam)
More touches to leads and opportunities will help media and entertainment companies increase their sales effectiveness.
With the help of an intelligent virtual assistant, you will increase your sales effectiveness.
Any company must consistently offer timely, persistent, and customized outreach to leads and prospects. However, scaling successful lead follow-up with people power alone is difficult. Organizations should consider augmenting their workforces with an Intelligent Virtual Assistant to help Sales teams work every lead to its full potential (IVA).
Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) combine the scalability of intelligent automation with the human-like touch of SimpSocial to help Sales teams gain revenue opportunities and increase capability by automating customized outreach that is always timely, persistent, and friendly. IVAs follow best practices at all times and encourage leads to take the next best step (such as scheduling a meeting with your sellers).
Consider taking on an Intelligent Virtual Assistant to scale your outreach if your company is struggling with the 4Ps of sales effectiveness.
Back to Blog