I was good at finding reasons to spend more
The ads were bringing in leads. After 5 PM Eastern, some shoppers waited more than an hour for a reply.
Back at the agency, the analysis that got me invited back to the next meeting was the one that found room in the budget. A recommendation to change how the sales team answered leads was harder to fit into a meeting about the media plan.
These days my fee is the same whether a client spends more or less. If the next person I need to talk to is the one answering the phone, I can go have that conversation.
This fall, a nationwide auto transport brokerage I work with wanted more leads and more sales. The ads were paying for themselves, and the cost to win a booking had roughly halved since earlier in the year. I could have made a good case for a bigger budget.
We looked at the clock instead.
Open isn't the same as answering
The team told us evenings were covered, and they wanted every lead they could get. At 5 PM Eastern, people on the East Coast are getting off work and finally have a minute to deal with shipping a car. Here in California, it's only 2 in the afternoon.
| Lead arrival (ET) | Time to hear back | Booking rate |
|---|---|---|
| Daytime | 7–13 min | 25% |
| After 5 PM | 35–85 min | 11% |
We didn't know how much of the booking gap came down to the wait. We could change how quickly someone answered. Before I asked the owner to buy more leads, I wanted to see what happened to the ones already coming in.
This time, I recommended a later shift.
At 9 PM Eastern, it's 6 PM here in California. You could be getting home from work, looking at a quote, and picking up the phone with a question. That's the call I wanted someone there to answer.
The owner approved moving one agent to 3 to 11 PM Eastern on weekdays. That covers the West Coast from noon to 8 PM. The rest of the team keeps its daytime hours. The same agent also covers 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern on Saturday. The ads run when someone's there to answer.
November's ad budget stays about the same as October's. Saturday gives us a chance to see how many weekend shoppers book when an agent is there to help.
If the website gives you a price, when do you need an agent?
If you're shipping a standard sedan on a common route, the website can give you a price on the spot. We built the quote tool using live carrier rates.
When we compared the website's quote with what carriers actually charged, it held up on 84% of the booked orders we checked. The misses had something in common. They were classic cars, cars that don't run, and RVs.
If the car you're shipping won't start, you can have a price on the screen and still want to ask, “Does that price hold for my car?” That's where an agent can help.
How we'll know
We'll track how quickly evening leads get an answer, how many book, and what each booking leaves the company. Before the first evening shift, we wrote down what would lead us to keep the schedule, change it, or end it.
First read in late November. Full read December 7. I'll report back.
An agency is built to bring people to the door. I get to follow them through it.
Methods and assumptions
How the numbers were measured. Lead arrival times, time to hear back, and booking rates come from October records. The price check compares the website's price with what carriers charged on booked orders.
What was left out. The client's name, dollar figures, and operating costs.
What this is not. A result. The new schedule starts in November and gets its full read on December 7.