The challenge

Converting product-led free trials with hands-on sales

CallRail is a top call- and lead-tracking SaaS provider that serves more than 200,000 companies worldwide. As a hybrid self-serve and sales-led growth company, CallRail had about 800 customers sign up for a free trial each month. While an abundance of leads was a great problem to have, converting those trials to meetings with its sales team was a challenge. 

Each sales development representative (SDR) handled 90-100 free trials per month, working to convert them to paid users. Time was of the essence, since the team had to capitalize on converting leads quickly, while prospects were most engaged.

The CallRail team needed an efficient way to leverage product usage data and prospect information to craft relevant messaging that resonated with prospects — leading to more meetings booked and closed deals. Without effective automation and a way to test and learn from prospect feedback, SDRs weren't making the most of the data from their product-led growth motion.

“Our team wanted to both capture qualified leads on the website, and convert leads and free trials with the right calls to action,” said Nick Jackson, sales manager at CallRail. 

“We knew that meetings were the most effective way to convey our product’s value, but needed a more efficient way to customize them to each prospect, at scale. With a high volume of leads, our SDRs had no time to waste with administrative tasks or the back-and-forth that comes with scheduling.”

Nick Jackson

Sales Manager at CallRail

The solution

After reviewing a few options, the CallRail team set up a Calendly Teams subscription plan to increase sales velocity and keep deal momentum high with qualified prospects. Now, CallRail uses Calendly in a variety of ways to accelerate the sales process and simplify the customer conversion experience.

Reducing customer effort with Calendly

CallRail’s strategy includes two key Event Types with Calendly: a 10-minute meeting and a 30-minute meeting. Both let the prospect self-select as ready to meet with sales, and avoid the back-and-forth around availability.

The 10-minute meeting in Calendly is used in automated, outbound campaigns. The shorter meeting makes it easy for cold leads to schedule a demo call, since sales reps have more availability, and the short time commitment takes the pressure off. 

The 30-minute Event Types are designed to convert free trials to paid users. In these longer meetings, CallRail SDRs can showcase the value of their product through a demo and still have time for Q&As. 

“Our customers are busy, so it’s critical to us to reduce their effort throughout the sales cycle,” Nick said. “That includes making it fast and simple for customers to meet with the right people at the right time, instead of making them fill out more forms.”

Testing and learning with targeted sales email CTAs

CallRail uses Calendly as a call to action (CTA) in customized sales emails based on how free trial customers had used the product, or other data they had on prospect intent.

Since CallRail has four different product types and works across a variety of industries, personalizing email messaging led to more effective conversions from email to meeting, and from meeting to close. Using Calendly as the email CTA helped leads move quickly to book the right type of meeting with the right team member, including product experts who could describe specific use cases in detail.

Accelerating the sales process from end to end

A big part of CallRail’s use of Calendly is accelerating the sales process, keeping deal momentum high and reducing meeting no-shows. The team uses Calendly’s Round Robin feature to ensure CallRail SDRs respond as quickly as possible to prospects, based on their availability and expertise. 

Round Robin works by automatically distributing new meetings to team members, saving the time of manually assigning each incoming meeting. To improve response time, CallRail set their Round Robin to route to the first available SDR. Meeting invitees simply choose the time that works for them, and Calendly handles the rest behind the scenes.

In addition, automated meeting reminders and video conferencing integrations with Zoom made the scheduling process seamless for both SDRs and prospects alike, reducing no-shows. 

“We used automated reminders as an opportunity to ask our free trial users what questions they had about our product,” said Jackson. “Not only are these reminders helpful, but they also make our meetings more to-the-point and shape the discussion for our sales team members and customers.”

The results

Doubling conversions for leads who booked meetings through Calendly 

The CallRail team knew meetings were their most effective sales tool for converting qualified leads and free trials to paid users. Using Calendly, CallRail’s conversion rate doubled for leads that booked a meeting via their Calendly links. The team effectively targeted email messaging and meeting types to get to the first call, and used automated Calendly reminders to further increase meeting relevancy with key prospects.

Also during the last 12 months, the team achieved $150,000 in cost savings due to automating previously manual processes. And the sales team booked more than 13,000 events with Calendly — a pace that’s been key to success for this fast-growing SaaS company.

“Calendly has been pivotal in our sales team scaling up,” Nick said. “It helps us understand how to best meet with our prospects, based on their preferences or issues they might have. For us, it’s all about making sure you’re meeting the customer where they want to be met.”

Ready to explore what Calendly can do for your bottom line? Sign up for a free, 14-day trial today.

To learn more about the paid features CallRail uses – such as multiple Event Types, Round Robin, and more – contact our Sales team.