EXPRESS: Ready to Convert? How to Talk with Sales Leads

Lead calling is a vital aspect of B2B prospecting, yet how salesperson speech influences lead conversion remains understudied. Drawing on Symbolic Interactionism theory and grounded analysis, we develop a framework that conceptualizes salesperson speech as comprising linguistic acts (legitimizing, piquing, nudging) and paralinguistic acts (intensity, speech rate, pitch). We further theorize how these communicative acts influence lead receptivity, a speaking turn-level indicator of a lead’s openness to the sales message, and how lead receptivity shapes conversation-level conversion. Using data from 783 lead calling conversations involving 11,566 speaking turns, we test the proposed framework. Results show that a 1 SD increase in lead receptivity raises conversion likelihood by 13.44%. We also show that the effectiveness of communicative acts depends on whether and when salespeople deploy them during conversations. For instance, more specific (compared to less specific) nudges increase lead receptivity by 11.82% earlier in the conversation but reduce it by 81.40% later in the conversation. Similarly, speaking faster (vs. slower) has a neutral effect on lead receptivity earlier in the conversation, compared with 8.26% reduction later in the conversation. These findings offer new insights into the lead conversion process and provide actionable guidance to improve lead calling effectiveness.