Actually Will Rogers said, "Nothing will spoil a big man’s life like too much truth." Big or small, man or woman, the truth can cause all kinds of issues, especially when it comes to sales lead management.
To be fair, it’s only right to say that many people don’t know what the truth is when we speak of sales lead management. I don’t think there is such as thing as too much truth in sales lead management, so I guess it’s time we talked about it.
It’s said the truth will set you free; maybe it will work with you or more precisely management.
I believe there are 12 truths in B2B sales lead management (no doubt more, but I stopped at 12; you can add some):
1. There is a difference between an inquiry and a lead. Leads are qualified inquiries.
2. 45% of all inquiries turn into a sale for someone within one year. This is known as the Rule of 45.
4. Companies that follow-up 100% of their sales leads sell more than those who don’t.
5. Companies that prove the ROI, or lack of it, for its sales inquiries will spend money on promotions that work and let their competitors spend money on everything else.
6. Between 75-90% of all inquiries are never followed-up by a salesperson.
7. Marketing management says it isn’t their job to report on the sales lead dispositions. They’re wrong.
8. Any follow-up by sales and marketing people increases the sales results. The greater the follow-up, the greater the sales return.
9. Having a CRM system and/or a Marketing Automation system is no guarantee that a company is managing its sales leads. People manage leads with the tools given them.
10. A marketing automation system with follow-up and content delivery can increase sales from inquiries several hundred percent. Some research says between 300-400%.
11. Marketing manager’s who cannot prove the ROI for the lead generating dollars they spend are threatened with extinction.
12. Sales manager’s who do not hold their salespeople 100% accountable for the sales inquiries and leads given to them will join the marketing manager on the threatened species list.
These are the truths as I see ‘em. People have said to me that these are just plain common sense. And I guess they’re right, but considering we started with a Will Rogers quote it seems appropriate that we end with something else he said:
"Just because its common sense doesn’t mean its common practice."
If you’ve got anything to add, go ahead. We welcome your thoughts.
P.S. Whilst we're on the subject of truth, get a copy of Dan McDade's book, "The Truth About Leads" Published by Onsei and avaialble from Amazon or directly from PointClear
Every company needs a defined process for managing their leads. For example, the sales reps don't want to follow up on inquiries (in fact they don't want to follow up on leads unless they're ready to buy) so whose job is it to follow up on inquiries? Marketing? Inside Sales? It needs to be defined and then measured to see how long it takes them to follow up (the faster the follow up the greater the chance of connecting and selling). You need to know how many of those inquiries turned into sales? Were there any inquiries that weren't followed up? Why not?
Posted by: Andy Brownell | 04/11/2021 at 10:00 AM