Sales Lead Management Today

7 DIY Tips for Marketers & Entreprenuers

1. Check all of your site footers for current copyright date.

You've seen the sites - © 2011, 2012, etc. How can you trust the efficiency and competency of a company that misses a detail  that is on EVERY PAGE of their site, cart, blog, podcast station?

2. Trusting Demo flash drives - it's like inviting someone you met in a bar to sleep at your house.

Really, what do you know about that company other than they gave away a demo flash drive at a trade show or conference? How about your client who sends you a drive with 5 images on it? STOP doing that! Have them upload to Google Drive or Dropbox. They are both encrypted on upload and at rest. So much simpler and the you don't open up your system and network to the "one-night-stand nasties."

3. Making changes to your website or campaigns? Document them in Analytics.

One of the easiest ways to measure the effectiveness of a change in themes, banners, sitemap, feed service, social media systems, content, menus is to document those changes in Analytics using annotations. It gives you a starting point. Take the 30 seconds to add to your online journal of your site. It will save you hours of guessing "what happened?" later.

More here and quick video >

4. When was the last time you tested your subscription process? 

Don't forget to try out your calls to action on your own site. If you don't like the process, chances are new potential customers won't either. Be objective, remove your ego and try it out as a bystander who happens on your site from Google Search.

5. Speaking of search - think your home page is the most common landing page?

It may be, but you may be missing opportunities on some of the other popular pages. Review your analytics to see where they are coming in, and from where. THEN, make sure you are delivering the content they expect. While you're at it, make sure you have a direct, simple call to action. Try to de-clutter those pages as much as possible to keep them focused, and wanting to stay longer or give you their email. 

6. Where's your D*mn Contact information?

I understand the point is to sell your products. But HUMANS created the product or service and HUMANS must support the product or service. Where are the humans on your site? How can we reach the humans? If you are so popular you cannot keep up with website inquiries and people contacting you directly through your site - go cry me a river - oh, boo hoo - you are way to popular. HIRE some HUMAN to help you keep up. Faces, titles, positions, snail mail address, support or inquiry phone - these are the basics you should have links to on EVERY PAGE OF YOUR WEBSITE - put it by that current copyright year if you want to tuck it away - but DO IT.

More on this rant here >

7. Mobile browsers can be pickier on vague links. Choose a target!

It used to be we could create a link on a site, and by default it would replace the window you were on with the linked window; unless you chose a target to open a new window or _blank. Not so with mobile browsers. You are asked the question frequently, "would you like to open a new tab?" To avoid this, make sure you select a target of either "_self" or "_blank" unless your website editor has it built in to have "_self" as the default when you don't choose anything.

More on this here >

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Tips provided by SLMA Director of Online Marketing, Susan Finch. You can subscribe to her free tips here >

7 of Brian Carroll’s 31 Tips for Improving Sales and Marketing Lead Generation Alignment

I have been asked to speak on the topic of Sales and Marketing Alignment a number of times.  Gerhard Gschwandtner’s recent opening at Sales 2.0 in Las Vegas addressed the same topic, and I spoke up to say, “Alignment starts and ends with leadership from senior sales and marketing management.”  And yet, obviously, there is more to it than leadership. 

 Why it matters!

Without alignment of sales and marketing a company has no team.  No team, no winners.  Just a high sales territory turn-over and outrageous marketing spending. 

Brian Carroll, in his B2BLeadBlog yesterday, summed it up in a list of 31 actions (he said ‘tips’) that have to be considered in order to get alignment between Sales and Marketing.  Here are 7 of Brian Carroll’s 31 ideas; crucial ones you can use to improve alignment and collaboration:

1. Train your salespeople to optimize your lead generation investment and to give you feedback.

11 Email Marketing Basics: Drop a note to those who opened your newsletter

This post may be "101" for many of you who have full marketing departments, large automated systems that process subscribers, send out auto-responders, and automatically create newsletters from your hashtagged posts on social media. This is for the rest of you. There are so many types of email marketing systems. Some are so complex and auto-piloted you barely know what is being sent out or who is engaging until you read the monthly reports. This is a very hands-off approach. Although it is helpful for tracking and saving time, you can lose touch with those who are actually

Velocify study shows that how salespeople spend their time can increase sales 29-49%

In July, Velocify published a dramatic report that demonstrates the power of prioritizing a salespereson's time in the follow-up of sales leads.   You can listen now by clicking below to the SLMA Radio Interview.

 

How salespeople spend their time (spend is the operative word) can make a staggering  difference in productivity (code word for ROI) of a sales rep.  Jorge Jeffery of Velocify shared the results of data collected from 400 companies and one million sales leads in this interview and his report.  He tells the SLMA Radio host Jim Obermayer how to double conversion rates, (close more deals) and how to call leads more quickly. All of this comes from their recently released study: The Power of Prioritization. 

 

Why it matters

Sales prioritization of lead follow-up increases sales

dramatically and reduces sales expenses

 

Growing Your Biz Presence on #GooglePlus, aka Google+

This is a recap of a Hangout on Air featuring Those4Girls, Stephan Hovnanian, owner of Shovi Websites and SLMA Online Marketing Director, Susan Finch. The discussion covered these points:

• Why is it important to have a presence specifically on G+?
• What are the most efficient best practices for your Business Page?
• What resources are out there to help me build a solid reputation on G+?
• How do I set myself apart from the crowd in a busy, content filled platform?

NINJA TIP: On all social media venues that have taglines, statements - if you are preparing to attend an event - mention it there, if you are speaking, have a booth - mention it so that when people connect with you ahead of time they know they have the right "YOU."

Stephan has a weekly show: Google+ Business Spotlight - how businesses are using Google+. He's written a couple of books on various topics on Google. Time to make it a bigger part of your web footprint.

 Google+ is one more tool to increase your reach, your authority, your reputation through true engagement. This is a more collaborative environment.

Why is a presence on Google+ important?

Heartbleed Checklist - Take the time please, we care.

 Check these items - time to change the passwords - go through the list.

 

Taking the Mystery out of Pricing Telemarketing Services

SLMA Radio host Jim Obermayer asks Mari Anne Vanella to tackle the tough subject of navigating what should be paid for the different levels of telemarketing services.   Mari Anne is the president of the Vanella Group and is a featured speaker at the annual SalesForce.com Dreamforce meeting.

LISTEN LIVE AT 5PM PDT THURSDAY OCTOBER 3

In this 40 minute interview Obermayer will work with Mari Anne to separate fact from fiction about telemarketing pricing and the different levels of compensation based on the project scope.  Should database clean-up be different from lead generation which could be different from appointment setting, which could be different from pure sales, which is different from lead nurturing?  What about a flat hourly fee verses those companies that charge for per calling hour, management and reporting?

 

SLMA Webinar: Generating Hyper Growth with Data Driven Decisions

AUGUST 22: 12pm - 1pm Pacific Time

Robert Israch - VP Global Marketing Programs

REGISTER HERE 

THE MISSION OF OUR FREE SLMA WEBINAR SERIES IS TO PRESENT THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST DEMAND GENERATION AND DATABASE MARKETING EXPERTS AT LEADING GLOBAL COMPANIES SO THAT SMART MARKETERS LIKE YOURSELF CAN COME TOGETHER TO BECOME SMARTER.  

Robert Israch is responsible for developing and managing NetSuite's worldwide demand generation programs, using marketing ROI to inform and guide all marketing decisions. Robert will present how NetSuite uses marketing technology, data reporting and analytics to build a scalable marketing organization that can accommodate exponential worldwide sales growth. Robert's presentation will include how NetSuite tracks sales leads from generation through conversion, making key decisions based on data analysis and marketing ROI instead of opinion. 

Why Marketing Automation Needs Outbound Telemarketing

Debra Da Costa was recently interviewed on SLMA Radio to discuss the two independent disciplines and how they are becoming interconnected.  Oubound Telemarketing can stand on its own, but can Marketing Automation?  Litsten to hear thoughts on this subject:

Listen Now:    Standard Podcasts [00:46:48m]: | Download | Embeddable Player |

Outbound Telemarketing is usually called in when Sales and Marketing are scratching their heads of how to handle digital clutter. helps to have someone from telemarketing to follow up on the vast quanities of leads - at least as a prequalifier, otherwise sales force cannot be relied on to call on these leads at the right time.

Why is marketing aggravated with the sales people?

During a recent broadcast of SLMA Radio, Jim Obermayer and Will Crist took opposing positions to gain better understanding as to why Sales gets so ticked at Marketing.

Jim took the position of a marketing executive and Will took that as a sales team member.

"A Sales Person should be helping someone who has a problem come to a decision as quickly as possible," according to Will Crist.
A sales lead from a sales person perspective is sales qualified lead - what sales people should expect or gently demand from that lead is that:

Someone that has raised their hands saying they want to talk to someone about the problems they are having.  Or, a company or person who wants to talk to someone to about my problems -- not about the product.

You can here the discussion here:

Listen Now:  Standard Podcasts [00:51:32m]: | Download | Embeddable Player |

 

Disqualifiers:

• outrageous expectations
• no money
• cannot make a decision
• no time to deal with it.

Qualified lead is a person with a need - ideally an immediate need.

Marketing's feeling is that Sales thinks a lead is someone ready to buy.
If they are not ready to buy, they think it's a waste of effort.
Ideally a PO would be attached to a sales lead; but as we know, that doesn't usually happen.

Sales person is supposed to help the person with the problem come to the decision as quickly as possible.

What do most sales people say are wrong with most leads - what is the biggest complaint.
Will told a story, "I had a client generating 289 leads per month.  They would go to the restaurants, invited people from the companies they wanted, "Come on over!"  From the lunch, marketing would give the cards to the sales folks from the lunch presenting them as 'qualified' leads worthy of follow up.  When sales followed up, the "leads" told them, 'Thank you for the great lunch, but we aren't interested in talking to you..."

Borrowed interest.  Typical - put your card in the bowl - get a free iPad, pens, etc.

Marketing has to watch out that they don't use borrowed interest to raise their hands and create unqualified leads.

What is your tradeshow experience? How many leads do you bring back? How many are QUALIFIED leads?  Who wants to talk about the problems?  Who has a date and time attached to the cards?  Better to bring back 30 of these leads, rather than 400 with borrowed interest as the motivator.

Complicating factor:
Marketing is measured by how many leads they generate - not QUALIFIED leads?
Most companies don't know how to discern that reporting, which causes Marketing to grab any type of lead they can. This leads to sales not trusting or not bothering with the leads passed on from marketing.

You can here the discussion here:

Listen Now:  Standard Podcasts [00:51:32m]: | Download | Embeddable Player | 

By: +Susan Finch

Why is the person who manages sales leads so valuable?

Claims come from telemarketers, fulfillment pros, marketing automation and CRM firms, SEO consultants, direct and email marketers, website creators, and any company that counts and processes prospect names that they are sales lead management companies.  And to a small degree, they are right.  Some even say they totally manage sales leads.  But that is misleading.

If a company in some way touches an inquiry on its way to becoming a sales lead, they are in the business of managing a portion of the process… but they are not the whole process.  No one, absolutely no one, is in the entire business of managing sales leads from cradle to grave.  Maybe SalesForce is close, with their three “Clouds,” but they have not yet achieved total control because their marketing automation capabilities are still limited (some say non-existent).

SLMA Radio: Expert talk about the STUPID mistakes bloggers make!

SLMA Host Jim Obermayer Interviews Dan McDade president of PointClear and Susan Finch of SusanFinch.com. McDade publishes ViewPoint, The Truth About Lead Generation which was just named One of Top 50 Blogs by Top Sales World. Susan Finch, the director web services for the SLMA, has created over 100 blogs for her clients. Learn what works and what doesn’t. Hear what Dan McDade has to say about what he has done to create an award winning blog. Hear from Susan Finch who recounts the stupidest, and sometimes costliest mistakes new bloggers make.

Listen Now:

  Standard Podcasts [00:50:23m]: Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Some tips included:

• Knowing the difference between a press release, a blog post and an article.
• BUYING photos rather than 'borrowing' them from Google image results
• Point your domain to a REAL URL, not just yourdomain.blogger.com

Sales Lead Management Association Launches its College of Fellows Program

James W. Obermayer, CEO of the Sales Lead Management Association, announced that it has formed a Sales Lead Management College of Fellows program to recognize leaders in academia and B2B/B2C companies who have excelled in the field of sales lead management. The SLMA College of Fellows is an opportunity for people who have given of their time and resources, expertise and leadership to be recognized for their contributions. Obermayer said, “Each year, from the applications submitted, a chosen few Sales Lead Management Fellows will be recognized. The requirements are stringent, but the acknowledgement from their peers for their accomplishments will be a just reward.”

To apply to be a Sales Lead Management Fellow, the applicant must meet the following criteria:

• You must be an SLMA member. Membership is free. You can join here >
• You must have a minimum of 15 years' experience (180 months) in the field of marketing, or a minimum of 10 years as a marketer and 5 years in sales and/or sales management, or as an educator.
• As an educator you must show that at least 50% of your time has been spent in the field of marketing education.
• Through your works (speaking, articles, blog, or books), you must demonstrate a knowledge of sales lead management processes.
• You must have demonstrated professional capability in the field of sales lead management.
• You must be an influencer in the field of sales lead management, which can include written expertise (books and articles). *Note that articles and blog posts differ.
• You must have demonstrated leadership in the field of sales lead management.
• You must have experience speaking publicly on the topic of sales lead management.

To apply for the 2013 recognition process, the deadline is March 1, 2013. There is an application, a $50 fee and a requirement for five letters of recommendation. About the Sales Lead Management Association
The Sales Lead Management Association was founded in 2007. Membership is free.

The association serves 4,502 members of the worldwide sales lead management community. A privately held organization, SLMA has a diversified business model with revenues coming from sponsors, software reviews, display advertising, SLMA Radio, newsletter advertising, sponsored cartoons, and industry leader links.

For additional information, visit: SLMA.

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By: +Susan Finch

10 Mistakes Bloggers Make - an unexpected list.

(photo above is McD viewed from the Seattle Space Needle: don't miss an opportunity to keep your brand front and center!)

Before bloggers even begin posting the first two mistakes in this list happen before the template has been chosen:

1. Permitting someone else to register the domain for you under that person's account.  This results in your NOT being the owner of your domain. There are four contacts in the domain registration.  When another company registers it your domain under their own account, you will not be listed as the owner, the billing or administrative contact.  The problem with this is that if you have a falling out with that person or company, or they close shop, you'll never get notification of when your domain is about to expire and you risk that your site will go down, including your mail.  In worse cases, your domain could be forward to another address without your knowledge or taken offline altogether maliciously if you have any conflicts.  You may also lose your domain and it can be very difficult to get it back.

SOLUTION: If you have someone else register it for you, be sure to request that they update the contacts to show you as the registrant, administrative and billing contacts. The agency can remain the technical contact.  That's a MUST.  Better yet, set up your own account with a domain registrant such as namecheap.com, godaddy.com, or hostgator.com  I'm not a fan of Register.com or NetworkSolutions.com – too difficult to make changes and talk to a human.  DOMAIN registration is NOT NAME server or WEB HOSTING.  They can all be at the same place, but you can also have your domain registered with one company, the site sits with another company and your name servers are somewhere else. (YouTube 5 minute video: learn the difference.)

Maurice Sendak is off with the wild things

 

Maurice Sendak was certainly given accolades before he died this week at 82 years of age. And now they continue as people remember him as the likeable curmudgeon . Here are some of his thoughts that I enjoy. (and of course you’re right this has nothing to do with sales leads).

“Live your Life. Live your Life. Live your Life.”

“Children are tough, though we tend to think of them as fragile. They have to be tough. Childhood is not easy. We sentimentalize children, but they know what’s real and what’s not. They understand metaphor and symbol. If children are different from us, they are more spontaneous. Grown-up lives have become overlaid with dross.”

“Children do live in fantasy and reality; they move back and forth very easily in a way we no longer remember how to do.”

“And Max, the king of all wild things, was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all.”

 "One fo the few graces of getting old--and god knows there are few graces---is that if you're worked had and kept your nose to the grindstone, something happens: The body gets old but the creative mechanism is refreshed, smoothed and oiled and honed. That is the grace.  That is the splendid grace.  And i think thay is what's happening to me."

"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!"

 

Photo: Where The Wild Things Are" graffiti, in Kelsey-Woodlawn, Saskatoon, SK, Canada (Freedom of panorama) |Source=[http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodsfehr/4294122453/ Where The Wild Things Are] 

Five Social Media Must-Haves for Crisis

written by Chris Syme  

Crisis: something you have to plan for in order to survive it, but hope you never actually have one.

Organizations and businesses that don't plan for crisis will be left behind when the inevitable happens. Thorough crisis plans don't have to be 50 pages long, but you need to have one. Your organization's crisis plan should include a social piece in the communications section. Real-time is the fastest way to join the conversation, provide help and information, and direct the messages. Social helps you be your own media. So, how can social media play a positive role in crisis? Here are five social media must-haves in crisis:

1. Emergency website home page or news page: Your website developer will be able to set this template up and keep it ready to go for a time of crisis. You can either re-direct your URL (depending on the severity of the crisis and need for real-time information), or just have it as a prominent link from the home page. If the crisis is severe enough, for instance involving public safety or tragedy of some kind,  it might be worth having a home page re-direct for the first 24 hours of the event. Recently, Missouri University of Science and Technology initiated their "Emergency Home Page" when there was a shooter on campus. You can see the template and details here.

Emergency websites should include (above the fold) necessary contact information for the public, those involved or with family involved, and press. If you have a press room on your regular website, the link should be prominent in contrasting color in crisis time. Press may need background information, bios, pictures, fast facts, news releases and much more. If you have an online press room available, they won't need to call or email for the basic info. The press room should also include a schedule of upcoming releases and press conferences. Icon links to social media platforms where crisis info is available should be above the fold and in contrasting color to backgrounds. News stories related to the crisis should be listed in chronological order with date and time in headline.

2011 Top 50 in Sales Lead Management is coming, is your headshot ready?

This is a reprint from an article on the SLMA website, but it seemed timely to post here.

The Importance of a Good Head Shot

There are instances when you may be invited to speak at an event, participate on a panel, guest author an article, get nominated for an award, or get promoted. These events have one thing in common; they all require a good headshot of you. A headshot is a photo, not an avatar or cartoon but a photograph of yourself from the shoulders up dressed professionally.

If you have ever been asked to speak and don't have a high resolution headshot to provide, it is almost guaranteed that the people posting the information will turn to the popular online photo resource, "GOOGLE," to find what photos they can of you. It may not even be you, or it may of you dancing on tables, wearing a Halloween costume or worse. Go to Google and type in your name if you don't believe me. Then, click on the "images" category in the left of the results. Any of these could be used for your headshot if you don't provide one even if they are not you in the photos.

No Tree is too Big for a Short Dog to Lift his Leg On!

I like borrowing cowboy wisdom to make a point and this is no exception. No matter how good a CRM system you have there is always a salesperson that will figuratively lift his leg on it and say he won’t use it.

Why do salespeople literally lift their leg on the CRM System?

The primary purpose of a CRM system, even if they don’t believe it, is to help bring control to their sales lives. Control time, reduce use of spreadsheets, track hundreds of prospects, reduce the need to remember appointments, important dates, and ultimately close more sales. Why do salespeople resist CRM systems? The reasons are common:

1. Too little training

2. Resistance to change.

3. What’s in it for me attitude.

4. A poorly customized CRM system installed without salespeople’s opinions and input.

5. Ignorance of management about the customers buying process or the salesperson’s selling process.

6. Lack of input from marketing about their needs from a CRM system.

Marketing’s Role in Sales

What role do Marketers really play in sales – I mean directly with Sales?  We have found that the answer to this question is quite different for each company. Some Marketers are left to worry about executing campaigns with no particular concern regarding the outcome of the marketing tactics on eventual revenue. It’s hard to believe that this situation still exists, but we’ve seen it time and time again.  It’s the status quo legacy that many companies continue to maintain.  However, we do see a majority of Marketers striving (whether of their own impetus or that of their managers) to have a more direct impact on sales. 

How To Reduce Your Lead Leakage

As our sales funnels get wider and longer, it’s even more challenging than before to keep leads within our grasp.  One of the most costly sales and marketing issues is lead leakage.  Lead leakage refers to leads entering the funnel as suspects and potentially moving through to leads and possibly opportunities only to be forgotten, if they are not ready to buy. But what does that mean? Are these leads are not worthy of continued attention?  Could these leads buy at some point in the future? Plugging a hole in your sales funnel is critical to successful lead management.  Below are some steps that can be taken to help reduce lead leakage…

1. 1. Integrate a lead nurturing strategy into your lead management process.
   - Sending out emails over a period of time is not an effective lead nurturing strategy.
   - Put some thought towards targeting, relevant content, and evaluating success (sending the right person, the right message at the right time is effective nurturing).
   - Use automation to track digital behavior and automate nurturing programs for leverage, visibility, and scalability.
   

Sales Lead Management Association Launches Talk Radio Program

PRESS RELEASE

 Beginning July 29, 2010, Will Crist to host weekly SLMA news & interview radio show

Los Angeles, CA - - July 20th,  2010- - James W. Obermayer, executive director of the Sales Lead Management Association,  announced today that the SLMA will host a weekly talk radio program centered around the topic of sales lead management.  Obermayer said, "Well-known radio commentator Will Crist will be our host and interviewer.  We’ll cover recent industry news and interviews with business leaders.  This is not simply blog radio or a podcast; it’s the new live web radio with all of the quality you expect from a professional radio program."

SLMA Radio will start broadcasting Thursday, July 29th at 5 p.m. PST (California, US).   Listeners can connect via the SLMA Website.  Produced by Paul Roberts of OC Talk Radio, the SLMA Radio broadcast is also available through the OC Talk Radio website.   

Host Will Crist said, "In our first broadcast on July 29th, we will interview Phil Fernandez, president and CEO of Marketo and Dan McDade, president, CEO and founder of PointClear."

The second program will air Thursday, August 12th, when Crist interviews Gary Slack, CEO of Slack Barshinger and Chairman of the Business Marketing Association, and Andy Brownell, CMO of LeadMaster . 

The third program, airing August 26th will feature Joseph Payne, CEO of Eloqua  and Mac McIntosh, President of  Mac McIntosh, Inc., business to business sales lead expert.  By the beginning of September, broadcasts will air weekly.

SLMA vice president of marketing, Sue Campanale, said "This show is open to SLMA members and non-members alike; anyone interested may listen in.  Recorded broadcasts will also be archived on the SLMA site.   Interviewees will be provided a copy of the program they participate in.  Guests are subject to change."

Commercials Accepted
Campanale also said, "This is not pay to play.  Our guests are not asked to pay a fee to be on the show.  We are, however, accepting commercial advertisers for this new web radio program.   There will be three 60-second commercials per each 50-minute program.   Rates are available on the SLMA site."

About the Sales Lead Management Association
The SLMA is an association with the mission of helping companies become successful in the critical business process of managing sales leads.  It has more than 2,500 members world-wide.  Membership is free.

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Media Contact:  Susan Campanale
714-637-6989
[email protected]
www.salesleadmanagementweek.com

Starting Down the Path of Lead Management

Author: Lisa Cramer, Co-Founder & President, LeadLife Solutions

We often hear marketers struggle, knowing that they need and desperately want lead management systems and processes, but are worried about their ability to implement one. We are all resource constrained, marketers probably more than most, so how can companies start down the path of lead management without overhauling their entire operation in a 3- 6 month implementation?

Lead management can really be taken in steps – yes, for maximum return you need to implement all components and processes from website to close of sale.  But we’ve found that just taking the first small step can provide some immediate ROI and immediate visibility to all that’s been missing.  One example might be, if a company currently sends an electronic monthly newsletter to prospects, we’ll often suggest starting simply by moving that process to a lead management tool. The process involves importing leads into a lead management system, using the lead management system to more definitively segment and target these prospects.  Set up an email template within the lead management system with dynamic content that can changed based on some basic criteria such as industry and watch the advanced behavior tracking open up your eyes. 

The benefits are immediately obvious.  First, lead management systems provide a very detailed way of segmenting your prospects.  If segmented well (industry, title, size of company, behavior, interests, etc.), then your ability to target messages to the segmented list will be much better and much more effective.  Personalization combined with relevance is one of the most important criteria for successful email conversion. You should see more clicks and better conversions over time as you provide more relevant information to your prospects. And if your lead management system is what it should be rules can easily be created to dynamically change text or images to better suite your targeted recipients.

Download our whitepaper “A Quicker, Simpler Path to Lead Management ROI” and learn a step-by-step approach to getting up and running with lead management. Discover how taking small steps can provide immediate ROI and visibility into what’s been missing.

Lisa Cramer is president and co-founder of LeadLife Solutions, a provider of on-demand lead management software that generates, scores, and nurtures leads for B2B marketers. In 2009, Lisa was recognized as one of the top 5 “Most Influential People” in sales lead management. For more information on lead management or best practices call 1-800-680-6292 or email [email protected].

Determining Where a Lead Is In the Buying Process

One thing we know with certainty is that all leads are not created equal, making lead scoring crucial for marketers so they can determine prospect readiness and take appropriate action at the right time. Increasingly, automation is key since spreadsheets and calculators can no longer do the job given the volume of leads and their varying sources, interactions and demographics. Marketers don’t have time to track leads and crunch complex numbers while also crafting innovative product campaigns.

Similarly, metrics used to track and evaluate marketing programs must change, since today a simple “hit” on a website might mean far less than a combination of hits or other actions by the same prospect over time.

This isn’t to say that metrics regarding hits on websites are unimportant, or that you shouldn’t track email clicks. However, they are no longer the endpoint; instead they are just the beginning of real marketing analytics used to determine where each lead is in the buying process, and how to respond.  

As marketers, we must change how we track and score prospect behavior to determine when a lead is truly a lead and ready to be passed to sales. As part of this, we must also identify ways to nurture early leads into “sales ready” buyers. What this means is that marketing must be able to recognize which leads are ripe and which still need time on the vine—then grow those leads accordingly.
 
Lead scoring helps make an accurate determination of how ripe each lead really is.


Lisa Cramer is president and co-founder of LeadLife Solutions, a provider of on-demand lead management software that generates, scores, and nurtures leads for B2B marketers. For more information on lead management or best practices call 1-800-680-6292 or email [email protected].

Don't Blame the Economy: Don't Be A Victim!

We are going through some very tough economic times, but not everyone is a victim. The facts are that we have: high unemployment, many business closings, a weak US dollar, record deficits, fear of what may happen next and daily media reminders of how bad things are. This may be true, but in reality most elements of the economy are still thriving.

Unfortunately, individuals and companies feel that with all of the negatives this is not the time to spend money on marketing and sales. Actually, business analysts will tell you that at times like this it is imperative to invest in aggressive marketing, and fine-tune the sales process to find out what programs are working and which ones aren’t. This is when you must have a system in place to make sure you get the best bang for your buck.

LEADTRACK has been in the sales lead management business for 30 years and it is shocking that from 1979 to 2009 several figures remain constants in business annals…

• More than 50% of qualified leads are never worked by sales
• Less than 50% of a sales persons time is spent selling
• 80% of trade show leads are never followed up

You need tools that will ensure:

• Your valuable sales leads do not fall through the cracks
• Inquiries are quickly routed to the correct sales person for quick action
• Marketing investments are analyzed to optimize budgets
• The entire organization is linked to the sales pipeline

This is not the time to sit back and wait for things to improve. Take control, implement a state of the art sales lead management solution to make sure your precious sales leads are not falling through the cracks. Don’t let your company or your sales people become casualties of this temporary economic slow down.

You can implement a solution, either on-demand or on your premise in a matter of days and begin realizing the many benefits of improved sales lead and marketing management.

You can’t blame the economy if:

• Your reps spend the majority of their time in non-sales activities
• More than half of your costly qualified leads are never worked by sales
• 80% of your trade show leads are never followed up

Take action, now.  Don't be a victim.