Understanding the Difference

Your glove compartment, that kitchen drawer, your entire desk. You look at it and say, "I need to organize it." This task becomes a somewhat frequent occurrence. Let's say I want to organize my desk. I will place things where they need to be, get rid of the items that don't belong, create folders, and then I am "organized" for use. The problem still lies in how I operate the remainder of the day, the week, or the period of time until I have to organize it again. But if I "manage" my desk, then various papers, invoices, documents, etc. have a proper place, a standardized flow of getting there, and an ultimate method of disposition. "Managing" these areas means a specific process has been put into play. There is no "periodic" management, only ongoing.

I believe that what most consider lead management as an overarching concept is really lead organization. Too many methods of lead management are really about creating containers for leads. I can put all of my leads in containers, know that this one is "in process", or "approved" and even make sure that the leads are all sequentially aligned, filtered by status, and look very "organized" in my system.

What Happens Tomorrow?

But what happens when I need to actually work the leads effectively? Just like your desk-simply because I have folders and placeholders and inboxes and outboxes doesn't mean I know what to do, when. Where do I start? Once I start, what if I don't put things back right? I end up working inefficiently, making a mess, and having to spend time weeks from now, "organizing" again.

Why Does It Matter?

Here's the problem--leads are expensive. Whether you have generated them yourself through a website, culled them from years of database collecting, or purchased them from an Internet lead provider, leads have a material cost to you and your company. You have either placed money or time into them and as such they are now part of your company assets. Therefore, the assets of an organization are not being effectively monitored if they are simply sitting in email inboxes, spreadsheets under a pile of papers or written on notebooks.

Another problem--your staff may not be experienced to work independently or work in a timely manner before the leads are stale. We run into this problem frequently--how much leadflow should be handled by "green" salespeople? How much business am I losing by tolerating or overlooking bad practices from improperly trained personnel? There is a balance that is always being maintained-- sacrificing leads for the training of new salespeople.

Lead Management Systems-Your Most Efficient Salesperson

This is where technology needs to step in. Today's web-enabled tools should be a playing field leveler. There needs to be a point at which the systems utilized are evening out the results for the organization and filling in certain "training" gaps. Therefore, shouldn't the job of a lead management tool be focused on getting the workflow right?

Your email box-Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, they do a great job of allowing you to place communications in folders, tags, etc. But isn't the heavy lifting still left to you to make sure the workflow process is accomplished effectively? Isn't it on you to make sure emails are where they belong? Aha! There's the point. Imagine then, each of your emails were leads (which, unfortunately, may be EXACTLY where many of your leads are--your inbox). How many were lost? Accidentally deleted? The big one--not followed up on? Or simply ignored due to sheer volume?

The unfortunate fact of  much of our technology is that it is a passive and muted weapon in our company's arsenal. It is simply as good as those who work it. While any system can be a formidable tool in managing leads, the paradigm is the expectation that these systems become placeholders--a virtual filing cabinet with various compartments. Call it a Windows mentality--the idea that everything needs a folder and a spot where it sits "organized" and ready for use when you are. Therefore, we have CRM and lead management deployments that barely pay for themselves since there is hardly any appreciable change in conversion.

Lead Management is about more than a holding place. It's more than just a list of leads that look organized as they are lined up in groups and folders. Technology should drive you to make contact. It should BE your workflow process. When looking at sales and lead management, think about the desired results-- increased contact, higher conversion, more standardization of processes, and ultimately a salesperson equalizer. The lead management system you deploy--whether it is email, Excel, Salesforce, or a specific tool designed for the lead process, should have the effects of 1) making the majority of your sales people better and more standardized in their results and 2) easily see who are the problematic employees that will not be able to "make the grade".

The bottom line is don't confuse organization for management. A lead management system is going to make you better because it is going to establish your workflow, not because it organizes your leads. You can keep using Outlook and Excel for that. Passive organization is great for the short term but in order to see ongoing measurable results, make sure that the workflow processes coming out of your methods are actively driving the process to your desired outcome.

Kaleidico Lead Management Software
http://kaleidico.com
866.667.5253