Does it really make sense for your sales team to be conducting their own lead management program? There is something to be said for dividing your sales operation. We've already talked about the difference between lead generation and lead management. Now I want to discuss a bit about how lead management differs from your sales effort.

As we've seen, lead management demands a fairly long-term strategy. Sure, some might result in immediate sales, but others might take a little finessing over time. The first question I want you to consider is whether it's fair to ask your sales force to undertake lead management. Most sales people have varying levels of computer experience, little time for an extra load of administrative work at the end of 55 hour week, and are not paid to think long range (they make most of their money on sales they write this week, month or quarter).

If your sales people are good at closing the deal with highly qualified prospects who are ready to commit, then you might make better use of their time by relieving them of lead management tasks. Moreover, if you are paying them on a commission basis for the sales they make, you are cutting into valuable income-earning time by asking them to keep up with administrative tasks.

That said, most lead management programs fail because there are a lack of procedures and the administrative support to make them work. Your sales people's time is most productively spent selling. All of your managers are busy managing your sales staff. And it can be more in depth and time-consuming than your assistants or clerical staff can keep up with. It might be time to take a look at outsourcing your lead management to an organization with the resources to properly manage your leads.

Outsourcing lead management makes sense. Here is why; if your leads are pushed to an outsourced lead management firm then you can have all of your leads qualified before your sales team even touches them...that means your team only sees the "A" leads. Your longer range leads are databased properly and re-qualified at some later date not by your sales reps but by your outsourced lead management team. Those leads are then pushed to your reps if and when the lead matures in to an "A" status.

So, if your sales team seems to be under-performing AND are complaining about having to handle administrative work that doesn't relate to immediate sales, the simple solution to your problem just might be to let someone on the outside handle the long-term lead management tasks for you.

The benefits of this are as follows; all your leads are qualified with the same criteria, you can therefore determine if your lead sources (web, direct mail, trade show etc.) are working for you. Your team is happier because they are only working with the "A" leads...this increases key selling time and thus your investment in lead management is going to produce solid ROI. You hired your staff for their ability to sell; outsourcing lead management functions can let them focus more on the task you are paying them for, and increase their productivity.

About the Author

Al Davidson is the President and Owner of SSM (Strategic Sales & Marketing, Inc. http://www.manageyourleads.com), which he founded in 1989. Under Al's direction SSM provides major account lead generation services. They have implemented new business development programs for thousands of B2B companies nationwide. Since their inception SSM's calling center has completed over 50 million cold calls to high level business decision makers and generated over 7 million sales leads.