Sales Lead Management Today

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].

New E-Books from the SLMA

We have three new e-Books on the SLMA site

Title:  Focused Outreach Lead Generation from Exceed Sales.  
Author:  Elisa Ciarametaro.    www.exceedsales.com

Are you sick and tired of hacking through a jungle of information about lead generation?   Elisa Ciarametaro wrote  this e-book to make your strategy clear and easy to follow.  This has a 10-Step Guide to produce high quality leads and increase the ROI for your programs.  She covers a  definition of Focused Outreach and her Ten Step Plan.  This e-book is great for those new to the field or seasoned veterans. 

This guide presents key strategies that work for Exceed Sales clients, and you’ll see them step by step.    This is a registered down-load for members only or go to: www.exceedsales.com

Title:  The Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing
A Marketo Workbook

This is a 43 page workbook (yes, there is some work to do), divided into four parts:
 
 Part One: What is Lead Nurturing. 
 Part Two: Lead Nurturing Basics.
 Part Three: Advanced Lead Nurturing. 
 Part Four: Calculating the ROI of Lead Nurturing. 

This is meant to be a workbook, not a “read it and drop it,” book.   They make a good case why nurturing is needed in B2B when they state that companies that excel at lead nurturing:

• Generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost per lead.

• Reduce the percent of marketing-generated leads that are ignored by sales
(from as high as 80% to as low as 25%).

• Raise win rates on marketing-generated leads (7% points higher) and reduce
“no decisions” (6% points lower).

• Have more sales representatives make quota (9% higher) and a shorter ramp up time for new reps (10% decrease).

Read it, pass it along to senior management.    You must be a member of SLMA  to download a copy at the SLMA site, although no registration is required, or go to:  www.marketo.com/dg2-lead-nurturing

Title: The Definitive Guide to B2B Social Media
A Marketo Workbook

This is a 48 page workbook divided into five parts:

 Part One:  What is social Media and Why does My Business Need It?
 Part Two: Laying the Foundation
 Part Three: B2B Social Media Tactics and Metrics.
 Part Four: Incorporating Social Media at Every Stage of the Revenue Cycle.
 Part Five:  The ROI of Social Media.

This is good; really good.  Marketo lays the groundwork for why B2B can no longer ignore social media and they make a great case for how to measure what some say isn't measurable.    This is a fast, must-read for the company president.   

You must be a member of SLMA to download a copy at the SLMA , although no registration is required, or go to:  www.marketo.com/dg2-b2b-social-media

E PLURIBUS UNUM from Michael A. Brown

From Michael Brown  ...
One of the 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management 2009
 
This Latin phrase, which also is on our money, means “of many, one.”  You make many lead generation and development calls each day and they may start to sound the same … to you. But not to your prospects. They hear only one.
 
Because each prospect hears you once, the onus is on you to make that one time sound distinctive. So despite your repetition (hope not boredom), you need to make every single call throughout the day and week sound as good as your very first. Here’s how:
 
•         Envision your prospect. They are not awaiting your call with baited breath and hand above the receiver. They are doing something else and are subject to all the usual workplace distractions and interruptions. So your call must compel attention based solely on your verbal delivery and content. You have a new audience every call.
 
•         Make each call unique. Your pre-call preparation, such as a visit to your database(s) and their web site, ought to provoke at least a few questions to guide the conversation with your prospect or customer. Refresh your Question Bank often.
 
•         Present the next step in context. For example, if you want to send a video link, explain why watching the video is beneficial: "Ms Prospect, I urge you and your colleagues to look at the new video ... it runs only 2:25 ... because you will see why you may, indeed, want to consider us ... there are some powerful economic advantages! OK?"
 
•         Do not rush! Getting the details such as their e-mail address makes sense only if they are going to take the next step. So develop your case, secure the prospect’s agreement, THEN ask for the administrative details.
 
© 2010, Michael A. Brown