Sales Lead Management Today

'RevTalks’ in San Francisco shakes up marketing management!

Revenue Marketers: Are you in?

RevTalks, The Revenue Marketing™ Summit, finished up Monday, January 27, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in San Francisco.  There were 36 speakers, about 15 exhibitors, and the same number of sponsors.  Created and hosted by the Pedowitz Group’s Debbie Qaqish and Jeff Pedowitz, this program was startlingly different in its content and approach.   The program easily fit two days’ worth of content into 8 jam-packed hours.  The SLMA Radio program on January 30^th will have selected interviews with Qaqish and Pedowitz, as well as exhibitors and attendees. 

‘Different’ is an understatement in describing RevTalks.   Usually, marketing ROI subjects are relegated to one or two spots on a conference program filled with web and email subjects ad nauseam.  This program had a solid 36 speakers with honed-down messages (15-minute TED Talks style) about how marketing is creating revenue, taking credit for it, and becoming a peer with sales.  If there were 400 people this year, next year there will be 800. 

While I have preached for years the equality of marketing with sales in creating revenue, the Pedowitz Group,  with the publishing of Debbie’s Book, Rise of the Revenue Marketer (review)and now this conference, have set themselves apart as surely as Reis and Trout did with their book, Positioning, and Geoffrey Moore did with Crossing The Chasm.   I talked about it; they did it.  Revenue marketing titles will begin to explode, and new conferences will wisely make this subject a huge part of their program. 

Cartoon: Now all we need is salespeople who will follow up!

From our Humor relations department comes a question that has been asked and seldom answered, why aren't sales leads followed-up?  In spite of the promise of CRM software, follow-up of sales leads has essentially not improved with just this tool.  

Why it matters: only 10-25% of all sales leads are followed-up by sales.  Increase sales lead follow-up and you will increase sales. 

Marketing automation's promise has produced more results because it aggressively assumed follow-up “duties” that salespeople so cavalier ignored.  But the simplest of functions, failure to follow-up of inquiries and leads, cost B2B companies billions a year in wasted marketing expenditures because a major team player doesn't do their job.  Lack of sales lead follow-up is a real-life cartoon in more ways than one.  

Of course, there are acceptations.    When the leadership in sales and marketing demands 100% follow-up and uses all the tools at their disposal, ah that is a fine thing to see; profitable too.

Lies, Lies, and Damn Lies.

Recently Dan McDade, CEO of PointClear, asked me to contribute to an article in his blog, Viewpoint, The Truth about Lead Generation.  The article was entitled:  Lead Generation Lies That are Wreaking Havoc with Your Sales.   Being an over-achiever, I gave him more than he asked for.  He printed 5 of my lies, plus some great ones fromArdath Albee | Marketing Interactions, Craig Rosenberg | The Funnelholic, Paul Gillin | Paul Gillen Blog, Ginger Conlon | DMNews, and Jamie Turner | 60 Second Communications.  Here is my full list of lies:

Connecting is more than a like, follow, circle, or +1

As we deepen our relationships through online communities such as Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube, we can get caught up in the quick scroll through the newsfeeds with limited time and attention as to what is being posted by whom. We quickly jam through the "liking" of posts, +1-ing shares, posts and images, retweeting something from someone without even visiting the link just to add something to our timeline. That's not connecting.

Next, our online profile is your HANDSHAKE. If you have a profile on Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter - don't forget to lose your newbie moniker by filling in ALL of the blanks. This includes a REAL headshot - HEAD - not your full body in some pose because in streams you are REALLY tiny next to your post. If it is YOU and not a company page or brand page - it needs to be YOU not your logo. How about the default or blank BANNERS on Google+, Twitter, Facebook? It reeks, "NOOB." - find something, a photo of a place you love, a quote, SOMETHING other than the default or blank or stock background images Twitter offers.

Onward - what is your criteria for connecting with people? Do they simply have to ask you and you say yes? Really? You realize this not only gives them access to shove stuff at you, links, promos, requests, invitations, but in the case of LinkedIn it allows them to be one step closer to your carefully cultivated connections. Did those connections know that you just open up to anyone that asks? Seems a bit loosy-goosey to me.

Salary for CMO: What Do CMOs Get Paid?

Yep, I know; do a search and you can find average salaries for almost any job, but I thought this might be of interest considering the growing significance of the CMO career positions.   The point is, for this job and most others there are sources that can tell you, before your interview, typical compensation ranges.  (We link to the sources credited and quoted.) 

Do your research and you will find averages, highest and lowest salaries, and even some listings by city.  I saw listings and estimates as high as $850,000 and as low as $38,000 for CMOs.   The average (depending on what you read) is $145-$180K.  There are other things to take into account, including bonus and profit- sharing, to find the total compensation package.   Don’t take one source as gospel; try to find the average for your industry in your geographic area.   

To wet your appetite, Payscale.com reports stats of:

Salary    $76,679 - $243,384

Bonus   $974 - $98,238

Profit Sharing     $5,000 - $40,000

But before we get into more sources and estimated compensation, let’s be sure we are talking about

A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS: SIN, SUFFER AND REPENT

Ok, so maybe this is the formula for fiction.  Women’s fiction.  Romantic fiction.  But when I think about it, this is not unlike most redemptive stories from successful people. 

They sinned: did things wrong, caused issues and problems for those around them and in their businesses.  

Why it matters

Marketing is a learned skill that comes from trial and error, and learning from others. Longevity in the discipline helps. Be a “learner."

In this process they suffered.  Of course, there may have been some success, but not total success.  No matter how they managed their lives and their businesses, they had suffering which they didn’t take the time to tie back to the wrong doing, the failures. 

Eventually they learned, matured and repented.  They changed and found salvation.  Through their repentance, they learned how to be successful. 

This formula isn’t a far stretch to those of us in marketing.  Take me for instance.  I have a degree in English literature.  After a short stint as a technical writer (interesting but not overly successful, although I did write the testing specs for the Wankle engine), I moved into marketing.   As a marketing specialist without training I sinned again and again:

• I created inquiries for sales, but not qualified leads.
• I launched marketing programs without telling the salespeople before they were launched.
• I didn’t understand the principles of direct marketing until much later, so I created direct mail without a complete offer, with too much copy, and using bad lists.
• I used lists for mailers that were old and had never been cleaned up.
• I managed trade shows without understanding the reason for the show: leads.
• I ran advertising without a call to action.
• CRM systems?  I used a spreadsheet.

SLMA Opens Nominations for “20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management in 2014“

 

 

 

 

 

 James W. Obermayer, CEO of the Sales Lead Management Association, announced that the SLMA is accepting nominations for this year’s “SLMA 20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management” recognition program.  Nominations accepted until midnight on March 3, 2014, are for women working in marketing for B2B and B2C companies, as well as for CRM software, marketing automation software and other sales lead management firms. This is the fourth year for the recognition program.

Only SLMA members (membership is free) are allowed to nominate women and from those nominations, twenty will be selected as the SLMA 20 Women to Watch in 2014. Winners, chosen by a panel of independent judges, will be announced on Tuesday, April 1, 2021 at 10 a.m. PST.

Jeanne Hopkins, Sr. VP and CMO of Continuum Managed Services, LLC, said “Tina Fey once said ‘You’re not in competition with other women. You’re in competition with everyone.’ That alone is one reason that being part of the Top 20 Women in Sales Lead Management is so critical to your business success. I know, from experience, that companies are proud of the nominees and being selected is one more validation that you are a revenue producer for your firm.”

“Recognizing top women in sales lead management is essential,” said Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies . “I strongly encourage everyone to submit the names of their creative, hard-working female colleagues who strive every day to increase the quantity and quality of leads coming into their companies.”

Walt Whitman said, “If you’ve done it, it ain’t bragging,” so tell us what you’ve done. Nominees are judged on their contributions to marketing, sales and sales lead management efforts. Credentials, such as board positions, book and article authorships, and speaking on behalf of the subjects of sales lead management and marketing ROI, are taken into account. This program is not a popularity contest.

For information call Sue Campanale at 714-637-6989.