Sales Lead Management Today

What is the best CRM?

I was giving a speech at an Integrated Marketing Summit in Kansas City a few years ago and I promised at the end that I would reveal my opinion about the best CRM system on the market.

As I left the stage Shawn Elledge the conference chairman stopped me and said, “Hey Jim, time to make good on your promise to share your opinion about the best CRM system.”

Turning back to the audience, I looked around the room and saw no less than four CRM company representatives, waiting for the answer.  “The best CRM system,” In my opinion I said, “Is the one the salespeople will use.” 

Why its important:

"It isn't necessary to buy a CRM two to three times before you get it right because the salespeople aren't using it.  Set it up right the first time and avoid the expense and the frustration. 

Sales Lead Management Association

 

As a follow-up I explained that CRM systems without the buy-in and co-operation of the

Can Artificial Intelligence, Applied to Lead Management Find Hot Leads?

 In this replay of a live program broadcast last week, CEO Alex Terry and CMO Carl Landers of Conversica drill into how artificial intelligence is being used to generate sales.   AI is said to be different from autoresponders in that the system interprets intention and sentiment, avoids lost leads, and helps to surface those that intend to buy.  In the interview with host Jim Obermayer, Alex and Carl make good on the promise that AI is the future for intelligent proactive lead generation.  Highpoints:

• An artificial intelligence  system has a persona that works the lead
• The persona acts as a sales assistant.
• Sales at-bat conversations jump 80-90%
• The AI system crafts messages based on data from thousands of data points.
• The AI system decides what leads will be most likely to close.
• Dramatic increases in sales are often the result as the salesperson only spends valuable time on the hottest leads. 

 

 

Alex Terry, Chief Executive Officer

Alex is an accomplished general manager and leader with over 20 years of management experience

Do you have your Business Continuity Plan in place?

If you work for a company, there should be a plan in place, and you should know where it is and what your role is in the plan. This is one of the most overlooked pieces of information and documentation for small companies. Large corporations are required to have Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity Plan in place. Some clients require it, as well as financial institutions. They want to know you and/or your company has a plan if something really bad happens.

What happens if you get hit by a bus?

If this is your company, you need this documentation in place because you have staff relying on your

COO of VanillaSoft, Genie Parker, Joins the Sales Lead Management Assn's Board of Advisors

Genie Parker, COO for VanillaSoft, has joined the Sales Lead Management Association’s Board of Advisors.  James Obermayer, founder of the 8,250-member organization, said “Genie Parker has a deep background in lead generation and call center operations.  She was named one of the 20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management and was interviewed on SLMA Radio to tackle the subject of Queue-Based Vs. List-Based Selling, one of our most listened to shows.  We look forward to her advice as we grow.  VanillaSoft was also one of our earliest supporters.”

Parker said, "I look forward to working with the SLMA to advance the understanding of lead management in the sales process. This is an exciting time as new technologies arise to better enable lead management, and in particular related to the fast-growing inside sales space. "

 About Genie Parker

Genie brings more than 30 years of experience in sales and marketing to the industry, with an emphasis on doing business on the phone. Her broad experience reaches into hundreds of industries including technology, manufacturing, nonprofits, financial services, and business services.

White Paper Explains How to Increase Sales by 30% from Inside Sales Departments

White Paper Title: Want to Make More Sales, Make More Sales Calls

Published by: VanillaSoft     1 866 763 8826

Locations:

United States

5600 Tennyson Parkway, Suite #365

Plano, TX 75024

Canada

490, boul. Saint-Joseph, Suite #402

Gatineau, QC  J8Y 3Y7

 Cost: NA

 Length: 5 Pages

Click here for a copy of this white paper

Highlights:

Interesting FAQs about the SLMA

The Sales Lead Management Association has posted a new section in the About Us area of the SLMA website for Frequently Asked Questions.  There is a lot of information about the benefits of being in the SLMA and participating in its many programs.

About the SLMA

Membership

Member to Member Discounts

 

Listen While You Work: Ruth P. Stevens unscripted - Maximizing Lead Generation: The Complete Guide for B2B Marketers

 A delightful Book Review with the Author Ruth Stevens: Maximizing Lead Generation: The Complete Guide for B2B Marketers

Author Ruth P. Stevens was interviewed on August 13, 2015, 10:30 by SLMA Radio Host Jim Obermayer about her book Maximizing Lead Generation.   We discussed her step by step lead generation recommendations, asked if the top media options have changed in the time since the book was published and if her predictions on the ways lead generation is going to evolve has come true. 

 

About the book: Maximizing Lead Generation: The Complete Guide for B2B Marketers

Paperback, 11 Chapters, 199 pages plus index

• The Case for Lead Generation
• Campaign Planning
• The Marketing Database
• Campaign Development
• Campaign Media Selection
• Response Planning and Management
• Lead Equalization
• Lead Nurturing
• Metrics and Testing
• The Fast Evolving Future of Lead Generation

Available on Amazon and Que Publishing
List Price: $44.95  Que $26.99  Amazon: $15.85  Also available as a Kindle book.

About Ruth P. Stevens

Marketing Must Follow the Money: Paul Petersen of Goldmine Unscripted

 In this program marketing and sales veteran Paul Petersen,  GM and Vice President at Goldmine Software discuss ways marketing should follow the money.  He covers:

• How to evaluate marketing performance.
• Why typical measurements take too long.
• How financial quick ratios can relate to marketing.
• What is a marketing quick ratio? 
• What happens when marketing gets the "bear" into the cabin and sales has to skin it?
• Why sales and marketing have to have the conversation about leads that were not accepted by sales.
• How Won and Lost reports can follow the money. 

 Listen by clicking the green arrow. 

 The host is SLMA Founder, Internet Radio producer, four time author and conference speaker  Jim Obermayer. 

This blog is supported by the generous contributions of Clickpoint Software and VanillaSoft

 

Continuum’s MSPradio Show Hits 20,000 Replays: Plus Top Five Show Links

Reaching Thousands of “On-the-Go” MSP Partners with Business Tips and News, Continuum’s MSPradio Logs 10,000 Replays in Last 4 Months Alone 

MSPradio, the weekly radio show produced by Continuum^®, the industry's only channel-exclusive provider of fully integrated managed IT services solutions, hit 20,000 all-time replays since its launch in April 2014, with 10,000 replays in the last four months alone. Hosted and produced by Nathan Teplow, Marketing Programs Manager at Continuum, MSPradio reaches the company’s “on-the-go” Managed Services Provider (MSP) partners and prospects to deliver hot topics, business tips and industry news. MSPs can listen to the show at their convenience, gaining valuable tips and information to help them succeed and grow their managed IT services business.

“Continuum’s live MSP Internet Radio program has built a strong following as it takes advantage of

SLMA Membership: 22 Career Benefits

Did you know that as an SLMA Member you have a long list of benefits?

As a member of the SLMA you have substantial benefits for your personal career and for your corporation.  You can have your book reviewed, be interviewed on SLMA Radio, read through hundreds of articles, listen to hundreds of executive interviews, submit articles, use our leads calculator, be in the directory, list your company in the directory, host your own internet radio program, oh heck, just look at the list and click on what interests you.

1. Members Directory. It’s your choice to be visible or invisible.  You can join and be visible to others or just to the SLMA as a member.
2. Corporate Directory. Submit your company to be listed in the directory.  Great visibility for your company.
3. Member to Member Discounts.Offer a discount for your products and services.
4. Be published. As a member you can submit three articles for publication on the SLMA Site (ten if you are a sponsor).
5.  SLMA Radio. You can be a guest on SLMA Radio. We have interviewed 345 executives on 278 shows.   Listen to unscripted interviews with industry executives.
6. SLMA Live: Host your own internet radio program with podcast replays. 
7. Recognition Program.  You can be nominated and maybe elected to the Builders of Wealth in Sales Lead Management (October 1, 2021), formerly the 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management.

8. Recognition Program for Women.  Women in sales lead management are nominated to chosen as one of the 20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management.  The final list is determined by an independent channel. Every nomination is visible! (January 4, 2022)
9. Apply to be an Expert. Are you an expert for a sales or marketing discipline?  Apply to be listed as an expert.
10. Submit an Event. Our members Event Calendar is a nice way to get some extra industry visibility.  
11. SLMA publishes your news.  Send us your press release for publication on the SLMA Site.  This is home page visibility and stored as news.
12. Use the ROI and Leads Required Calculators.   Don’t know how to project the results of a campaign?  Use the calculators.
13. Have your book reviewed.  Reviews can appear on the site and also be on the SLMA Radio program.
14. Apply to be a guest blogger on the Sales Lead Management Today blog.   
15. Generate Leads from SLMA members and visitors: Become a Hi-Visibility Sponsor.  12 benefits, rotating ads, full page, lots of extras. We provide monthly reports for views and unique clicks to your site.
16. Generate Leads from SLMA members and visitors: become a Major Sponsor.  Display ad on the home page of the SLMA Site, Hi-Visibility benefits and monthly reports.
17. Generate leads from SLMA members and visitors on all five SLMA sites by being only one of three top of the page Prime Sponsors.   Huge visibility and links as befits a Prime Sponsor.  Hi-Visibility sponsorship and all the benefits of Major Sponsor.
18. Join the Sales Lead Management Linkedin Group.  Get into the discussion of lead management and lead generation.
19. Look at the photos on Pinterest   See who is there that you know.
20. Follow us on Twitter (which is where we ALSO share sponsor tweets)
21. Laugh at Sales Lead Management Cartoons.
22. Salary Reviews: Learn what Chief Marketing Officers, Chief Sales Officers and Chief Marketing Technologists are worth.

Questions?  Click a link or call Jim Obermayer @ 360 933 1259  [email protected]

 

This blog is supported by the generous contributions of Clickpoint Software and VanillaSoft.

 

 

Major shift if the Healthcare industry changed "patients" to "clients."

Recently I ordered my prescription through the Kaiser website. Usually I call it in. After securely logging in with more information than you can imagine to get a refill, I was asked for a credit card. I know roughly what this Rx costs, so I did it. BUT what was glaring at me was the fact that there was no total of what this PRODUCT would cost before I purchased from this RETAILER.  They know my plan since I logged in with my ID, location, etc. They should know the DISCOUNT PRICING structure I'm in and be able to give me a cost for this product. This is ECOMMERCE folks. Time to change some thinking.

Why it's important:

Our mindset as the CUSTOMER/CLIENT and SERVICE PROVIDER/RETAILER is key to how we perceive the other. We need our customers, they don't need us. Act like you want to EARN their loyalty.

In Healthcare, the word patient is tossed around hoping for the positive effect that Disneyland has referring to GUESTS and CAST MEMBERS (staff). They know their roles. In healthcare, the word PATIENT is used in a nearly condescending way throughout all documentation. The trained medical professionals (which we see for very little time) are the Doctors or Health Service Provider. It's almost as if we are lucky they take care of us. Ninety percent of the time, we are dealing with customer reps, pharmacy assistants, receptionists. They are all in the business to make SALES through SERVICES and PRODUCTS for the company by not ticking off their CLIENTS.

Salary Information Posts of Interest

We gathered together the posts on Sales Lead Management that have to do with salaries and compensation. Just click on the title and read the article and follow the links in the articles for more information. 

 Salary for Chief Marketing Technologists

National Sales Managers Salaries: What do they get paid?

What Do CMOs Get Paid?

Why is the person who manages sales leads so valuable?

White Paper: Productivity Metrics for Presales Roles – Lead Development for Inside Sales

Published by:  Direct Marketing Partners

Author: Tom Judge and Jose da Costa

Cost: NA

Length: 6 Pages – short but insightful

Highlights: The authors make an excellent case for separating the inside sales function into the pre-sales/lead qualification role and the actual sales role, which includes presenting and quota attainment.  There is no date on the report that I can find, but it quotes 2010-2012 stats from the Bridge Group.  I believe, however, that the numbers have not changed much in the past few years, and the report assumptions and recommendations are still valid.

• There are 8 Charts:
  • 5 main functions of the pre-sales team,

Pipeline Failure: Four Reasons that Make Sales Managers Look Clueless

Being a sales manager is a frustrating job.  Relying on a pipeline to forecast the business is probably the riskiest and most difficult part of the job.   In this short interview, Rod Sloane an acknowledged expert in Sales Pipeline Management, discusses four of the reasons pipelines fail to deliver as promised and when a sales manager fails to deliver on the forecast, looking clueless is not the worst of his or her troubles.  

In this frank discussion, Rod believes the lack of pipeline management is the primary contributor to the turn-over in the sales management ranks.   He covers the four reasons pipelines fail and it will surprise you how simple it can be to solve the issue.  

 Rod Sloane

Rod Sloane produces the UK based “No-Bull Sales & Marketing Alignment Radio Show” available on itunes.apple.com. He is a conference speaker who tackles how companies manage leads, create opportunities and generate revenue. Mr. Sloane is the founder of the LinkedIn Sales and Marketing Alignment Group that has over 8,000 members. Rod says it is a

Make sure you and your clients speak the same language.

We may laugh at stories like this one posted on Clients from Hell, but ultimately, we are the ones they should laugh at if this is what the client actually believes. We have not done our jobs communicating clearly.

 If we don't educate our clients with the terminology we use while working on their projects, or learn to reword it in terms they are familiar with, we have no one to blame but ourselves when there is this hurricane of a degree of a misunderstanding. AND, on the other hand, if you are the client and something doesn't make sense, someone is geekspeaking at you, hailing acronyms on you that you're unsure of their meaning - ASK! We think you know some of this stuff, or assume you do because you smile and nod your head as if you understand,  or don't ask any questions.

I've been on both sides of this scenario. 

When I was in Jr. High ('78-'80), I was always a student council member, or a representative for