Lead Management 101

By Lisa Cramer, President, LeadLife Solutions

In the past, most of us have concentrated on the sales cycle – in other words, moving leads to closed sales. But as the Internet has forever changed the buying cycle, the sales cycle is now changing, too. This change is characterized by an elongated sales cycle that has become particularly drawn out at the top of the funnel, where leads or inquiries first interact with your company. With the majority of leads that initially come to your website not yet ready to buy (indeed, they are mostly there to do research), it is becoming increasingly essential to conduct and manage continued communication with these leads over time. To this end, lead management is the process by which companies can start taking control and managing the lead lifecycle.

Lead management is made up of a series of functions that span the lead management process from inquiry to sale. We'll discuss each main area and some of the best practices within each:

Capturing and Tracking

To understand a lead these days, you really need to know more than just what the lead is willing to tell your business – you must also be able to see and understand what they actually do. For instance, most buyers will do research electronically well before they engage in the buying process. They will visit your website and other websites numerous times. They'll download papers and case studies, make calculations using ROI calculators, and more. These days, it is just as important for you to track these prospective buyers' digital footsteps as it is for you to capture their demographics and other signs of intent (budget, timing, etc.).

Furthermore, not only is it vital to track what they do, but to also track when, and what specific marketing tactic, delivered them to your website (e.g., email, AdWords).

Lead Scoring

Lead scoring is a mechanism by which a company can determine which leads are moving into the buy cycle and which are not. Marketing and sales must work together to determine what activities, demographics and other items should be scored. In doing so, it is important to remember that although lead management systems will track a lead's activity, it doesn't mean all activities are an indicator of true interest.

A lead scoring process must be well thought out before actually implementing automation. In other words, what determines a warm lead, a hot lead, a"sales ready" lead? What determines when their status changes? What is the threshold at which point a lead becomes sales ready and is then sent on to sales? These questions and others must be thought through before using a lead management system to automatically do the scoring. Also, during your scoring process - stay simple, test and then adjust as needed.

Of course, lead definitions should also be determined before implementing a lead management system. For instance, sales and marketing should decide together what determines when a lead is"sales ready," meaning when it should move beyond the inquiry or suspect stage and is ready to be actively worked by sales. These definitions and flows will be different based on your specific marketing and sales processes, which might include telemarketing, inside sales and outside sales, as well as different nurture points throughout.

Nurturing

The majority of"leads" – really suspects that start interacting with a company, typically either at a tradeshow or online – will not be"sales ready". But according to DemandGen Report, 80 percent of un-worked leads will buy from someone over the next 24 months, meaning that they are worth continuing to interact with even if they are not yet ready to sign on the dotted line. Those leads need to continue to be nurtured so that they stay aware of your products and services, and so that your company remains "first in mind" when they are finally ready to buy. 

To effectively nurture, marketing must have a plan in place. They must have materials of interest to share with leads and they must come up with reasons to stay in touch. It is important to think of different ways to interact in order to increase the overall effectiveness of your nurturing program. The key to successful nurturing is keeping your company's name, expertise, products and services "front and center".

It's also important to deliver appropriate content to each lead at the appropriate time. For instance, don't try to"sell" the lead (for example, getting them to view a product demo) if the lead is just in the research stage – that could be a turn off.  Nor should you try to educate a lead if they are already beyond that stage and have moved on to comparing vendors and solutions – instead, this is where you want to sell them on the compelling features and benefits of your solution.

Lead Flow

How do leads move through the system and when do they ultimately arrive with your sales team? Also, do you allow leads to flow back from sales in order to be further nurtured if they are deemed not to be ready? If so, what happens to the lead during that time - how does the status and score change on the lead, if at all? What events, or lack thereof, trigger a lead moving into or out of nurturing? These are all important decisions that must be made before defining the rules that move leads through the lead lifecycle and sales cycle. The lead flow and changes in lead status that you determine will help you to track the progress of leads well before revenue is generated.

Metrics/Analytics

Lead Management systems provide needed insight into metrics throughout the lead lifecycle. If you don't have a lead management system to track and measure each step – each campaign the lead interacted with over its life, how the lead is being nurtured to move it forward, what interaction came from where, and what revenue was generated from each campaign – you won't be able to adequately provide needed information to drive more revenue. Reports and insights into your lead data will enable you to get a sense of your campaigns' success long before revenue is generated and attributed back. 

Hopefully, by reading this article you have been able to gain a deeper understanding of how a lead management system can help you to more effectively manage your lead lifecycle. By having the ability to track, score and nurture leads, and by gaining greater visibility into marketing analytics, you can help take your company to the next level.