Sales Lead Management Association^SM November 2009 Newsletter
In this Issue:

Member Content Articles:

• What Lead Management is and Why Companies Employ Lead Management Systems and Practices? (PDF)
  - Judy Baldwin, SmartLead

• Why Social Media is Just Like Sex- by Jamie Turner, The 60 Second Marketer

• The Dreaded Qualified Sales Lead Deficit Syndrome- by Tom Judge - Instructor at Univ. of California Extension program and VP of Strategy & Business Development at Direct Marketing Partners 

• Improving Sales Effectiveness - by Kevin Buckley, Salesnet.com

What Lead Management is and Why Companies Employ Lead Management Systems and Practices? (PDF)

by Judy Baldwin, SmartLead

Many companies can't get a handle on all of their leads. Leads come in from numerous sources. Companies may use manual processes to record some of their leads and electronic methods for others. There is no central repository for all leads.

Marketing executives can't see what's happening to the inquiries they generated after leads are distributed to sales. Once distributed to sales channels, many leads go untouched because sales people are too swamped to work all of their leads or sales people complain that"most leads are junk." This wastes lead generation dollars and leads"leak" through the funnel.

Read the full article (PDF) >>

Back to top ^

Why Social Media is Just Like Sex

by Jamie Turner, The 60 Second Marketer

Let me start with an apology.
For those of you who don't know me, you might be a little put-off by the title of this article, "Why Social Media is Just Like Sex."

For those of you who do know me, you might be a little more comfortable with the title. After all, we already have a relationship with each other, either through my Twitter account, my LinkedIn profile, my Facebook page or through the 60 Second Marketer.

And that's exactly my point -- that because some of you have an existing relationship with me through social media, you're probably not put-off by the title. Those of you who don't know me might be scratching your head, wondering what social media and sex have to do with each other.

Read the full article (member logon required) >>

Back to top ^

The Dreaded Qualified Sales Lead Deficit Syndrome

by Tom Judge - Instructor at Univ. of California Extension program and VP of Strategy & Business Development at Direct Marketing Partners  

This scenario often comes to light when B2B selling firms are attempting to improve their sales and marketing process. Enhancements in sales training and marketing collateral are basic examples of some of the many possible tactics. However, even after such noble efforts, these firms very often continue to struggle with achieving corporate sales revenue objectives. In this scenario, evidence shows that the majority of sales reps often continue to struggle to hit quota.

An anemic revenue stream is a serious problem. Rest assured that senior management soon steps in and demands in-depth answers. Often the marketing-through-sales process is then analyzed. Under this scenario, it is determined that the company's sales process is not properly aligned with the marketing sales lead development process.

Read the full article (PDF) >>

Back to top ^

Improving Sales Effectiveness

by Kevin Buckley, Salesnet.com

Sales Efficiency versus Sales Effectiveness

In our current economy and with limited resources, one challenge facing many organizations is to help their sales people become not only more efficient, but also more effective with their activities.  When choosing a Sales Automation (SA) tool, companies often confuse efficiencies with effectiveness. 

A study by Proudfoot Consulting showed that reps spend 31% of their time on administrative tasks.  The old CRM pitch has been,"If we could provide you a tool that would eliminate or cut down the amount of time your reps spend on administrative tasks, how much more do you think they could sell?" Or,"If your sales reps are spending 4 hours a month reporting, and we were able to cut that in half, or eliminate it all together, how much more do you think they could sell?"  Sure, any SA tool can and should provide some lift in efficiencies to sales organizations by providing easier ways to create forecast reports, customer lists, call reports and to-do lists; but does that time now available equate to reps actually closing more sales? 

Read the rest of the story >>

Back to top ^