Sales Lead Management Association^SM Newsletter
In this Issue

►Sales Lead Management Association Reaches 1000 Members In 13 Months
►Fall 2008 Inquiry Management Study
►Adapting Total Quality Management Techniques To The Discipline Of Sales Lead Management
►Dan McDade Joins SLMA Board of Advisors
►Shorten Sales Cycles … By Capitalizing On Trigger Event
►Hibernate or Dominate? Unbearable news from the sales front!
►New Sponsors

Sales Lead Management Association Reaches 1000 Members In 13 Months

James W. Obermayer, executive director of Sales Lead Management Association^SM (SLMA) announced that membership has grown to 1000 members from 35 countries in only 13 months. Obermayer said, "The growth of this community is evidence of how important lead management is for so many world-wide marketing and sales managers."

The SLMA offers substantial resources for its members including 150 articles from 42 authors, book reviews, a book store, job listings, speaker's directory, Ask the Experts list and training programs. To date the SLMA reports over 34,000 people from over 100 countries have come to the association site and 94,000 pages have been viewed.

David Raab, Principal, Raab Associates Inc, and author of the Raab Guide to Demand Management Systems, said "The SLMA offers marketers a source of reliable information on how to improve their business results, as well as a community to share their own experiences in ways that help others. This sort of peer-to-peer information sharing is emerging as the primary way that professionals will learn in the 21st century. SLMA does us all a service by acting as a host for the party."

"Our marketing plan," Co-Founder Susan Campanale says, "is planning for a membership base of 4,000 by October of next year, and the largest library of articles on inquiry management available on the internet."

Jim Lenskold, well known author of Marketing ROI, The Path to Campaign, Customer, and Corporate Profitability and president of the Lendskold Group said, "SLMA has done a great job at bringing together insightful content and an interactive network of lead management professionals to help drive marketing effectiveness and business performance. This group is helping to align marketing and sales in managing and converting sales from high quality, high value leads."

Dan Rogers, chief executive officer of The AdTrack Corporation, a full-service lead management firm founded in 1981 said, "The Sales Lead Management Association is a tremendous resource for marketers who want to learn how to increase marketing ROI by providing quality leads to their sales teams. AdTrack is proud to be a founding sponsor of the SLMA."

The SLMA expects that its second year will be more dynamic than it's first.

Fall 2008 Inquiry Management Study - Presented by LEADTRACK™ and the Sales Lead Management Association

Overview

In September, 2008, LEADTRACK and the Sales Lead Management Association^SM surveyed it's database and membership to find out how inquiries are being managed, what salespeople want to know most, the best source of inquiries, etc. We received 100 responses (the minimum required). The error rate is estimated at 6% with this study.

Executive Summary

In a period of economic slowdown, sales cycles get longer and ROI cycles get shorter. The survey revealed that the sales force is looking for improved lead quality and faster distribution of leads. To do this marketing needs to improve screening and prequalification and speed leads to the field.

It is also essential in times of inevitable budget cuts that Marketing knows which programs to cut. Almost 50% of companies have no ROI tracking tools to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. In addition, more than 75% of companies either measure just some or none of their marketing programs. Without hard numbers to support lead generation activities, marketing will not be able to defend lead generation programs. Over half of survey respondents take days rather than hours to distribute leads to the field.

The best way to shorten the sales cycle is to get warm and hot leads in the sales cycle as fast as possible. To improve lead quality, shorten the sales cycle and justify lead generation programs (ROI) companies need mechanized systems. Almost a third of the companies responding to our survey still rely on manual systems.

In short we found:

Read the rest of the article (PDF)

Adapting Total Quality Management Techniques To The Discipline Of Sales Lead Management

Prepared By Keith D. Burwell Svp Sales, Kaleidico

Executive Summary

All too often, organizations will continue to drive the notion that somehow sales personnel are to be measured qualitatively in the short term and by revenue output in the long term. The idea that we should utilize standardized processes for manufacturing and technology, yet sustain a laissez-faire method of management towards our sales teams is not only antiquated but has been detrimental to the well-being of our economy as a whole. This paper will examine many TQM (Total Quality Management) techniques as they are applied to the manufacturing discipline, their purpose, and how they can translate to increased productivity as well as sustainable, quantitative measurements in sales organizations within any vertical market.

What Hath Poor Sales Performance Wrought?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American productivity increase since 1949 has decreased steadily. While this means we are still improving how we work, we are steadily losing ground. A popular study done by America Online and Salary.com several years ago backs up this data by indicating the amount of time wasted by age group each day of work per individual.

Read the rest of the article. (PDF)

About the Author

Keith Burwell is the Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Kaleidico, a software firm providing solutions for online lead management, delivery and analytics. Products include: icoSales, a sales management solution and icoMatch, a lead distribution platform.
Prior to working at Kaleidico, Keith was the National Director of Operations for Online Home Equity at Quicken Loans. Previously, he had worked as a Management Consultant, partnering to provide solutions for such top companies as Key Bank, Boeing, M&M/Mars, Bosch, Foster Wheeler and many others.

Dan McDade Joins SLMA Board of Advisors

James W. Obermayer, executive director of the Sales Lead Management Association, welcomes Dan McDade president of PointClear to the Advisory Board of the Sales Lead Management Association (SLMA).

McDade founded PointClear in 1997 to provide prospect development services to companies with complex sales processes. He has developed innovative strategies that drive revenue for PointClear clients nationwide.

"The SLMA's goal is to help member companies become more successful in the critical business process of managing sales leads," said SLMA Executive Director James W. Obermayer. "Dan brings a wealth of experience in this area to our organization and we look forward to adding his expert insight and vision to our advisory team."

Read the rest of the article (off site).

Shorten Sales Cycles … By Capitalizing On Trigger Events

By Craig Elias, Creator of Trigger Event Selling and Chief Catalyst, SHiFT Selling, Inc.

Hibernate or Dominate? Unbearable news from the sales front!

By Dan McDade, President of PointClear

The popular image for tough economic times is the hibernating bear.  When resources shrivel and conditions turn harsh, the bear retreats into isolation and dreamily awaits the return of abundance, gradually getting leaner as he uses up his hoarded capital.

The popular image is that bears are not terribly bright.

Faced with economic contraction, many companies pull inward almost reflexively, protecting their market position even as they dissipate it.   Investments are reconsidered, initiatives are deferred and improvements are postponed in fear of jeopardizing the status quo. 

Other companies recognize that the status quo may be at least partially responsible for the tough conditions.

Those companies are ready to take advantage of their competitors' retreat to differentiate themselves, becoming poised to take a larger share during the down time and as markets begin to thaw.  They see economic contractions as the best time to invest, initiate and improve.

Read the rest of the article.

About the Author

Dan McDade is Founder and President of PointClear, the prospect development company. Before McDade founded PointClear, he served as Vice President of Marketing for the direct mail firm, Jackson & Perkins, and as President of UST: The Business Marketing Group. To learn more about PointClear, go to www.pointclear.com.

New Sponsors

The SLMA offers yearly sponsorship opportunities to companies that support the mission statement and educational direction of the SLMA. Sponsorship is only $250 per year and sponsors may choose up to four categories (out of 15) under which their company name is listed. Sponsors also receive:

• A full page on the SLMA which describes their services.
• Sponsors are listed on the SLMA Blog and monthly newsletter.
• A special logo entitled: Sponsor which can be displayed on their own web site.

• The Velos Group, Inc.

To become a sponsor, go to the sponsors page on the SLMA site, fill out the form and we will be in touch.

Sue Campanale
VP Membership and Marketing