A new survey by Chief Marketer, says that 28% of B2B companies have no standards in place when it comes to lead qualification. For those companies that do have a standard in place, what metric are they using to determine success? According to the survey, nearly one quarter of all respondents say their firm sets goals based solely on the total number of leads generated; another third have goals based on the total number of leads which are qualified; and 22% use both qualified and unqualified leads.

I was surprised by the survey findings on the number of companies that don’t have standards and also those that use total number of leads as their metric for measuring success. In today’s economy, we know budgets are tight and people are stretched thin. However, doesn’t it make even more sense now to be smarter about lead generation and ensure they’re qualified? By doing this upfront work, you can determine the percentage of leads are deemed viable overall and truly identify “quality” leads; ultimately allowing you to determine your return on investment. It also helps save time for the sales team so they can focus on those top, quality leads to garner a better chance of making a sale. At the end of the day, if you want to hear that cash register ring, then proper steps need to be taken upfront to give everyone on the team a better chance of success on the back-end.

Karen Enriquez-Wagner | Post a Comment

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The desire to generate measurable, qualified leads varies by business marketer as some distribute them to sales personnel and track results, while others use lead generation as a way to simply measure initial campaign tactical performance.

Leads are expensive no matter how they’re generated, issued or closed.  It’s gratifying to learn when a tradeshow promotion, Adwords campaign or direct response advertisement generated an acceptable number of qualified leads, especially when they are directed to distributor sales reps or issued to the internal sales team to work.  And even more gratifying when those leads turn into sales, as tracked by a CRM system.  (more…)

Dean LePoidevin | Post a Comment

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I cannot tell you the number of times we’ve been asked to generate leads for field sales personnel, only to find there were no lead tracking or follow-through systems in place to help achieve measurable results. Generating leads is a fairly straightforward process and can be accomplished in a number of ways. The trick, of course, is to generate and manage the optimal number of qualified leads within a given period of time based on the sales goals of the organization.

In my years of delivering a constant flow of qualified leads for salespeople I have realized the best results when a lead management program is firmly established and followed. A results-based lead management program must include several critical steps to help ensure success, which are: lead requirements, targeting and generation, qualification, distribution, tracking and analysis. Too often one or more of these steps are omitted or overlooked along the way. In my opinion, the first step is the most critical, as how can someone generate leads if they don’t know how many are needed to meet sales performance goals? (more…)

Dean LePoidevin | Post a Comment

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We are all used to hearing that a brand is much more than the logo and tagline. It is also important to remember that brand development – when done right – can earn a premium price or help build true customer loyalty at a time when loyalty is harder and harder to come by. Building and positioning a brand is about gaining all the insights possible, and putting the strategies and tactics in place to capitalize on them. (more…)

Judson Luke | Post a Comment

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