03 Aug |
Connecting the dots between lead generation, sales and CRM |
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Integrate lead generation, sales and CRM to gain higher returns For certain, I’m not a crystal gazer; but looking into the past? Sure, I’ve done that. Don’t we all from time to time? Actually, in business, everyone stands to gain from a periodic retrospective – review, analyze and soldier on! From a collective business world standpoint, a review of B2B sales and marketing in the past decade reveals a shift in business strategy. An interesting observation is the conscious effort to align sales and marketing objectives and functions for better results. Even if you have a Strategic Marketing Services company that’s taking care of B2B lead generation and management, your sales team should work closely with them in lead follow-up, functional visibility and performance analysis. Business effectiveness and success depends on open communication and collective efforts towards common goals. If organizations are committed to increasing momentum they must be willing to restructure and reorganize. Lead generation, sales and CRM can no longer work in isolation. It would be like having your fingers trying to accomplish tasks individually. So how do lead generation, sales and CRM all
Read more...19 Jul |
The Best Mailing List for B2B Lead Generation |
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When it comes to success in B2B lead generation, everybody knows that the mailing list is the most important ingredient in any campaign. A poor list will always produce dismal results, no matter how brilliant the offer and creative. Conversely, good lists often produce acceptable results even with mediocre execution. Consequently, companies are always looking for the “silver bullet” of mailing lists for their next B2B lead generation campaign— that perfect source of fresh, highly targeted, super-hot prospects just waiting to be contacted. Sadly, this is an exercise in futility and frustration and often a colossal waste of money. You already own the best list What’s the best list you can get for B2B lead generation? It’s the one you already (should) have. There is simply no substitute for a homegrown, customized list of prospects – often referred to by direct marketing professionals as the “house” list – which a company acquires over time through different tactics. When such a list is properly maintained and updated, it is a veritable gold mine and will always outperform any list you can acquire. Unfortunately, companies continue to overlook, under use, or,
Read more...19 Jul |
Connecting the Dots Between Lead Generation, Sales and CRM |
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Integrate lead generation, sales and CRM to gain higher returns For certain, I’m not a crystal gazer; but looking into the past? Sure, I’ve done that. Don’t we all from time to time? Actually, in business, everyone stands to gain from a periodic retrospective – review, analyze and soldier on! From a collective business world standpoint, a review of B2B sales and marketing in the past decade reveals a shift in business strategy. An interesting observation is the conscious effort to align sales and marketing objectives and functions for better results. Even if you have a Strategic Marketing Services company that’s taking care of B2B lead generation and management, your sales team should work closely with them in lead follow-up, functional visibility and performance analysis. Business effectiveness and success depends on open communication and collective efforts towards common goals. If organizations are committed to increasing momentum they must be willing to restructure and reorganize. Lead generation, sales and CRM can no longer work in isolation. It would be like having your fingers trying to accomplish tasks individually. So how do lead generation, sales and CRM all
Read more...12 Jul |
Uniting Sales and Marketing Under One Umbrella |
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Sales and marketing must work together to convert lead generation activities into a loyal customer base Almost everyone’s complaining that business is tough. But a closer analysis of the low sales volume experienced by many businesses today shows a strong disconnect between their sales and marketing initiatives. The gap between B2B lead generation, conversion and CRM occurs because sales and marketing departments function as independent units (often at odds with each other). Instead, they should be working together to close the deal and cement the relationship. Companies that have aligned marketing and sales goals are the ones that get results. There is no definite point at which marketing stops and sales begins. Simply stated, sales and marketing must work hand-in-hand from end-to-end! How do you get sales and marketing to join forces? Integrated marketing: This involves integrating all marketing and sales tools, activities and resources to convert leads into customers. Online or offline marketing and sales efforts must convey the same message and level of intensity in order to be effective. In other words, lead generation, sales promotion and lead management must share
Read more...05 Jul |
Following inbound marketing trends enables adoption of best practices for lead generation |
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Inbound marketing is the strategic use of tools and techniques that draw the attention of a qualified target audience through relevant content and interactive engagement. That’s a simple definition of Inbound Marketing. The keyword here is “qualified audience” which means potential buyers who are closer to the buying decision. Well, at least in expressing their need for the type of product or service you offer. A prospect starts to look for you when they are getting ready to buy, and begin the process of searching for the best solution. Inbound marketing helps your business be found easily, both online and offline. Drawing people in to your CRM goes beyond B2B lead generation and takes on a multi-pronged approach to integrated marketing. Your deliverables become: (a) relevant content and (b) interactive engagement. Let’s look at some leading trends in inbound marketing to understand how organizations are adopting best practices: Ratio of Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing: Market trends show a shift in budget spending from outbound to inbound marketing. However, smart B2B marketers focus on leveraging the inbound spend rather than increasing it. What this means is
Read more...19 May |
Social Media Success Won’t Fix a Broken Sales Funnel |
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If you are a B2B marketer looking to use social media as a way to generate more sales leads, by all means test and experiment with it. However, first be sure that your CRM and lead handling systems are working properly. Otherwise, you will only make a bad situation worse. All leads should be qualified and nurtured A lot of social media gurus are telling us that, since social media is different, its success should be measured differently. This is complete nonsense. Whether you generate inquiries from social or “conventional” media, they should all be treated the same way and measured with the same metric. In practice, this means: Qualify every lead— before you pass it on to your sales people for follow-up, no matter where the lead came from. Leads that aren’t ready for follow-up should be nurtured until they are. Track and source conversions accurately— This is especially important when using social media, because its “free” nature can make any leads it generates look far less expensive than inquiries generated from “paid” sources. However, this can be especially misleading with social media because you can’t always control where and to whom your message
Read more...26 Apr |
Social Media for Demand Generation: Silver Bullet or Snake Oil? |
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Social media sites like FaceBook and Twitter are revolutionizing the way companies market their products and services— or, at least, that’s what the internet marketing consultants, evangelists, gurus, and camp followers have been preaching to us for about two years now. What’s the reality behind the hype? Should social media be an integral part of your demand generation campaigns? Is it producing significant, measurable ROI for anybody out there? Let me know your real-world experiences at lfoong [at] thealeagroup.com. Debunking the Famous Dell Case Study Yes, like you, I’ve read the much-circulated Dell case study where they used Twitter to generate $3 million in sales by offering exclusive discounts to the 11,844 people who follow @DellOutlet. As an experienced (and skeptical) demand generation practitioner, I have two problems with this: 1) it’s literally a drop in the bucket of Dell’s $51 billion annual sales volume (about 0.005%). 2) Dell isn’t necessarily generating new business here. In fact, you can argue that they are cannibalizing direct sales (and profits) with the extra discounts. To be fair, let’s admit that social media is new and evolving.
Read more...19 Apr |
Effective B2B demand generation should not be complicated |
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Resurrecting the KISS Rule for Successful Demand Generation Richard Branson certainly doesn’t need more publicity, but when I read this Q&A article in Time Magazine, one of his answers really caught my eye: Q. Has your dyslexia hindered you in the business world? —Skye O’Brien, Dartmouth, Mass. A. Strangely, I think my dyslexia has helped. When I launch a new company, I need to understand the advertising. If I can understand it, then I believe anybody can. Virgin speaks in normal language instead of using phrases that nobody understands, like “financial-service industry.” Although Sir Richard (yes, he’s been knighted) was speaking mostly about the message, that old military acronym, “keep it simple stupid” (or KISS) applies equally to the demand generation (DG) process as well. Unfortunately, with the advent of sophisticated CRM and sales automation tools, we are seeing a tendency to over-think and over-complicate the DG process or to rely too heavily on technology as a “silver bullet.” With marketing staffs stretched painfully thin in an era of limited resources, this is understandable. In this environment, people will naturally look
Read more...24 Mar |
Why Most “Spike” Marketing Campaigns Fail |
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Understanding 10-60-30 Rule of Demand Generation Companies often initiate tactical “spike” marketing campaigns to overcome a quarterly sales or lead shortfall. “Spike” programs are a series of “one offs” that may yield short term numbers. However, they are largely a self-perpetuating, wasteful mistake that can be avoided if you understand the 10-60-30 rule. Anytime you initiate a demand generation campaign that includes outbound telemarketing, you will discover that the prospects you contact will always fall into three categories: 10% are right time, right place audience, i.e. prospects that are ready, willing, and able to engage now. Turning them into true “sales leads” requires confirming a need and motivating them to request a sales call. Technology marketers often refer to these prospects as “low-hanging fruit.” This category explains why conversion rate is low for “spike” marketers as their true universe is only 10% on every program that is being implemented. 60% of your target audience are in the ‘N” phase i.e. the nurture phase. They may be interested in (and need) your product but for a myriad of reasons – timing, budget, or other
Read more...16 Mar |
ALEA’s Universal Definition of A Lead |
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When Does a Lead Become a True “Sales Lead?” Your demand generation campaigns are bound to generate responses. But are these all leads, worthy of follow-up by your sales reps? Even inexperienced marketers know that the majority of responses are simply inquiries: people seeking more information or responding to a promotional offer. Distributing raw inquiries to your sales reps without at least some basic qualification mechanism to categorize the ones that are true sales leads can be a suicidal experience. So, the real question is: how do you identify a legitimate “sales lead?” Today, with the plethora of CRM and sales automation tools available to marketers, there is a tendency for marketing committees and consultants to overcomplicate the process and devise ever-changing formulas, scoring mechanisms, and rules to make this determination. At ALEA, we have found that, regardless of our clients’ business, a sales lead can ALWAYS be defined by five simple criteria: 1. Right company or demographic- They fit the profile of the organizations or people that are already your best customers. 2. Right person- A person who is a decision maker, champion, influencer or at least a
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