08 Jun |
Make Sales Leads a Privilege, Not a Right |
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Want to significantly increase your B2B lead conversion rates and get your salespeople to provide near 100 percent feedback on lead status? Then stop sending them sales leads— seriously! Instead, set up an online lead distribution system that requires them to request each and every lead. This simple change can have a profound effect on your conversion rates. Why? It starts with human nature: all of us value something more if we have to pay for it or request it. When something is given to us for free or without consideration, we tend to value it less. Similarly, sales leads that are “pushed” out to the field tend to receive less attention by salespeople. Second, leads that are requested are more likely to be followed up immediately. And, as everybody knows, the faster a lead receives follow-up, the more likely it is to convert. Independent research has shown that, on average, the likelihood of a lead converting to a sale decreases by as much as two percent each day that it languishes. Third, sales people are much more likely to provide feedback on lead quality and status since they requested it in the first place. This will enable you to fine-tune your lead generation
Read more...02 Jun |
Overcoming Lengthening B2B Sales Cycles |
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Recent research from a number of sources confirms what all of us in demand generation have suspected for some time now: (1) In spite of the proliferation of new marketing communications tools like social media, companies report that generating qualified sales leads continues to be their biggest challenge and (2) The sales cycle, especially for technology marketers, is getting longer. What significance do these findings have for B2B marketers? Companies (and especially their field sales forces, dealers, and resellers) have always wanted more qualified leads, not more leads, so this isn’t a big surprise. However, the lengthening sales cycle is a relatively new trend that is increasingly frustrating salespeople. Organizations need an effective way to deal with this phenomenon. Lead nurturing now as critical as lead qualifying In this environment, more and more prospects will score as “B” level leads— meaning that they may be qualified to buy your product but are not yet ready to make a purchase decision. Turning these prospects into “A” leads requires a systematic lead nurturing system that: Makes regular recontact— to continually reassess prospect status and keep
Read more...25 May |
The Missing Link in Lead Qualification Systems: Sales |
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Demand generation marketers often spend countless hours designing and fine-tuning their lead handling systems. Complicated flow charts are created, lead questionnaire content is debated endlessly, forms are designed, and telemarketing and email scripts are reviewed ad nauseam. Yet, many of these sophisticated marketers overlook the single, most crucial element of a successful lead qualification system. What is it? Field buy-in is crucial For some reason, the sales force is often left “out of the loop” when it comes to lead planning. This only adds to the age-old distrust and outright enmity between marketing and sales organizations in so many companies. No matter how sophisticated your lead handling and qualifications systems are, they won’t achieve optimum results unless your sales force is empowered to take ownership of the process. To make this happen, good demand generation marketers need to follow these simple guidelines: Explain your objective upfront— Make it clear that your lead handling system is being designed to make the sales force’s job easier, not so marketing can “look over their shoulder” or take the credit for their success. Solicit input, accept
Read more...04 May |
Social Media for Demand Generation….Is it more of a B2C than a B2B phenomenon? |
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My most recent post on social media’s pros and cons drew a lot of feedback. So, I thought we should continue the “conversation” by offering a few more opinions from this admittedly old-school but open minded marketing professional about the value (or lack thereof) of social media as a demand generation medium. As always, I welcome your continued comments. Better for Small B2C Marketers? If you look at the biggest and most successful users of Twitter and Facebook, they seem to be B2C marketers. For example, Starbucks (@Starbucks) and Zappos (@Zappos) are using Twitter apparently to not only engage consumers with their brand but also to drive direct sales and distribute promotional discounts. Now, it turns out that small businesses (B2C) have also jumped on the Twitter bandwagon in a big way. From pizza parlors to independent and specialty retailers, small businesses are increasingly using Twitter to publicize special discounts and promotions and solicit customer feedback and many report they are quite happy with the results. From my perspective, Twitter as a marketing tool actually makes perfect sense for small businesses two reasons: (1) they have limited ad budgets,
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...10 Mar |
Break Your Lead “Pusher” Habit for More Sales |
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“Pushing” sales leads out to field reps and resellers is a traditional industry habit for most B2B marketers that is terribly inefficient. Sales people, like all human beings, simply don’t value something as much if it is given to them without cost or condition. As a result, leads that are “pushed” to the field are often not followed up in a timely manner, resulting in poor conversion rates and lost sales opportunities. Implementing a “pull” lead management system, on the other hand, can produce dramatically better results. Because the lead has been specifically requested by the rep, it is much more likely to receive immediate follow-up. In addition, with a “pull” lead system, reps are far more apt to provide timely feedback on the status of the lead, enabling B2B marketers to accurately track conversion rates from different lead sources. This, in turn, gives them the opportunity to refine the message, offer, and audience targeting, which will further improve lead quality. Today, with the advent of secure, web-based tools, a “pull” lead management system is far easier to implement than it used to be. Are you still addicted to a “push” lead system?
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