Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008 - (Page 10)

SALES STRATEGY [By Maureen Hrehocik] SEALING THE CRACKS Technology gives new meaning to closed-loop lead generation L ead generation has come a long way from business cards in a fishbowl. Technologies such as Webcasts, blogs, Webinars and podcasts have ushered in an era of high-tech tracking and accountability, one that precludes excuses on not delivering a high ROI on lead generation. And let’s face it: ROI is king. Salespeople will inherently gravitate toward the hot leads in anticipation of a quick close and quick compen- sation. Many times warm leads are left to languish or— worse yet—fall off the radar altogether, squandering business opportunities that may turn out to be viable customers with a little more effort. But with clear responsibility delineation via electronic lead generation systems, sales cannot point fingers at marketing for not providing enough qualified leads, and marketing can’t fire back at sales for not following through on the less-than-hot leads. The big winner is the company’s profit margin. MARCH/APRIL 2008 A white paper recently released by Ascend2 Consulting and Solutions, “Web-Centric Lead Generation Best Practices for B2B,” identifies four methods that drive highly qualified leads: 1) Search Engine Optimization (SEO); 2) Cost-per-click (CPC) search engine marketing; 3) Public relations programs that use specific keywords and phrases with anchor links back to your landing page; and 4) Offline marketing tools with URLs not just for the company’s home page, but to the specific information highlighted in that campaign. As the report states, “While the Internet offers endless lead generation potential, it is also wrought with unproven strategies, unproductive marketing practices and overwhelming spam abuse. To effectively target, attract and acquire a steady stream of new leads in today’s Web-centric business world, savvy marketers have learned to focus their limited resources on a few of the most productive best practices.” (For a free copy of the report, visit www.MyAscend2.com/l/leadgeneration/.) Differentiate by value. Electronic lead generation also simplifies segmentation of accounts into categories that determine their value in the company’s customer base. Segmentation, experts say, provides better costeffectiveness. Segmentation is a key attribute of the SmartPipe solution offered by Florida-based PRC. “With the high cost of sending salespeople into the field, we’re seeing more and more companies handing over hot leads to field salespeople and warm leads to telesales,” says Lori Sprague, PRC’s executive vice president of business-to-business solutions. In a survey done by Cahners and Gartner, 15% of customers are typically in a buy cycle (hot prospects), 43% will move into the buy cycle within 18 months, and 15% are not interested. Those warm leads in the middle category, according to Sprague, are what SmartPipe keeps and nurtures into hot leads and gives them back to the company or pursues them, depending on the client’s preference. “Many companies’ sales forces lack the discipline to optimize their data,” she says. “PRC combines the ‘science with the discipline’ to maximize leads and increase business.” Understanding data, according to Sprague, is a critical component of a successful sales organization. “We’re a very analytically driven company,” she explains. “Our www.salesandmarketing.com www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com 10 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT istock photo http://www.MyAscend2.com/l/leadgeneration/ http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008

Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Brian Tracy University Sales Marketing Management Cover Story: Lessons From the Master Maximum Mobility Training Technology Incentives/Motivation Travel/Meetings Book Excerpt - Value Merchants The Way I See It - End the Discounting Habit

Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008

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