Number Crunching

I hate math. I despise it. But sometimes in order for us marketers to prove our point we have to use it.  Take the following numbers from a recently published Aberdeen Research Study report by Ian Michaels:

• Only 16% of leads that are deemed sales opportunities actually close
• 2005 research indicates 60-70% of marketing qualified leads are not followed-up by sales
• Only 43% of organizations currently use any kind of lead nurturing strategy or framework
• Nurtured leads in best in class organizations delivered 47% higher average ordered values than non-nurtured leads

This is great news.   Do the math.  In a time when organizations world-wide are wondering what steps they need to take to offset the economic down turn, this research indicates that companies do in deed have sales leads.  The key is to qualify and nurture them effectively through to closing the sale.

Maybe the new math for leads is quality, not quantity!

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Don’t Be Afraid

Happy New Year to all! As you can see we took a holiday break from the blog but are now back at it.  We sincerely hope that you all had a great time of rest and relaxation with your families and loved ones.

With every New Year come all the promises of things we'll accomplish, things we'll stop doing or adjustments we'll make.  Personally, mine came the day after New Year's Day when my friend asked me to join him in participating in a triathlon this coming summer.  Although I'm in decent shape, I'm not in triathlon shape so I accepted the challenge and have begun my training.  I say all that to tell you that as I was running this morning, and listening to music on my iPod, a song came on that starts with a quote from Nietzsche that says "All great things must first wear a terrifying and monstrous mask in order to inscribe themselves on the hearts of humanity."

This got me thinking about some of the conversations I've had in the last year with several marketing executives when discussing their lack of lead management process (this is what one thinks about when they do not want to focus on their old aching legs).  Many of these people know their process is broken, or at best, that it lacks the necessary elements to make it solid.  Yet they refuse to fix it. Why? I believe the main reason is that they they're afraid of what they'll find.  Perhaps they're afraid that fixing the process may take too long. Or maybe fixing it will disrupt things (they find comfort in status quo).  Or maybe they're afraid of the interpersonal conflict that comes with identifying and fixing a broken process. Fear is a paralyzing agent.

But fear shouldn't keep us from doing what should be done. Will taking the necessary steps to fix your lead management process have an impact on the "hearts of humanity"?  I highly doubt it. But it will have an incredible impact on the revenue your sales force can generate, and the impact your marketing programs will have on your company's revenue goals. Sometimes making the necessary changes is, in the words of Nietzsche, "scary and monstrous".  But if we have the courage to fix it, the results will be fantastic.

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