Last night I was driving out to the store to grab a few grocery items and as is my custom, I began flipping through the radio stations.  I was mindlessly turning from station to station when I stopped at a commercial that caught my attention. The announcer asked, "Are you in sales or do you own a business?"  Because I could answer "yes" to both, I continued to listen.  The commercial went on to state that not getting good qualified leads for a business can be the main factor that stands in the way of a business making money.  The commercial then offered their solution to the problem:  leads delivered right to your sales people's inbox every day. The results?  Your business will grow, revenue will increase, quotas will be met and everyone will retire to Millionaire Estates just like in the game of LIFE!!!  OK, the last one I added. It wasn't really part of the commercial.

While it certainly is true that good qualified leads can make the difference in a sales career or for a business, I've yet to see where this "silver bullet" approach works.  After all, if it was as easy as subscribing to an email service, wouldn't every one in sales be succeeding? 

As I continued my "radio scanning" exercises, I thought about the issues that the "leads" commercial brings to light, many of which are not being effectively addressed at the majority of companies.  These are issues such as...

• Lack of clarification on the definition of a lead. What does sales say a lead is? What about marketing? What about customer service? Most companies cannot definitively describe what a lead looks like for their business.
• Lack of qualification criteria. At a significant number of companies, different groups are using differing weights and measures to determine a lead's viability.
• Lack of centralization for lead qualification. Many companies allow leads to be qualified at the point of entry instead of through one central repository and process.
• Lack of "on going" lead qualification, or lead nurturing. Most companies don't have a plan for ongoing lead nurturing for those leads that are not "sales-ready".

Making sure you have the answers to these and other questions is the start of defining and developing a sales and marketing process that will enable you to improve the return on the sales leads you receive, no matter where they come from. 

New Perspective

Permit me if you will the chance to deviate from the usual posts about lead management, marketing and sales.  Instead, I’d like to add a little personal flavor to my posts.  I recently returned from a 15-day trip to Nigeria, Africa. Although I’ve traveled all over the world, I am not sure that I ever had a trip make an impact on me as much as this one.

About 10 years ago one of my closest friends felt called to go to Nigeria with his family and begin developing orphanages.  During those 10 years he has asked me repeatedly to come and see what they have been doing and to be part of the work there.  I finally made the decision to go with a group from our church and have come back with a new perspective.

While in Nigeria we spent each day going from orphanage to orphanage, spending time with the kids, and meeting with the staff at each one.  We saw some unbelievable sights, and met some incredible people.  I saw poverty like I have never seen, which instantly made me grateful for what I have, and less ungrateful for what I don’t have.

What I learned in those 15 days cannot be conveyed on a post, as I myself am still processing all that transpired. However,  what I can say is that I cannot wait to return. But not to the place.  More so, to the people. They were the warmest group of people I have ever had a chance to meet. In spite of having so little, they were always quick with a smile and a warm greeting.  These people have nothing (most do not have running water or electricity) yet are gracious, and thankful for what they do have.  Conversely, we have everything we could ever want yet we complain about what we don’t have.  As we approach the midway point of the summer months, I encourage you to take time to reflect on how good life is.  Be thankful. Be content. Take a break from the “race”, and stop to enjoy what you have. It may just make you smile.

We Don't Talk Anymore!

There’s been much talk lately about marketing and sales integration.  It seems most of the discussion centers around how marketing and sales technologies will integrate.  “Does our email program ‘connect’ to the contact manager?” “How will our marketing automation application interact with our CRM system?”  “How are the systems connected?” After all, marketing/sales integration is a technology issue, right?

Well, not really.  Yes, integration of systems is important.  But long lasting integration occurs when marketing and sales teams first address how to integrate their processes.  Before the discussion of technology tools occurs, marketing and sales teams should be looking for ways to integrate what they do from an operational level.  And the best way to do this is to talk about it. 

You may be thinking, “Well duh!”  But you’d be surprised.  Many of the organizations with which we’ve worked or interacted have had silo mentality when it comes to sales and marketing process. As is often the case between marketing and sales, one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing.  This often is the result of one entity simply not sharing information with the other.  And as the saying goes, in the absence of information, the imagination takes over. 

But this can be overcome.  When implementing lead management programs for companies, we usually suggest that marketing “reach across” to sales to begin the discussions on how to integrate.  This can be done by conducting group sessions, or independent interviews with a representative sample of the sales team. Areas of discussion should be assessment of current lead management processes, standardizing definitions, lead qualification practices, lead scoring, lead nurturing, lead routing, metrics, etc.  When the discussions are complete, summarize and communicate the findings, results and next steps. Schedule regular updates, and keep the communication “two-way”, allowing for feedback.

Bridging the gap between marketing and sales may seem impossible, but it can be done.  And doing this before moving forward with implementation will significantly reduce the roadblocks that otherwise could lie ahead.  It will ease the integration of marketing and sales processes, allowing the two to work together as a cohesive unit. 

What a Week!

The Annuitas Group was able to spend the better part of the second week in May at the SilverPOP/Vtrenz customer event in Atlanta.  What a great week!   Besides the first hand look we were able to get at the new functionality that is coming out for Vtrenz, we received a great deal of information and insight by numerous experts in the marketing field.

One of the sessions we attended was a presentation by Aberdeen Group's Ian Michiels.  During the session, the speaker presented some of the findings they had uncovered regarding Marketing and Sales alignment. He then went on to provide recommendations based on the research.  The key recommendations are listed below...

• Formalize a process within your company for handling leads
• Marketing & Sales need to share the definition of what constitutes a lead & a qualified lead (It was interesting to note that only 38% of companies surveyed have done this)
• Develop a process to share data between Marketing & Sales
• Develop a process for measurement
• Integrate Marketing & Sales technology

These were just a few of the recommendations. Yet, through the entire presentation, there were two constants recommended lines of thought: process & alignment.  It affirms what we at The Annuitas Group are consistently saying:  Process based Marketing that includes Sales input can pay big dividends when implemented correctly.  The results? The Marketing and Sales "gap" closes, alignment occurs, and ROI increases.

Managing Email Leads

In the previous post (“Email Marketing?”), we took a brief look at e-mail, automation, and how it can help improve marketing and sales. But what about the leads that are generated from those email campaigns?  What about the "clicks" that are connecting your company with interested buyers?  How are they being captured and managed?

E-mail, although an efficient means for communication, provides only limited ability for companies to fully engage with their prospects and clients. Often, companies suffer from a "one and done" contact with would be buyers, because there is no process or strategy for ongoing, timely communications.  Many marketers are forced into an "I sent the email. Now, I will sit, wait and hope" mindset. Instead, a process of how to handle respondents and non-respondents should be in place to maximize email marketing.  So how is that done?  For respondents (those who respond to the email message), systems should be created so you can track them, by name, and how they responded. Then, put them through a qualification process to determine what kind of lead they are (for example, are they “hot”, “warm” or “cold”?).  If they are "hot", move them over to sales for follow up, and/or into the CRM system.  If they are not, move them into a nurturing group that will receive future communications. 

For non-respondents, pull out hard bounces (bad email addresses).  Then, you should already have a pre-determined strategy on how the remaining records will be marketed to again.  Email? Direct Mail? Telesales?  A Combination?  Develop a communication process that will utilize multiple touches and multiple methodologies that will help you to obtain information on the respondents  and that will move the respondents closer to “raising their hands”.  This process, along with the right tools and technology, will allow you to move from "sending email" to becoming a true online marketer.