Lead Generation meets the Bermuda Triangle

I read that B2B companies are expected to increase lead generation spending in 2005.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of their budget spend won't help increase revenue. Why?  Their sales leads are disappearing in what I call the, Bermuda Triangle of Lead Generation; Sales, Marketing and IT.

In the U.S. roughly 80% of leads are typically ignored or discarded - lost in this Bermuda Triangle of lead generation - never to be seen again. 

A report by the CMO Council and Business Performance Management Forum found that companies could boost their bottom line if marketing and sales could just work together. 

Out of 800 senior marketing and C-level executives... 7% of respondents said their sales and marketing departments work together effectively.

Typical answer - we need a new CRM - wrong!

One of my client's (before they engaged us) invested over a million dollars in a shiny new CRM and as you might guess... less than a year later it was billed as complete failure by their CEO - another unsuspecting victim of the Bermuda Triangle. 

Good collaboration must exist before you implement any technology - like CRM software - I've never seen collaboration suddenly develop as a result of it - especially between sales, marketing and IT.  Now our client is starting the process again.   

This time, I've been told, their CEO is personally involved to help them create a, "more a collaborative culture."  It started with this question, "how can we help our sales people sell?"  Unfortunately, it took a multi-million dollar mistake to motivate change. 

A report by Aberdeen Group, “Sales Effectiveness: Helping Sales Sell” concludes, “70% of companies have misdirected their spending on sales/marketing technology and need to align their investment towards the goal of helping sales sell.” 

To this end, CEO's need to take an active role to develop a culture of collaboration between marketing, sales and IT.  At the same time, it is critical that everyone understands that ROI measurement is more than just numbers.  I wrote a post a while back, "Why IT Must Help Marketing and Sales Collaborate with Lead Generation."