B2B Lead Generation Blog

How to Select and Optimize Outsourced Teleprospecting Redux

If you're too busy to listen to my podcast or simply prefer to reading over listening, Sridhar Ramanathan, whom I interviewed on how to select and optimize outsourced teleprospecting partnerships, posted his the talking points on his blog. 

Pacifica Group: Part II: How to Select and Optimize Outsourced Teleprospecting

Podcast: How to Optimize Teleprospecting Vendors

More companies than ever are using third party providers for teleprospecting and lead management operations, however there is little information on how to select, engage, and measure these vendors who will add that essential human touch.

I just interviewed Sridhar Ramanathan, President of Pacifica Group, on how to evaluate and optimize outsourced teleprospecting partnerships (aka inside sales, telesales, telemarketing). 

Sridhar is an industry thought leader in marketing and former HP executive that grew HP's Managed Services unit to $1B in revenue. He has spent that last seven years advising his clients at Pacifica group on how to implement successful marketing strategies that increase revenue. 

If you are involved in lead generation for a complex sale, this podcast offers practical information you won't want to miss.

During the interview you will hear Sridhar discuss:

• Why his client's decide to outsource
• What to have ready before engaging a firm
• The criteria companies should use when hiring a firm
• Success metrics used to evaluate effectiveness
• Pitfalls to avoid in a partnership
• Co-sourcing or Outsourcing?
• Best practices that make teleprospecting partnerships very effective

Listen to podcast now (27 minutes MP3 9.58 MB)

Podcast: How to Select and Optimize Teleprospecting Partnerships

Target Marketing: What’s a Lead?

Many marketers believe generating more sales leads is the key to hitting revenue targets. That’s not always true. In fact, most companies need to do a better job managing and qualifying the leads (or more likely the inquiries) they already have.

In this month’s issue of Target Marketing, I wrote the cover article on "What’s a Lead?"  There, I offer the most important steps that marketing and sales alike, need to take to end their “tug of war” to improve ROI. 

The 5 steps of successful lead qualification are:

1. Define and Agree On What the Word “Lead” Means
2. Consolidate and Centralize Your Prospect Information
3. Pick up the Phone and Qualify Prospective Leads
4. Handing Off Leads to Sales
5. Closing the Loop

The first step in the process requires marketing and sales to come up with a definition for a lead together. This article also emphasizes the critical role that the (often overlooked) phone plays in the lead qualification process. 

Read Target Marketing: What’s a Lead?

Telemarketing big with Xerox

Do you use the telephone as part of your multi-modal lead generation strategy? 

A recent BtoB Magazine article by Carol Krol, "Copy this: Telemarketing big with Xerox" shows that, although the phone may not be as buzz worthy as other lead generation tools, it remains the backbone to successful lead generation. 

However, as Krol’s article shows, the telephone shouldn’t stand alone.  It should function as the integrated hub for all other lead generation modalities and the central point for qualifying inquires converting them into sales ready leads. 

It is fascinating to see just how versatile––and necessary––the phone is for lead generation, with such applications as:

• Initial prospecting and qualification.
• Qualifying inquiries from various sources.
• Appending data and information.
• Reconnecting with past customers and leads.
• Centralizing leads for profiling and scoring.
• Following up on requests for information.
• Driving seminar and webinar attendance.
• Inviting and following up on trade show attendees.
• Validating direct marketing lists.
• Following up on direct mail campaigns.
• Building a database.
• Scheduling sales appointments.
• Developing relationships.
• Getting internal referrals.

To use the phone as an effective lead generation strategy, consider creating a specialized teleprospecting function within the marketing group. Teleprospecting teams often improve ROI because they create functional bridge between the sales and marketing to increase accountability and results. 

Creating a teleprospecting or lead management team, as an internal unit is easier said than done.  So it is not surprising that more organizations are now outsourcing their teleprospecting activities to companies like InTouch. 

Podcast: Marketing and Sales for Big Complex Selling (Pt 1)

I had a great time chatting with Todd at 800-CEO-READ on lead generation. This is the first of three podcasts 800-CEO-Read is doing on B2B sales and marketing.

Here's what Todd says about it:
"In this podcast, I talk with Brian Carroll, author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale. Next week, I interview Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies. In week three, I bring Jill and Brian together to talk about the interface between marketing and sales."

Like many of Todd's podcasts; this one is a high-level discussion geared for business leaders and those who support sales people. While you're there, I encourage you to take some time to visit 800-CEO-READ's other websites. They are a super resource for anyone who reads business books.

Listen to podcast now (MP3 43:47 min 30.1 MB)

Webinar: Lead Generation Strategies for the Complex Sale

Join me for a complimentary webinar this Thursday, August 17, 2006 at 1pm EDT.  This action-oriented session will provide tips and best practices that you can put into practice immediately.

When you leave this session you will:

• Learn 3 proven lead generation strategies that deliver results
• The most effective ways to get sales and marketing alignment
• See the most effective tactics used for an integrated marketing program
• Know how to identify and prioritize your best prospects
• Hear what's working to develop a dialog with executive level buyers

Register here

This event is sponsored and hosted by WebEx Communications, the worldwide leader in online meeting applications.

New E-Book Offers Great Advice

If you are involved in selling (or marketing) professional services, you’ll want to know about this new eBook, The One Piece Of Advice You Can’t Sell Without: From 11 experts on selling professional services, produced by RainToday.  They have consolidated the best advice from top-notch professional service sales experts.

Chock full of useful information, the eBook provides a broad look at the selling process. Although the advice comes from many directions, you'll find some ideas will help you sell more. 

Download the eBook here.

Each expert concisely provides the one piece of information that, from the author’s perspective, we must know to succeed. 

Names of contributors are well-known, and their credentials are impressive:

• Seth Godin, author of Small is the New Big & Purple Cow
• Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer, Leapfrog Strategies and author of Selling to Big Companies
• Mike McLaughlin, Deloitte Consulting, author of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants
• Sam Reese, CEO of Miller Hieman sales training company
• Alan Weiss, author of Million Dollar Consulting
• Mike Schultz, Publisher, RainToday.com and Principal, Wellesley Hills Group
• Keith Ferrazzi, speaker and author of Never Eat Alone
• And more!

New complimentary e-book - Start with a Lead: Eight critical success factors for lead generation results

My latest project is ready! I just published a complimentary new e-book titled Start with a Lead: Eight critical success factors for lead generation. Please download it and pass it on.

According to studies, the single biggest challenge for contemporary B2B marketers is effective lead generation. Conversely, it has been pointed out that 80 percent of marketing expenditures on lead generation are wasted because the leads are lost, ignored or discarded by sales people.

Marketers today are constantly reminded that the company needs more sales leads...now. Unfortunately, that immediacy is quite often at the direct expense of quality. Instead, marketers should adopt and tailor lead generation programs that will increase the odds of creating better sales leads and relationships that will ultimately result in long-term, happy and profitable customers.

In this e-book, you will learn how to develop high-volume, high-quality lead generation programs for your company. It was written for business leaders, managers and marketers who want to help their sales team sell with highly qualified business opportunities, because sales people should only be brought in when a lead has been qualified as “sales ready.” 

Download Start With a Lead: Eight critical success factors for lead generation

Podcast: Interview on the Cullinane & Green Report

I was interviewed by podcasting experts Joe Cullinane and Roger Green on the Cullinane & Green Report. I encourage you to check out their other interviews with Mike Bosworth, author of Solution Selling and co-author of CustomerCentric Selling and Jackie Huba co-author of Creating Customer Evangelists too.

During this podcast, I share my thoughts on how to use technology tools like podcasts, blogs and RSS for new business development and lead generation. 

Listen to podcast now (36:26 minutes)

New Book: Lead Generation for the Complex Sale is officially released

The wait is over! My book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, was released this morning. You can read the press release or listen to my podcast about it. 

I liked what Bryan Eisenberg, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Call To Action and the new book Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? had to say: 

"The lead generation game has changed in the age of the Internet. If you don't have this new playbook your competitors will. Brian Carroll closes the loop on lead generation, taking you from defining a lead, thinking like your prospects, tactics to increase lead generation, passing leads from marketing to sales, measuring the results, and nurturing the leads for increased revenue. If you don't read and then apply lessons from Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, then let me know how things work out for you."

Read the book announcement press release

Listen to the book release podcast (7:43 min 7.12 MB)

Download a free chapter

For the real thing, order on Amazon. You can find the book at your local Borders or Barnes & Noble and other bookstores. For multiple copies, order on 800-CEO-Read (Call Meg at 800-236-7323 ext. 206 CST.)  For the buzz on the book, read reviews and news. More about the author.

Update:  The book made its debut in Amazon's top 100 (sales and marketing books) today.  Debbie Weil author of The Corporate Blogging Book calls my book launch an example of Book Launch 2.0. 

Lead Generation for the Complex Sale on wsRadio.com

I just did a 40-minute live interview on the Online Marketing show with RSS Ray broadcast by WS Radio.com, the world wide leader in internet talk radio.  A podcast version of the show is available via iTunes or the host website RSSRay.com.

During the interview, I share new ideas for generating B2B customers and talk about my book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, that's being released next week.

Click here to listen to the recording. 

Book Cover and Advanced Praise for Lead Generation for the Complex Sale

We're quickly approaching the official release of my book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale : Boost the Quality and Quantity of Leads to Increase Your ROI.  Also, my book got a new cover!  (click image to enlarge) 

I'm humbled by the incredible endorsements that I've received for the book so far. You can read the advanced endorsements here, more here, and via my new book website before they're posted on the major on-line bookseller websites. 

For those who pre-ordered the book, it will arrive with the new cover in June.  I just got my first shipment of author copies and they look great!  Thanks again! 

Personal lead generation tools

If you do lead generation (a.k.a. prospecting) for yourself you may want to read the WSJ article, "End of the Cold Call?" by Jeanette Borzo.  The article features tools that will aid sales people, entrepreneurs, and professionals with their personal lead generation efforts. 

It's important to note that these tools will help users begin conversations but they won't do the hard work of building relationships for you.  My research shows that executive buyers choose the sales person who has been a resource and developed a relationship with them regardless of their timing to buy. 

Time and time again it is proven that customers want the salespeople they deal with to understand their business, their needs, and the pressures under which they operate.  These people are called trusted advisors. 

Reaching Decision Makers

Reaching decision makers today seems harder than ever. To develop an effective lead generation program, you need a process that identifies decision makers along with their sphere of influence before you can initiate a productive conversation. 

I was recently interviewed on the subject for the article "Reaching the Decision Maker" by Scott Bekker, editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine. The article also features comments from my friends Mac McIntosh and Jill Konrath.  Together we dispel some common myths on what works to identify and reach decision makers. 

As you'll see reaching decision makers is actually a two-part task. The first part is finding them, the second is engaging them. 

Link: Redmond Channel Partner Online | Feature: Reaching the Decision Maker.

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Webcast: 8 Critical Success Factors for B2B Lead Generation

Join me for a complimentary webcast on Thursday, March 16th at 2pm EST.  I'm speaking on the "8 Critical Success Factors for B2B Lead Generation Success" along with Mark Organ, CEO of Eloqua.   

Watch the recorded webcast archive now

During this webcast, I will share the most critical – and often overlooked - factors in successful lead generation including:

• How to combine sales and marketing to optimize the number of leads
• Preventing lulls in your sales cycle
• Developing Universal Lead Definition (ULD) and ideal customer profile (ICP)
• Building, maintaining and growing your database
• Multi-modal lead nurturing - a crash course
• Ready yourself for what's next - new and promising tactics
• and more...

Register for this webcast registration is closed. Watch the recorded webcast now

Sponsored by Eloqua, provider of the leading integrated demand generation platform for executing, automating and measuring highly effective B2B marketing programs.

Podcast Segment 1: Selling to BIG Companies

If you're involved in complex sale, be sure to listen to the recording of my live teleseminar with Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer and author of Selling to Companies.  Over 93% of the live audience (200 marketers and sellers) strongly agreed or agreed that they found value in attending this session.  I'm sure you will too.

Listen to Segment 1: Selling to BIG Companies (17:51 min 4.1 MB)

• Why has it become more difficult to sell to large organizations?
• Who is the seller’s toughest competitor?
• What can a marketing do to help this?

Over 93% of the live audience (200 marketers and sellers) strongly agreed or agreed that they found value in attending this session.  I'm sure you will too.

Podcast Segment 2: Selling to BIG Companies

Segment 2 from my 1-hour live interview with Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer and author of Selling to Big Companies.

Listen to Segment 2: Selling to BIG Companies (11:29 min 2.7 MB)

• What's the proper role of marketing?  Who should do what?
• Where's the best place to start when selling to a BIG company?
• What tactics work and which don't?
• What’s your view on the use of email? Does it work?
• How can you make sure your e-mail message gets a response?

Podcast Segment 3: Selling to BIG Companies

Segment 3 from my 1-hour live interview with Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer and author of Selling to Big Companies.

Listen to Segment 3: Selling to BIG Companies (13:58 min 3.2 MB)

• Why do you hate unique selling propositions? 
• If they don't work, what do you recommend?
• How do you develop an account entry plan? 
• what's causes sellers to have difficulty getting into BIG organizations?

Podcast Segment 4: Selling to BIG Companies

Segment 4 from my 1-hour live interview with Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer and author of Selling to Big Companies. 

Listen to Segment 4: Selling to BIG Companies (7:31 min 1.7 MB)

• What's the best way to get a meeting with someone in a big company?
• What are trigger events? 
• If you were to give a seller one piece of advice on what it takes to get into big companies, what would it be?

Marketing That Reaches Decision Makers In Big Companies

I was quoted in an article on B-to-B marketing in Marketing News, a publication of the American Marketing Association.  The article entitled, "It Takes a Committee to Buy into B-to-B," by Staff Writer Allison Enright, focuses on how marketers can connect with decision makers in big companies. 

If you're doing marketing or lead generation for a complex sale, you'll want to read it.  Normally, this article would only be open to American Marketing Association Members but InTouch was given special permission to share it with readers of the B2B Lead Generation Blog.  Enjoy. 

Here's a brief excerpt of the article:

If you think finding the right person to target with your business-to-business marketing is harder than it used to be, you’re right. The number of people involved in a purchasing decision is filling up the boardroom, according to Sirius Decisions Inc., a marketing and sales information services company in Southport, Conn.: In 2005, 3.5 more people on average were involved in making a purchasing decision than in 2001.

With so many people weighing in on a decision and no clear go-to target, marketing and salespeople are evaluating the best way to go about making a connection.

“The challenge is to create a dialogue from sales and marketing, and we need to be a lot more intelligent with our approach. People who are lower in the organization used to make decisions, but now it’s the boss’s bosses and involves more of a team approach,” says Brian Carroll, president of Arden Hills, Minn.-based sales qualifying service InTouch Inc., and author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale."

Read full article "It Takes a Committee to Buy into B-to-B"

Reprinted with permission from Marketing News, published by the American Marketing Association, Allison Enright, February 15, 2006, Pages 11 - 13.

Teleseminar on Selling to BIG Companies with Jill Konrath

The biggest challenge most of us with a complex sale face is getting access to executives, especially those in BIG companies. Sales cycles have gotten longer and number of decision makers involved in a typical buying process has increased too.   As a result, traditional sales prospecting techniques simply don't cut it anymore.  So would you like to hear what really works? 

On Wednesday, February 22, at 1:00 PM CST, you’re invited to a free 1-hour teleseminar with me and Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer and author of Selling to Big Companies.   I'm going to be interviewing Jill on, what else, Selling to Big Companies. 

If you haven't read Jill's best selling book yet, you should get a copy (you can read my review on Amazon or BN).  Entrepreneur magazine (February 06) says is a must read for sales managers. It was also picked as one of the best new business books on the market by Jack Covert of 800CEORead and is #3 sales book on Amazon today. 

I liked what Ardath Albee wrote on her blog, "Here's the deal. Jill is in high demand.  She doesn't do free teleseminars.  The last few open speaking engagements she's done have sold out in record time... If you haven't heard her speak before, you're in for a treat.   Her focus is helping companies get their foot in the door at BIG companies.  She knows what she's talking about.  She hones in on how to better apply your work on building relationships that deliver results--in other words, sales."

The teleseminar is sponsored by InTouch, so it's free, but our phone lines are limited, make sure you don't miss out and register here. 

Continue reading if you want to see the questions I plan to ask Jill. 

I plan to ask Jill the following questions:   

• Why has it become more difficult to sell to large organizations?
• When attempting to sell to large companies, who is the seller’s toughest competitor?
• As a seller begins to think about selling to a big company, what’s the best way to start?
• What can marketing do to help?
• How do you develop an account entry plan?   
• What's the proper role of marketing and sales in these plans? Who should do what?
• What tactics work and which don't?
• What’s your view on the use of email? Does it work? What are the common ways to improve an email message so it gets a response?
• Many sellers are told to create “elevator speeches” that quickly describe what they do. Are elevator speeches useful?
• If elevator speeches don't work, what do you recommend?
• When sellers have difficulty getting into large organizations, is there generally a root cause for their lack of success?
• What's the best way to get a meeting with someone in a big company?
• If you were to give a seller one piece of advice on what it takes to get into big companies, what would it be?

In addition, do you have questions about Selling to Big Companies that you'd like me to ask Jill? 

Click here to register now

It's a New Year for Lead Generation for the Complex Sale

Greetings and happy New Year!  Wow, I haven't posted here in a month but I promise you will see a lot more activity soon.  In the meantime, I wanted to give you an update.

During the past month, I've put all of my energy into getting my first book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, to the finish line.  I got this milestone e-mail (for a first time author) from my editor at McGraw-Hill.  She wrote, "I just put your book in production!  Congrats.  It’s in great shape.  All the final edits you made really helped to polish it off even more.  Well definitely go out and celebrate tonight.  I know that you’ve worked really hard on this manuscript and it’s turned into a fantastic manuscript."

So after 14-months of writing, editing, writing, editing, and re-rewriting again, I'm "done!"  Seriously, this has been a labor of love and I hope this book profoundly changes the way people think about lead generation and makes a huge impact. 

Though there are scores of books on direct marketing, branding, advertising, marketing tactics, PR, varied sales approaches, cold calling, etc., I have yet to find a text that addresses the comprehensive approach to lead generation for the complex sale like mine. 

I'm awaiting an official release date but Amazon currently shows April 15th... yes that's Tax Day.  To those who have already pre-ordered the book, thanks!  You can pre-order it here. 

Telemarketing is the top lead generation tactic

The phone is the number one tactic to generate leads according to the Direct Marketing Association's 2005 Response Rate Report which shows the following: 

Telephone, dimensional mail, e-mail, and coupons provided the best response rate results for generating leads. Telephone leads all media with the highest response rate of 5.53 percent. Dimensional mail was close behind at 5.28 percent, and e-mail produced an average response rate of 3.39 percent.

The data came from over 500 campaigns from 21 industries and tracked 19 different tactics including: outbound telemarketing, direct mail, search marketing, and e-mail among others.

Thanks to Carol Krol over at BtoB Magazine for pointing me to the report. DMA Report shows telemarketing is the top lead generation tactic 

New Cartoon Series Depicts "Sales Lead Hell"

Building off my last post, I wanted to share something fun... a new cartoon series by MarketingSherpa called "Sales Lead Hell."  The series was created to promote the 2005 Lead Generation Summit. 

Each cartoon gives some pithy insight into the sales and marketing "feud."  I got permission to post a recent cartoon from the series. (click image to enlarge) 

Get your "Sales Lead Hell" cartoons here

Combine Your Cold Calling Efforts With Email Marketing

Targeted e-mail combined with outbound calling is the ideal 1-2 punch for increasing leads, sales activity and revenue.  It has long been accepted that combining outbound calling with direct mail marketing dramatically increases results in B2B programs. 

The killer application of email marketing and phone calling is the ability to prioritize phone calls based on the actions of the email recipient. With tracking capabilities you can now know what link your prospect clicked on and where they went to next. Plus, you can track many other elements as well. 

This gives us a bit of marketing ESP (extra-sensory perception) to combine our shared knowledge from various mediums such as email newsletters. 

I explain more in my article, "Combine Your Cold Calling Efforts With Email Marketing," on RainToday.com.

Marketing accountability and ROI Measurement

Most marketing ROI measurements are akin to driving a car while staring at the rear view mirror, you can't see that you are going to crash until the debris is already behind you. 

Return on marketing investment and accountability are top-of-mind for almost every B2B marketer today I meet, yet the metrics they are using to quantify their performance are woefully inadequate. 

Marketers are cleaning their dirty and cracked rearview mirrors rather than look towards what they can do to help their sales team sell.  Peter DeLegge wrote an interesting article on the matter called, "The Bottom Line on Marketing Accountability."

The key is to look at why are we measuring our marketing ROI in the first place?  Are we measuring our metrics to simply justify our existence or are we striving to measure our contribution towards growth, revenue and profit? 

Thanks to Kate Maddox and BtoB Magazine for pointing me to the upcoming 2005 Marketing Accountability Forum.  Maddox notes that, "according to the [ANA] report, 73% of respondents reported a lack of confidence in understanding the sales impact of a marketing campaign." 

If the sales team is measured by their ability to bring in or grow customer relationships, then marketing should be measured on their ability to help the sales team get into the right opportunities (a.k.a. sales ready leads).

CEO's expect marketers to provide metrics and to be accountable just as their peers in other departments.  Marketers must remember that we're in charge of controlling what is measured. 

Relying on just on the tactics that are 'easy' to measure such as tele-prospecting, webinars, website logs, email campaigns while not measuring ROI for public relations and branding is not being fully accountable.  In fact, many marketers aren't even looking at their easy to measure tactics. 

Here are some of my other posts on Marketing ROI Measurement

Marketing to Small-Medium Businesses Via IT Consultants & Resellers

I was quoted in a special report by MarketingSherpa's contributing Editor, Dianna Huff. 

Here are just a few of the Marketing Tips in the article:

• Give them "meaty" marketing messages
• Teleprospecting works - if it's done well
• Invite consultants to demos at trade shows
• Webinars are key for consultants and VARs

Here's a few points that aren't in the article:

• Resellers and IT consultants are unique - treat them that way. 
• They are "opinion molders."  Treat them as “the customer” and help them connect with your "shared customer" - the end user company. 
• Resellers don't want 'cookie cutter' sales lead programs.  They want to co-create lead generation programs that are highly customized.
• They are more interested in working with partners that have taken the time to understand their market and their customers. 
• Start asking questions such as, "How can we help you sell more?  What do you need?  How do you plan to grow revenue?" 

Link: MarketingSherpa.com : How to Market to Small-Medium Businesses Via IT Consultants & Resellers.

Cold Calling Tips for the complex sale

When used correctly, the phone is a powerful way to start and develop relationships.  Peter Davidson at the BeConnected blog pointed me to Kevin Stirtz's post on cold calling.  Thanks Peter. 

Kevin Stirtz's post, How to Make Cold Calling Work for Your Business, has some good points but - there is a better way.

Peter explains that we can use a bit of marketing ESP by combining our shared knowledge from various mediums such as email newsletters.

He writes, "One of the best ways to pre-qualify your leads is to work off a list of those contacts that have subscribed and clicked thru on the content of your email newsletter marketing efforts. Properly written and distributed an email marketing campaign can provide incredibly detailed information and customer intuition that will help your sales staff know what your customers are interested in."

Absolutely - we just need to be judicious with how we use that information.  Don't say, "I wanted to speak to you about [topic they clicked on] because you clicked that link a dozens times."  I’ve received calls like that and it feels a bit… creepy. 

If you must cold call, how do make each call relevant?  How can your phone call be plus in that person's day rather than another unwanted distraction?

I did a webcast with Jeff Thull on how to have relevant conversations with executives in mid-size to Fortune 500 companies.  Jeff is the author Mastering the Complex Sale® and The Prime Solution®. 

The challenge of cold calling is make sure each conversation we have is relevant and meaningful.  That's what this webcast is about. 

My company uses Jeff's approach for many of our lead generation programs and it works.  Why?  There's no manipulation, pitches or trickery - it is simply about authentic communication.

Watch the webcast How to have relevant conversations with top executives (Executive Level Selling)

Revised Lead generation strategy map for complex sales

To be successful at generating leads for a complex sale, marketers can't rely on one specific tactic but rather they need to leverage a portfolio of tactics.  It begins with a mindset that see lead generation as an ongoing conversation - with human beings - that's both multimodal and iterative.  Not just a campaign. 

I had a bit of writers block as I was working on my book last night.  I went back my earlier mind map and I revised it.  Hopefully I made it better.  (Click image to enlarge)

Are there any tactics/modalities that I'm missing? 

Download lead generation map.pdf

Okay back to writing...

Lead generation modality map for complex sales

I asked InTouch client, Cheryl Hatlevig of Adesso Systems, to share her philosophy on doing lead generation for the complex sale.  She has a brilliant perspective that I wanted to share. 

"I look at our lead generation efforts, specifically in this economy, as a financial portfolio. If I can’t measure the tactics or programs in terms on return on invest to the organization…leads generated, business closed, opportunities in the funnel, then why should I expect the company to invest in my fund."

I agree her completely - lead generation for the complex sale requires a holistic, disciplined and multi-modal approach.

A while back, I did some brainstorming for my forthcoming book, Start With A Lead: Lead Generation Strategies for the Complex Sale, I mapped out some of the main lead generation modalities.

Here's the lead generation modality mindmap that I came up with. (Click image to enlarge)

Are there any tactics/modalities that I'm missing? 

Disciplined Lead Qualification improves sales performance

Recent studies show that sales people want selling time more than sales leads.  Best practice driven companies are recognizing that it is futile to continue to pass marketing driven inquiries directly to sales before they are rigorously qualified as "sales ready." 

Last week, I visited with a CEO who was really upset with his marketing team because he felt they were generating a lot of "junk leads."  He said, “I don't think my sales people will invest any more time calling marketing generated leads until I pay them to do so.”  That may sound extreme but numerous studies have shown that 70 - 80% of leads are never contacted by a sales person. 

We must realize that the extreme time pressure salespeople face—especially those with a complex sale—requires them to ignore what is not immediately relevant and highly likely to produce revenue. Why? They are not paid to do anything else. And that makes quality more important than quantity to them.

Today's article, in MarketingSherpa, is on point because it argues that marketing must drive the entire lead qualification process.  In addition, they found that phone calls aka telemarketing is the single best way to qualify leads and provide some great tips on how to do it right.  How to Qualify Sales Leads for IT Products & Services via Telemarketing

Related post: How to ensure every single lead is followed up on

My company has tried and tested a number of different lead qualification and scoring approaches for our clients.  We have found that using the phone - aka teleprospecting - is the single best way to qualify leads as part of a overall lead management process.  No other tactic is as accurate when it comes to collecting the qualitative information salespeople require to justify pursuing a prospective lead. The phone is timely, interactive, and personal—the perfect combination of assets for building a relationship.

Marketing Wisdom for 2005

MarketingSherpa just released a new e-book, Marketing Wisdom for 2005.  It contains 105 real-life marketing tips and lessons.  I contributed lesson #52 (on lead generation of course) in the B-to-B Marketing section.

You can download your copy free 2005 Wisdom for 2005

How to ensure every single lead is followed up on

Many marketers involved in lead generation have long had a nagging suspicion that their sales team doesn't take their leads seriously.

Published reports show that up to 70% of marketing generated sales leads are not followed up on by a sales person.  If this sounds like you, you’re probably missing an effective lead management process. 

Lead management is a multistage process that manages the conversion of sales leads to customers. 

7 major stages of effective lead management:

1. Lead Generation
2. Lead Qualification 
3. Lead Refinement   
4. Lead Distribution 
5. Lead Follow-up
6. Lead Tracking and reporting
7. Lead Nurturing

In the case study today, by MarketingSherpa.com, they highlight how XOsoft transformed their lead management process and reaped tremendous results. 

How to End Sales Lead Neglect & Make Sure Every Single Lead is Followed Up On Appropriately.

As you’ll see, effective lead management requires systematic approach, ongoing management, monitoring and continuous improvement.  Stay tuned, I’ll be sharing more detail and best practices for each stage of lead management in the coming months. 

My Lead Nurturing Article in MarketingProfs.com

My article on lead nurturing was just published on MarketingProfs.com. 

Link: Lead Nurturing: Ripening the Right Bananas.

Lead Generation Myths Get Busted

I enjoyed this article by Mike Schultz and John Doerr posted on MarketingProfs.com.  Their article has a great hook from one of my favorite movies, The Princess Bride. Schultz and Doerr, "myth bust," 7 urban legends surrounding lead generation. 

They write, "If you want to have above-average success with lead generation, you first have to squelch the myths and misconceptions that will keep you from moving in the right direction. By doing so, you can take advantage of (dare I say) inconceivable tactics that everyone else mistakenly writes of—and you will be all alone, out front, generating the leads your competition is missing."

7 Lead Generation Myths Get Busted: 

Myth 1: Cold-calling doesn't work
Myth 2: Web sites don't affect lead generation
Myth 3: We need more brand recognition before generating leads
Myth 4: We need more new sales leads
Myth 5: Let's run some ads first
Myth 6: Direct mail doesn't work for services
Myth 7: Avoid marketing to current clients

B2B Telemarketing - Dialing for Tech Dollars & complex sales

Today's Forbes article, "Dialing for Tech Dollars," caught my attention. The article reports that B2B brands like Microsoft, BEA and PeopleSoft are outsourcing lead generation (via telemarketing) for $1million+ software solutions.

Can the "T-word" help sales people sell complex solutions?
B2B marketers voted B2B telemarketing as the #1 safest tactic they would be most likely to invest in if their CEO gave them an extra $50,000 for lead generation. (MarketingSherpa survey of 729 marketers)

Hunting down executive level decision makers is a time consuming task most sales people hate doing. One sales manager told me at a conference with a chuckle, "90% of sales people hate to cold call and the other 10% are lying."

Bottom line: If you have a sales person selling $2million annually, their time is worth roughly $1,000 per hour in revenue to your company ($2,000,000 / 2000 working hours per year roughly = $1000 per hour)

Can outsiders generate ROI for the complex sale?
If you have a complex sale, you can't risk hiring a B2B "telemarketing" firm that handles transactional sales or low-cost, in-demand widgets. You need to hire savvy professionals who understand the needs and issues of each company they contact. Unlike B2C telemarketers - where it's a numbers game - B2B is about quality not quantity.

The Forbes article points out that telemarketing can be effective assuming you find the right partner. Outsourcing costs from $40 to $100 per hour depending on the company. From $7K to $16K per month per rep.

When it is done well, I've seen B2B telemarketing firms help sales people sell by almost doubling their selling time. At my company, InTouch, we've documented revenues from leads at 2000% to 6300% ROI using B2B Teleprospecting for clients in 9 to 18 months.

A 1998 report by Gartner entitled, "Inside Selling: Selling More at Lower Cost", that showed that adding inside sales person (a.k.a. telemarketer) to support an direct/field sales rep can increase revenue per rep by 150%. Assuming all things remain equal, that means 10 field sales people would now perform like an equivalent team of 25. 

The report estimates the fully loaded costs for 1 inside sales person is 35% of the cost for 1 field sales person.  Using my above example, the increased cost to get the performance 15 more field sales people would be adding 3.5 field sales people in additional budget i.e. you're paying 13.5 field sales people (10 + 3.5 in additional budget) to get the productivity of 25 direct sales people. 

I've searched but haven't been able to locate anything to update my above example with more recent data.  Overall, every sales person I speak to says they are working harder today than they did 5 to 10 years ago and getting the same or less return. 

If you decide to outsource, the key is to find a partner that aligns with your culture and understands your company, your value proposition, your target market and the key issues of people your trying to reach. 

If you're looking for more tips and ideas on cold calling or B2B telemarketing check out my categories on the left.

Cold Calling a CIO

What could be better than a CIO telling you exactly how to cold call him? Agent Smith,a CIO at a major Air Freight Logistics company, shares his thoughts on Cold Calling A CIO.

I get at least one cold call a day from hopefuls trying (desperately) to sell me something; usually recruitment agents, telco resellers, PC/server resellers and software outfits.

It is really easy to get annoyed at this constant barrage, until one remembers these guys are trying to make a living. My problem though, is that by and large, the said guys are really amatuerish at it. And it doesn't seem to matter whether they are representing big or small companies, the lack of sales skills is amazing.

A long time ago, I was in pre-sales (and then sales) for a couple of ERP vendors and had the pleasure of attending a one day selling skills course run by Tom Hopkins. This guy taught the really basic fundamentals of sales; qualifying, making the pitch, handling objections and closing. Most of the people who call me have no idea about qualifying. They seem to assume their "victims" (as distinct from suspects) have just discovered an instant overwhelming need for (say) a Winnebago full of contract Java programmers, a content management system or yet another way of managing PC assets etc etc. And we were just waiting for the call.

Have they done ANY research? Do they know anything about who our business partners are? Do they ask any questions? Do they establish anything about how we work? Nope! They just launch straight into their speil. The alternative to the instant speil is the assumption that I have "just 15 minutes" to meet with them because they really want to understand my business ..... like looking at the corporate web site wouldn't do that?

My favourite example of this was in my last CIO job where we ran our ERP on AS400s and used Lotus Notes for email. Anyway, I got cold called from IBM ..... they asked me what operating systems and hardware we had, and then tried to sell me Lotus Notes for KM. Ever heard of CRM boys? So all you CRM sales guys out who read this Blog now have one real suspect!

So what would I do if I were a sales dude trying to get a CIOs attention?

5 Things CIO's Hate About Cold Calls
CIO: Cold Calling a CIO

Lead Generation: Cold Calling Executives

I enjoyed this inspirational post on Jill Konrath's Blog. Great advice.

Selling to Big Companies Blog: Cold Calling Executives

Enticing Voicemail Messages for Lead Generation

If you're cold calling executives, you know that getting voice mail is a fact of life. Jill Konrath, wrote an good article on how to use voicemail messages to your advantage. Marketers, you can help your sales team by making sure they are aligned with your value proposition every time they leave a message.

Lead Generation via Enticing Voicemail Messages

Is your Business Consultant some Yahoo named Google?

I've found that too many people base their sales and marketing plans on "gut feels" or "hunches"; and all too often, lack the substantive data that can support lead generation strategies and tactics. If you're a sales person who needs to make cold calls you'll learn how to find detailed information on a private company and how apply that information to generate more sales leads. Watch this free webcast (at your desktop).
Watch the webcast

While it's true that a tremendous amount of information can be found via Yahoo and Google, much of the best business information is now only available via costly subscription databases. At the same time, there's so much information, the need for an expert researcher on your team has never been greater.

What you will Learn
This presentation includes with a fascinating real-life case study that incorporates all of the tactics learned during the session to find detailed information on a private company and how that information can be applied to generate additional sales leads.

How to find information on the "free web"

Where the best business sites are on the "Invisible Web"

How to get access and use premium databases that won't sink your budget

How you can use information expert to do the research for you

Watch Is your Business Consultant some Yahoo named Google?

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