B2B Lead Generation Blog

Should lead generation ignore current customers?

”We know more about our prospects (leads) than we know about our current customers” was a shocking statement I heard from a client and it stuck with me. In fact, it's the impetus for this post.

When you have a complex sale, it can be easy to think of lead generation as only a process for acquiring new customers rather than a process that can also be applied to generating new or more business from current customers.

A while back I was in a meeting with a marketing leader of a Global 100 software firm.  He shared a story about their new CEO at the time. The CEO asked 10 members of the executive team to write a list of their top-10 customers. Amazingly just 4 of the 10 executives got 5 of more of the customers correct!  Their VP of Sales faired best, with correctly listing 8. 

In the same meeting it was pointed out that the top-10 customers accounted for over 50% of their $300 million in revenue. The CEO immediately declared that, “we're focusing on our customers first!” From that meeting they dubbed their new initiative as, “The Customer First Plan.” 

As a result of reaching out and talking to their customers, they saw a net revenue increase of 15% from current customers and their customer referrals increased by over 100%.

Still, I’m amazed at how many marketers seem to only emphasize new account acquisition when they could also be going further with their existing customers.

According to research by the CMO Council, “Marketers Are Flying Blind When It Comes to Leveraging Customer Data.” The study showed, “just 6 percent of marketers say they have excellent knowledge of the customers when it comes to demographic, behavioral, psychographic and transactional data, while over 50 percent report they have fair, little, or no knowledge of the customer.”

Conducted in late 2007 and early 2008, the CMO Council's “Business Gain From How You Retain” study undertook a wide-ranging evaluation of where and how marketers are "operationalizing" customer intelligence and insight to reduce customer churn, increase lifetime value, improve the customer experience, and increase the effectiveness and targeting of marketing spend.

The CMO Council concluded, “Only 50 percent of global marketers report having a strategy for further penetrating or monetizing key account relationships. In addition, a surprising 45 percent rate the effectiveness of customer relationship management (CRM) systems as deficient or needing more work, with only 15 percent of companies rating themselves extremely good or effective at integrating disparate customer data sources and repositories.”

The solution to solving poor customer management is to leverage a processes that you already have (or should have!). A lead generation program that includes teleprospecting, lead nurturing and lead management.

Adding a customer program to the lead generation mix can be fairly straightforward. The messaging is a bit different, but ultimately we still need to be a relevant resource to people. 

Often the first task in a customer program is to update the database. How long has it been since the database was verified? Are your contacts still there and are they in the same role? If you don’t already know the condition of your data, you can pull a random sample of data to test. Make sure you pull enough data to insure the test is statically valid.

Once the database is in working order, then question becomes, “How can we educate our current customers and affirm their decision to be working with us?” Nurture those all important relationships. Just like when reaching out to prospects, positioning you and your organization as trusted advisors is essential to building trust that starts AND maintains AND expands relationships.

From this point forward you should look to your current customers with the same energy and optimism as you do with your prospect and you’ll be amazed with the results.

So, do you have a Customer First Plan?

Web Analytics for B2B Lead Generation

In the complex sale, the length of the buying cycle makes the connection between on-the-web activity and the off-line decision to purchase much more difficult to trace. So the challenge is connecting our website data (analytics), with marketing data (inquiries and leads) with the sales process and revenue (closing the loop). 

I came across Manoj Jasra post, "B2B Web Analytics: Deeper Dive - Web Analytics World" and thought it was relevant to share.   

Jasra writes, "in order to be successful in a B2B world, marketers require a strong understanding in regards to their potential customers. Things such as lead qualification, targeting in the sales cycle, and testing content/collateral are all areas where analysts can push the envelope in order to provide more insight for their marketing team."

Jasra's post outlines four key analytic areas which include: quality of leads, sales cycle, optimizing your content (for SEO and conversion) and conversion rates and funnels.

Here are some posts that give more suggestions on analytics.

Related posts:

Tracking ROI From Web Generated Leads
Improve your online lead generation measurement

I still think there is a lot of improvement that needs to be made in this area. Are you satisfied with your ability to track your online lead generation ROI? If so, what's been working for you?

Lead management software becoming a hot topic

What do you do with leads or inquires once you generate them?

This basic question is overlooked by so many and yet it’s the leading cause of failure in what would otherwise be effective lead generation programs.

The common-sense answer to this challenge is easier said than done: Have your best people respond to them quickly and consistently in order to qualify them into sales ready leads. The ones that aren’t qualified yet (but are a fit) you put into a lead nurturing process.

The need to better manage leads and inquires has given rise to a slew of new software companies offering a variety of lead management or marketing automation solutions. 

An interesting conversation was started recently by Laura Ramos on the Forrester Marketing blog about lead management software. I’m really glad to see an analyst giving their opinion and I look forward to more insights. Ramos’ post, “B2B Lead Management Market Heats Up,” is definitely worth checking out.

According to Ramos, there are four primary buckets of technology solutions aimed at solving the “how do I make lead generation activities more effective?” They are:

1. Web analytics
2. Database services
3. Marketing automation
4. “Pure play” lead management

With that said, I think it is important to realize that lead management software and marketing automation tools are only one part of an effective process. Here's what I've learned...

Software will not spontaneously generate collaboration between sales and marketing, nor will it create solutions that match your processes and it certainly will not generate sales-ready leads on it’s own. However, for many the allure of easy execution and fast results are difficult to resist. It’s easy to overlook that these systems require a great deal of hands on input and maintenance to be fully appreciated.

My company has spent well over a million dollars and almost ten years to develop our lead management software system that we use as part of our services and we’re learning what works (and what doesn’t) everyday through testing and trial and error. That said, I can say that developing a good process takes more time than you think and developing people to execute the process consistently is even more difficult.

I regularly encounter organizations that invest in expensive software before they fully understand the fundamental operational processes that it will be supporting. This was and still is true of CRM and SFA systems. Lead management software has turned out to be no different. If you want to fully leverage your lead management software, you’ll first need to develop operational discipline and focus on good execution.

Start by understanding your lead generation requirements and design a suitable process to support it and insert the software into the process where it will be most effective and actually used. Most importantly, don’t under estimate the need for a dedicated team of people that will drive the process and make the inputs into the system.

Begin by mapping out a clear process. At InTouch we use process flow and data diagrams to collaborate with clients when designing lead management programs.  Make sure you involve and collaborate with everyone who will be part of the process. Their buy-in will be key to the programs success. Then identify if there are still any gaps in staffing. Finally, once people and process are mapped out, select the tools or systems that will help your people efficiently manage the process.

Lead management is the bridge between sales and marketing that connects the beginning and middle of the customer acquisition process. It requires engaged people to execute the right process, which is then supported by the right software.

Closed Loop Marketing Isn't Software

I recently spoke with a reader who was struggling with his closed loop marketing process. I'm sharing part of our conversation so that other readers may benefit.

He explained that his company had invested "big dollars" to install a new marketing automation software system. It promised to deliver better ROI measurement for their marketing campaigns. I could hear his frustration when he said, "But we are still unable to close-the-loop and measure ROI on most of the sales leads we pass to sales." 

I asked him where he thought the breakdown was happening and he said, "my sales team... They don't update the CRM so I can't get the reports I need." I told him this is a challenge that a lot of marketers face.

I then sent him a link to a post titled why don't sales people update the CRM and what can be done about it. It has some great ideas and comments from other readers.

Overall, I agree with the idea of software and systems for better ROI measurement and accountability. And I do believe the CRM Database should be the hub of all communication between sales and marketing. But closed-loop marketing isn't software.

Personally, I've never seen closed-loop feedback suddenly erupt as a result of software. It just doesn't happen. Good collaboration and a well documented process (that works manually) must exist first.

We need to realize that marketers and sales people often have very different ideas on what data is valuable. Unless this is understood, our attempts to measure results after the fact simply won't work. And that's where I've found "lead generation huddles" help get that ironed out.

I also passed along this recent article "Closed Loop Marketing" by Greg Anderson. I think Anderson does a nice job explaining some of different ways that closed loop marketing adds value and contributes to sales and marketing teamwork. 

Podcast: Interview with MarketingSherpa's Anne Holland

Would you like some inspiration or some fresh ideas for your marketing and lead generation strategy?

If so, MarketingSherpa just released their “Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007-08” and I had the privilege to interview Anne Holland about this year's findings. Very useful stuff. Download the Executive Summary

During our in-depth interview, Anne shares some terrific insights and helpful data on numerous marketing and lead generation tactics.

Three data points that I found particularity interesting:

1. Teleprospecting works. As we all know, tech buyers are a notoriously tough crowd to cold call. Sherpa's findings contradict the "calling doesn't work" line we've heard for years. Their data shows that over 50% of tech buyers admitted to short listing a vendor after receiving a well timed and relevant phone call.

2. Sherpa's data shows that more decision makers (not just influencers) are attending webinars and watching archived events. This indicates the importance of relevant educational events and online content for lead generation.

3. Companies who provided fewer but higher quality "sales ready" leads to their sale people have better sales conversion rates than those that send lots of early stage leads and that creating a "cost per lead" culture just does not work.

Listen to podcast now (31 min MP3)

Show Agenda  

• Benchmark data that B2B all marketers must know
• Fresh ideas and best practices for lead qualification
• Why you should capture and track all web inquiries in your CRM
• How many buyers/influencers in the typical F500 buying process (hint: it's big!)
• Sherpa's unexpected data on B2B telemarketing (teleprospecting)
• Useful data on lead management and lead nurturing
• How webinars are reaching more decision makers than you would expect
• Common email mistakes (and why mobile devices matter more than you think)
• How and why high quality content is important and influential to buyers
• Why fewer leads is better (the CEOs role) and why "cost per lead" budgets fail
• Distinguishing characteristics of top performing marketers
• Unconventional research that will improve your corporate website homepage

The Business Technology Benchmark Marketing Guide features data on numerous marketing and lead generation tactics especially valuable. They also have practical data on search, email, PR, direct mail, lead generation, trade shows, podcasting, telemarketing, budgeting and more. They interviewed over 1000 marketers, plus this year they gathered in-depth research from 4,658 actual business technology buyers.

If you are a marketer for a company that sells technology, I encourage you to get a copy of this report. It will definitely help you better budget, forecast, and benchmark your marketing results.

MarketingSherpa: Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007-08

On B2B Demand Generation tools and Lead Generation Dashboards

CEOs continue to demand better ROI measurement and accountability from marketers.

As a result there’s been a surge of interest in software and tools to manage the process of lead management, lead nurturing and lead generation with a greater emphasis on measurability. 

In 2005, I wrote a post predicting that lead generation dashboards would become a hot topic and according to the CMO Council's 2007 Outlook Report the time for marketing performance dashboards is now.

The report states, "Seventy-five percent of respondents from companies with revenues of more than $500 million plan to deploy a marketing performance measurement dashboard this year, almost twice the number who will invest in the next highest category of system deployment, which is lead generation and qualification. Marketers from smaller companies said lead generation and qualification and email campaign management would be their two top areas of system or service deployment."

Additionally a MarketingProfs article from last week, “B2B Demand Generation in the Age of Accountability, Measurability, and Automation” by Mike Zavershnik of Eloqua emphasizes how, “new marketing automation systems delivered as a service enable marketers to quickly scale their most successful campaigns to drive a larger flow of qualified leads.”

With that said, I think it is important to remember that buying lead management software and dashboards tools is akin to buying a high performance stock car. Without a skilled and knowledgeable driver behind the wheel, you may never get out of first gear no matter how great the car is. 

All to often companies invest in expensive software before they fully understand the fundamental operational processes that it will be supporting. This is a common theme in sales and marketing automation, CRM implementation being another good example.
To develop a world class demand generation and lead management operation you’ll need three things:

• Enough of the right people to support the process
• A well thought out process to support the people
• And finally, the right tools and systems to help people manage the process

I think that most sales and marketing professionals recognize that software will not spontaneously generate results, but the allure of easy execution and fast results are difficult to resist. It’s also easy to forget that these systems require a great deal of hands on input and maintenance to be fully appreciated. 

Yes, lead management software and dashboard tools are hot now because pressure for more measurable ROI is greater that ever and these tools can help you, but make sure you take a more holistic approach. 

Start by understanding your lead generation requirements and design a suitable process to support it and insert the software into the process where it will be most effective and actually used. Most importantly, don’t under estimate the need for a dedicated team of people that will drive the process and make the inputs into the system.

If we continue to follow this line of thought it's logical then to ask yourself if the metrics you are getting back out of the system are telling you that you’re getting better?

This morning I talked with Jim Berkowitz, who writes the CRM Mastery E-Journal. When I told him about this post he replied, “With dashboards, nobody ever seems to talk about having the right metrics that help you measure if you’re improving…” I agree.

Most marketing metrics are like driving a car by looking in the rear view mirror (yes, another car analogy!). They tell you where you've been but they can't tell you where you’re going. Ouch! So are you using metrics that actually help you look forward?

I think companies will continue to buy the promise of these tools even though they lack the resources to actually leverage them. What do you think?

Closed-Loop Marketers More Likely to Reach ROMI Goals

As I've written before, I'm a big proponent of using closed loop feedback to improve marketing and lead generation ROI.  I came across a recent report by Aberdeen Group entitled, "Creating a Customer-Centric Marketing Organization," that reinforces the point with broader empirical data.

Aberdeen found, "Companies that adopt closed-loop marketing processes are more than three times as likely to report a greater than 50% return on marketing investment (ROMI) than those that do not.”

Closed loop feedback is often touted in CRM software and often relied on to be the single source of sales and marketing collaboration. However, collaboration does not spontaneously erupt from software. Aberdeen concludes: “Lagging and average companies are not ill-equipped with technology products, rather they lack the integration and sophistication to realize higher results.”

Simply put, it’s not about the tools it’s about the process and the people. To develop an effective closed-loop-process you need to start with your people first.

I can usually predict a marketing team’s ability to measure ROI based on one question...

I ask, “How frequently do you huddle up and close the loop with your sales team?”

If I hear answers such as, "occassionaly", "not very often" or "rarely", I know that they are in trouble. On the other hand if I hear answers like, "weekly" or "bi-weekly" I know they are probably doing okay.

For example, one InTouch client doubled their lead generation ROI by simply implementing regular and frequent closed loop feedback huddles. 

They began with the mindset that their sales team is their internal customer. By viewing the sales team as their customer it felt more natural to seek feedback just like they were already doing with their external customers.

The marketing team began conducting weekly conference calls (huddles) with their entire field sales force to close-the-loop, which they have continued to do to this today.

During each meeting, they briefly touch on each sales ready lead that was handed over to sales.  They talk about bottlenecks in the process, possible tweaks to the lead criteria (universal lead definition), and specific sales opportunities that sales needs additional support on.

Because of the shared learning everyone benefits from the group format. Everyone can walk away form the meeting on the same page. It should be noted that desktop collaboration tools are a viable alternative to in person meetings if your teams are not at the same location.

By having all team members participate, there’s a built-in accountability through positive peer pressure. For example, when struggling sales people hear about their colleagues positive results with marketing generated leads, they realize they need to clean up their act and raise the bar. 

Why bother?  Because it is a simple process improvement that delivers tangible ROI. By implementing closed-loop-feedback huddles, I’ve watched clients increase revenue from marketing leads, improve lead conversion and help more sales people meet quota. Not to mention they actually know the real value of their marketing and sales pipeline.

On building the Lists for B2B Lead Generation Programs

Would you buy this business card? When you buy a list of names, you are basically buying business cards on a list. But there is no such thing as buying the perfect list, especially if you have a complex sale.

A study by John Coe and the Sales & Marketing Institute showed, “70.8% of business people changed one or more elements on their business cards each year.” My experience has been been around 45%. But in either case it's a big number.

Let's say you want to invite, via e-mail, a specific group of individuals in your database to a webinar or webcast. Or perhaps you’d like to do a targeted, direct-mail campaign to a select group of people on behalf of their salesperson. Could you do it with confidence? Most of the time, I’ve found the answer is "no.”

The goal is not to try to buy the biggest list possible, but instead build the most relevant list possible based your ideal customer profile.  The best list is one that you have diligently created and rigorously maintained over time with excellence. So where should you start?

I have found marketers often overlook the lists and data they already have in search of new contacts rather than building upon relevant conversations. 

Companies don’t buy; people do. The goal of a well-developed lead generation strategy, therefore, is to evolve relationships between people through dialogue that positions your marketing effort as a conversation (not a compaign) to identify, initiate and nurture productive selling situations.

Related Article: BtoB Magazine: Unisys gets boost from good data

I recommend you start by collecting all of your existing in-house marketing lists into one place. These are lists that you may already have on hand, from sources such as:

• Sales team – key accounts and collected business cards
• Strategic partner or pooled lists (cooperative opt-in)
• Inbound phone, email and web inquiries
• Past events - trade show, webinar, and seminar attendees
• Newsletter subscribers
• Marketing campaigns, such as direct mail or teleprospecting lists
• Past customers

Note:  Bring your database administrator in on the list build project as early as possible.  You will most certainly need their expertise in massaging and de-duping the data.

Marketing and sales can also work together to build a list from inactive accounts in your sales team's CRM data and business cards from industry conferences and networking events.

Utilizing existing in-house lists is the best place to start building your framework. Once the in-house lists are collected and combined, they can be evaluated for compliance with your ideal customer profile (target market). You’ll find at this point that that your list needs further enhancement.

At InTouch, we recommend that clients acquire a basic list that has the main attributes of their ideal customer profile and overlay that with their internally compiled data. Then use additional third party list sources to fill in missing companies and contacts.

There are many external list sources available, and each has its benefits and drawbacks. When buying data from an external source, you need to consider the following:

• Are you renting or buying the list? Many list companies only rent a list, which means you are only allowed to use them for a specified time period, a specific number of times, or for a specific marketing campaign, such as a direct mail piece. This type of list does not work well for an ongoing lead generation program.
• What data is included? Lists should include basic demographic data. Some lists, intended for direct mail, do not include phone numbers or contacts. Those lists would have limited value for lead generation.
• Usually, I have found that the best company level data lists come from data companies like Dun & Bradstreet or InfoUSA. These lists include all of the demographic data typically needed, and have extended contact information. The drawback, however, is that they are general business lists; so in some cases, you’ll need to cast a wide net to get records that fit your ideal customer profile and if your goal is to reach anyone other than top executives you will have to add additional contacts yourself.

Other sources of names or lists:

• Trade associations
• Trade shows
• Trade conferences
• Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS)
• Public libraries like HillSearch.org
• New social networking tools or community based contact information sharing tools such as Spoke, LinkedIn and Jigsaw.

Even with these expanding options in list building sources the drudgery of careful research is sill the most productive course of action, because you best understand the nuances of your ideal customer profile.

Your database will become one of your most valuable assets if you treat it like one. Keep your database it current and you won’t have to worry about buying more questionable business cards and you'll see better ROI from your lead generation investment.

E-book: Why Naked CRM Doesn't Work

Did you know your CRM might be naked? I never thought of it that way until I read this compelling e-book by Ardath Albee. 

One of my most read blog posts in 2005 asked "Why don't sales people update the CRM and what can be done about it?" This remains a hot topic for many sales and marketing leaders. 

This e-book tackles the sales team/CRM dilemma by explaining how to "dress" your CRM so that it becomes a resource that your sales reps want to use. It also addresses three major CRM challenges: fizzled lead generation efforts, lack of actionable information and the inability to leverage existing sales/marketing knowledge.

Download Why Naked CRM Doesn't Work

Speaking at MarketingSherpa's B-to-B Demand Generation Summit 2006

I'm speaking at MarketingSherpa's Demand Generation Summit being held in Boston and SF this fall.  I've worked out a special promotion with MarketingSherpa -- you’ll get a complimentary autographed copy of my book and a $300 discount on the Summit if you register by August 31st.

This should be just in time to inspire you during your fall budget and planning season. Meet experts; mingle with your peers; and discover new data, strategies, and tactics (includes search, podcasting, email & microsites). 

Please note, you must click on this link to register so you can get the discount and free book (that's the only way our good friends at MarketingSherpa can identify you as qualifying for the complimentary, autographed book offer).

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.

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. 

Don't Depend on Technology To Fill the Sales/Marketing Chasm

I found this article by Janet White, author of Buying Right: Vendor and Software Selection on CRM Guru interesting. 

The moral of the story is that sales and marketing can't make use of the collaborative features available in CRM solutions unless they have already made human collaboration a part of their process. 

Read Don't Depend on Technology To Fill the Sales/Marketing Chasm

Why don't sales people update the CRM and what can be done about it?

I spoke with a potential client about her company's lead management process.  When I asked about her CRM and how frequently sales team updates their database.  She replied flatly, “our sales team updates our CRM with varying degrees of commitment.”

I was reminded of an experience last fall, when I spoke at MarketingSherpa’s Lead Generation Summit, I watched presentation in which an audience member asked a great question. 

She asked, “I'd like to do lead nurturing/lead generation on behalf of my sales people but they don’t update our CRM - I don't have the information I need - so I really can’t do anything to help them.  What do you suggest?”

I think it was Anne Holland, who then asked the entire audience, “How many of you [marketers] have a problem with sales not updating your CRM?” Nearly everyone (170+ people) raised their hands.

Why do you suppose (despite our best efforts) many sales people seemingly avoid updating or skip updating contacts and notes in the database? 

I wrote a few thoughts on the matter a while back, “Where Lead Generation meets the Bermuda Triangle." 

Seven lead generation tips

I'm taking a break from blogging, just for a few weeks, while I complete my book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale (McGraw-Hill Trade 2005).  I can't wait to share it with you! 

In the meantime, I put together a list of my seven favorite lead generation tips.  I hope you find them useful.  Be sure to check out my archives, I've updated many of my previous posts with new ideas. 

1. Build a ideal customer profile – Focus your energy on leads that best fit your ideal customer profile.  What separates your best and worst customers?  What are their attributes and demographics?  What magazines do they read?  What organizations do they belong to? 
2. Talk to you best customers – How much do you really know about your customers?  A simple phone call can generate plenty of useful information.  Ask your customers why they chose to work with you?  Is that the same reason they keep doing business with you?  How has working with you helped their business?  Would they refer you to other people?  Use this information to refine your message to gain more leads just like your best customers. 
3. Know the needs you can solve – once you under stand why clients chose your products or service you can tailor your message around the needs you solve.  Why are you relevant?
4. Define your goals for lead generation – Be clear on what you want.  Do you want 200 more leads to your database?  Do you want to generate $600K in new business in revenue this year?  Do you want to add 26 new customers this quarter? 
5. Define what is a qualified lead to your sales team?  Savvy marketers know that the fastest way to fail is to not get buy-in from their sales team before they start their lead generation.  I repeat, it’s essential to get your universal lead definition written and agreed upon by all parties.  Typical definitions include the following criteria:
   a. Is there a defined need or initiative for your solution?
   b. Do they have the authority?  Are they a decision maker?
   c. When is their decision going to be made?  Time frame?
   d. Do they have a formal/informal budget? 
   e. What’s the potential size of the opportunity?
   f. Are they ready to speak to a sales person? 
6. Have a follow-up plan – While you may generate leads from your initial campaign, you will generate more by following up with additional touches.  What kind of follow-up plan does your sales team follow? 
7. Develop a good house list – purchased lists have limitations.  Even the best lists are not 100% accurate.  During the planning phase you should make sure your list fits your ideal customer profile.  Even if you doing a direct mail campaign it is important that you purchase a list that includes as much information as possible so that it can be used for future marketing campaigns.  Enlist your sales team to help you update your database with new information as they follow-up on leads. 

One-to-one lead generation for B2B companies

Interesting article from DMNews.com on one-to-one marketing for B2B companies.  DMNews.com: One-to-One Marketing Builds Sales

Kermit Yensen writes, "Sales and marketing leaders often have a clear vision of how one-to-one marketing can benefit their prospective customers, their sales force and their bottom line. So why aren’t they implementing one-to-one marketing for themselves? Or, if they have, why do results seldom measure up to the vision?"

Yensen argues that it all starts with the marketing database. 

Database addresses the symptom not the cause

Many 1-to-1 lead generation programs don't fail because of a lack of vision or strategy.  They fail as a result of poor execution.  Poor marketing/sales databases are simply a symptom of the problem rather than the root cause. 

One-to-one marketing requires tremendous synergies between marketing, IT and sales.  Simply put, most company don't have enough cross-functional teamwork to successfully execute 1-to-1 marketing.  I wrote a post about this a whle back. 

Lead Generation meets the Bermuda Triangle

State of the Art Lead Tracking

Lead tracking is still an elusive dream for most B2B companies.  CRM Daily explain's the issues around lead tracking and what you do about it.  CRM Daily: State of the Art Lead Tracking

Although this article is well done, it misses a major point.  Collaboration must exist before you implement any new process - like lead tracking -  I've never seen collaboration suddenly develop as a result of it - especially between sales, marketing and IT. 

IT Must Help Marketing and Sales Collaborate with Lead Generation

Fellow blogger, Jim Berkowitz and his CRM Mastery E-Journal provides excellent insight into the lead tracking issue. 

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. 

Closing the Lead Generation Loop at Nortel Networks

To effectively track lead generation ROI you need to implement a closed-loop-feedback process that allows you to track leads from first contact to close.

Here's an article from Supply & Demand Chain Executive, which features, Nortel Networks.  The article explains how Nortel created a closed-loop-feedback process that helped them, "resolve the age-old issue of the perception that marketing is throwing leads over the walls and that sales never provides feedback."

Why bother?  By using closed-loop-feedback, Nortel Networks, watched their revenues from sales leads double every quarter for six consecutive quarters. Also, their close rate on sales leads has increased by 500% since they kicked off the program. 

What's your experiences been with closed-loop-feedback?   

Link: Closing the Sales Loop at Nortel Networks

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." 

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.

U.S. Companies Are Severely Mismanaging Lead Generation

I think most marketers agree that the management of sales leads is critical to generating Return on Marketing Investment.  Sadly, sales leads continue to land on the scrapheap according to a soon to be released report by the Business Performance Management Forum and CMO Council.

The report entitled "Gauging the Cost of What’s Lost," found that, "an estimated 80% of leads are typically lost, ignored or discarded. Also, 73% of respondents said their company has no process for re-qualifying and revisiting business leads."

The report concludes that companies must devote, "much more attention to how they target, capture, qualify, manage and track pipeline opportunities within their organizations." 

This research upsets me because it represents billions of lead generation budget dollars lost in a black hole; squandered opportunities, wasted energy and misallocated resources.  Grrrr.  One marketer said it best, "I know 30% of my lead generation is paying for itself... now I just need to find out which 30%!"

The full report will be made available this week for download at www.bpmforum.org and www.cmocouncil.org

Why IT Must Help Marketing and Sales Collaborate with Lead Generation

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.”

Is your CRM software a joke?
Despite the time and money being spent on sales and marketing technology like CRM, web analytics and eMail campaigns most companies have NOT reaped real ROMI. Plus, today’s business scene is rife with new competition, shrinking budgets and teams stretched to do more with less. Why? The complex sale requires great synergy between marketing and sales, which requires greater collaboration.

CRM / SFA applications promised to help “sales” and “close more business” however few companies can attribute any quantifiable results to their efforts. Over the past few years the term “failure” has become closely linked to CRM – so skepticism is rampant. Plus there is a communication gap between sales and marketing. Successful lead generation requires real-time communication between sales and marketing. This is where IT can help.

Sales Effectiveness = Collaboration
In the last 5 years sales has switched from lone eagle to a selling team. Collaboration is not about choosing the “right” technology. It begins with your culture, shared vision and the emotions of your team (read Primal Leadership.)

I believe the communication gap exists is not because of a lack of respect but because of lack of understanding. Each side is vague in their minds about what the other party does. So that’s the place to start.

You’re welcome to debate me on this but this is how I see it…
1) IT supplies the tools and CRM and close-loop reporting framework for marketing/sales
2) Marketing generates the right leads and helps sales sell though the sales process
3) Sales engage the right steps to close deals that result in revenue.

ROI What gets measured gets done
How is marketing team measured?
How is sales team measured?
How can we tie the measurements together?

I'm speaking on this topic at the Minnesota Technology Awareness Forum

Lead Generation Via Direct Marketing is Coming Back

Legitimate email marketing has dipped due to aggressive filtering and SPAM. As a result, B2B Marketers are increasing their direct mail budgets. Also, I've noticed a significant uptick inquiries for our B2B lead generation services.

Reaching Top Execs via Direct Mail
If you want to reach top executives, a simple letter with a #10 envelope can be just as powerful as flashy packaging or (expensive) 3-dimensional mailings. If you need a resource here's a decent book, The Power to Get In. It explains step-by-step how to write executive access letters (most people can skip the first 4 chapters).

Bad Data trashes ROI
I've found that most marketers do a great job on copy and design but they miss the most critical success factor... their list. According to published reports, more than 20% of contact information changes annually. That's a conservative estimate. In some cases, I've seen over 40% of CRM database information changes annually.

My past posts on data

Lead generation ROI depends on data quality
How do you update contact data?
How to Twist the Sales Team's Arm to Feed Your Marketing Database

How to Twist the Sales Team's Arm to Feed Your Marketing Database

I'm posting a link to a recent case study from Marketing Sherpa. It clearly shows why marketers are frustrated because sales people, generally speaking, are awful at updating the marketing database. Better still, it tells what can be done about it. This article supports what I said in my previous entry, "good contact data is essential for lead generation ROI."

How to Twist the Sales Team's Arm to Feed Your Marketing Database

From MarketingSherpa.com : Practical News & Case Studies on Internet Advertising, Marketing & PR

How do you update contact data?

Our data represents our relationships. A recenty study by the Sales and Marketing Institute showed, “70.8% of all business people change one or more elements on their business cards each year.” If you’re in a relationship driven business, you probably know this already. So what can you do about it?

How to update contact data?
The best way I know of (and the one most list providers use) is phone verification. This is gold standard for updating contact level data. I have 1 full-time person whose job is to personally call and update our 4500 contacts. Based on my sales team's feedback this keeps our contact database around 85% to 90% accurate. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to have 100% accuracy.

Phone verification best practices
When we call we always make sure we have something of value to share like a free report, webinar invitation or case study. I want our contacts will appreciate getting a call from us. It must be value based. An unexpected benefit of using the phone to update our list is new business. We’re showing we’re interested in what’s going on in their business and we're taking the time to cultivate a relationship.
Finally, we supplement our database with D&B information but still rely on the phone to confirm and verify that information. Please note: I have a bias because my company does database updating as part of our lead generation services.

Email bounce backs
Assuming you don’t have the resources to call your entire database here’s another tip if you regularly email your database (opt-in of course). Pay attention to the bounce backs. I use email bounce backs as an indicator of contact changes. If you use a service to send your e-newsletters for example you should have access to this data. When an email bounces back I’ve found it usually indicates one of 3 things:

1. They changed their email address
2. They are no longer with that company
3. They have a SPAM filter than bounced your email back

I flag the bounce backs and have a system that matches each email bounce back to the appropriate contact in our CRM. This allows us to easily flag the out of date contacts for a follow-up phone call.

What not to do
I don't appreciate impersonal tactics. I dislike it when people use a service that sends me an email that requires me to update my contact info... I got so fed up with PLAXO requests that I finally joined but it really doesn’t give me any value in exchange for my time.

Lead generation ROI depends on data quality

Don't waste precious your lead generation budget on old databases. According to published reports, more than 20% of contact information changes annually. That's a conservative estimate. In some cases, I've seen over 40% of CRM database information changes annually.

For most marketers, I've found, data quality is an afterthought. Who can blame them? It's boring and tedious work. If you’re serious of creating measurable results, you must make sure you have the best marketing list possible.

CRM: The Integration Failure Guarantee

Thanks to Heath Row at Fast Company Now Blog