B2B Lead Generation Blog

On Lead Qualification: Steps to Convert Inquiries into Viable Sales Leads

A common lead generation practice using B2B inbound marketing includes offering white papers, demos, trial software, or other content assets in exchange for registration information. The problem is that many marketers immediately turn these form registrations (aka web inquiries) over to the sales team as "leads."

If your sales team perceives the majority of "leads" passed to them are no good, they're unlikely to spend time tracking prospects down.

I’ve already written about why lead quality should be emphasized over quantity. But, how do you weed through all those web inquiries to get to those that are truly ready for the sales team to engage so you can nurture the rest?

Here's a lead qualification process that may help you turn your web inquiries into viable sales leads: 

Step 1 - Create a marketing funnel.

The purpose of the marketing funnel is to bring inquiries (aka leads) into one spot and qualify them. The marketing funnel creates sales-ready leads and nurtures the leads that aren’t sales ready. Lead qualification must first classify leads according to their "sales readiness" and business fit; and second, to manage all the incoming leads effectively.

On Lead generation: Insist on lead quality over quantity

Under increased pressure to help drive revenue in this challenging market, many of us are tempted throw as many leads as we can to our sales team.

We can tell ourselves that more leads is better because it lowers the cost-per-lead and gives the sales team more activity. But don’t be one of those lulled by this false sense of security. If you really want to make a difference in your company’s sales, dig deeper. Focus on metrics that go beyond cost-per-lead, and more importantly, focus on quality first then quantity.

Do you know how many of your leads are actually impacting the sales pipeline? I've done numerous lead qualification programs have shown that as little as 5 to 15 percent of all inquiries turn out to be truly sales-ready opportunities. And while there are other influences such as sales training and refining the lead handoff process, lead quality stands out as the single largest factor driving the real ROI of our lead generation programs.  

Moving Marketing Leads to Sales Pipeline best practices data

A key challenge B2B lead generation is driving leads from the marketing funnel to the sales pipeline. MarketingSherpa just published a chart that shows which best practices are marketers NOT using to effectively manage their marketing-to-sales pipeline process. Check it out.

The one that stands to me is the last one, "have a process for handing leads back to marketing" when they are not sales ready. We call that lead reengagement and it's a form of lead nurturing.

Lead reengagement is one of the most powerful ROI tools marketers have available to them. Why? You're getting more out of the money you've already spent by going deeper within the opportunities you already have. It seems like common sense, but the reality is, I know of very few companies that think about it, because they assume it's the salespeople's job.

Related post: Lead reengagement gives you more out of your lead generation investment

What best pratices and processes do you think marketers should be doing to move more marketing generated leads to the sales pipeline?

Inbound lead nurturing presentation slides available

I had a great time with being a professor at the inbound marketing university. Here's my presentation deck on inbound lead nurturing (CV201) via #IMU for those who missed it.
#8 IMU: Inbound Lead Nurturing (CV201)

View more OpenOffice presentations from Hubspot Marketing.

You can check out all the other classes or register at: http://www.inboundmarketing.com/university

Lead Nurturing is Walking the Buying Path with Your Customers

A recent study of B-to-B buyers shows that sales people who become trusted advisors and understand the needs of economic buyers are 69% more likely to come away with a sale! That’s why forming a plan for lead nurturing is such an integral part of your lead generation process.

I wrote an full article that outlines the basic steps to help you get started down the path of lead nurturing success, but here’s a quick synopsis:

1. Walk IN your potential customers’ shoes.This means thinking like your customer and considering the questions they will have for you and your company.Consider the questions that customers have in mind before they make a buying decision:

    * How will this product/service help my company?
    * We’re doing okay, why do we need it?
    * Is there another company out there that is better?
    * Will their solution really work? Can they prove it?
    * Is the company credible?
    * Can we afford it? 

Help prospects find the answers to these questions, and you’ll remind them of the benefits of working with you. You’re creating value by giving them useful information in digestible, bite sized chunks.

2. Plan your path. Figure out which methods of answering these questions work best for your company. They’ll have to be timely and relevant.

3. Now, walk the path WITH your customer. Think of yourself as a tour guide. You’ll need to keep your prospect company along the way, all the while building trust through an honest relationship. Most economic buyers subscribe to the notion that how you sell me indicates how you will serve me.

4. Keep marching. Make sure you put on some comfy shoes, because complex sales require a long-term commitment and lots of walking. Companies that make plans with this fact in mind are tremendously more successful than companies who are set on taking shortcuts.

Read the full article "Lead Nurturing is Walking the Buying Path with Your Customers"

Free inbound marketing training program to help you get ahead

If you are a marketing professional looking to gain new skills in this competitive workforce or a marketer between jobs check out the Inbound Marketing University’s marketing retraining program. All classes will be taught by industry experts with years of hands-on experience in the topics they will be discussing.

I will discuss Inbound Lead Nurturing. This class will be based on my 14 years of experience creating and executing lead nurturing programs for InTouch. Other classes focus on effective blogging, SEO tactics, uses for Facebook and LinkedIn, and landing page best practices.

You can check out all the classes at: http://www.inboundmarketing.com/university

Other professors leading courses include: Chris Brogan from New Marketing Labs, Mack Collier and Ann Handley both from MarketingProfs, Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz, Eric Groves  from Constant Contact, Jeanne Hopkins  from MarketingExperiments, Lee Odden  from Top Rank Online Marketing, David Meerman Scott, author of New Rules of Marketing & PR and Marshall Sponder from Monster.com.

B2B Lead Generation Roundtable Group on LinkedIn

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called 5 steps for using LinkedIn as a lead generation tool and step number five was ‘create your own LinkedIn group and share relevant content.’

Well, last Thursday I launched the B2B Lead Gen Roundtable Group on LinkedIn. I wanted to create a group to discuss and share ideas that focus on the many aspects of B2B lead generation such as lead nurturing, lead management, teleprospecting and more.
 
I’m jazzed at how fast the group is growing and even more excited about the discussions that are already taking place.

My first question to the group was if lead distribution should be fair or optimized? What do you do? Do you invest your hard won leads on your top performers or do you try to help your weaker sales people? In this economy should we take a Darwinian view of lead generation and focus on helping the strong sales people get stronger?

What’s your take on lead distribution? I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Join the B2B Lead Gen Roundtable group and let me know your thoughts.

Using Kaizen to improve your lead generation results in 90 days or less

B2B companies need a systematic approach to lead generation, yet, I’m constantly surprised to find that most do not have one. Michael Webb, President of Sales Performance Consultants, and I met a few years back when I began writing my book and he was working on his.

Over time, we came to realize that our approaches to designing and implementing lead generation process were complimentary. Michael uses the Kaizen approach, which is a method of driving improvements based on evidence and data, and for establishing a system that continuously improves results.

I was recently interviewed by Michael for an article: “Using Kaizen to Improve Your Lead Generation Results in 90 Days or Less.” In the article, Michael and I look at the problems with lead generation and share research conducted that addresses these challenges along with the following topics:

• Collaboration: lead generation and sales Kaizen
• Creating information offers to generate leads
• Developing content for lead generation campaigns
• How to organize a fast attack on lead generation problems
• Five steps to lead generation success

Read Using Kaizen to Improve Your Lead Generation Results in 90 Days or Less

5 steps for using LinkedIn as lead generation tool

Like many of you, I’m using LinkedIn to connect with work friends and colleagues. But I’ve been intrigued by how LinkedIn has quietly developed into a useful lead generation tool for marketers and sales people to build relationships with potential customers.

I’ve discovered that it’s a pretty simple process if you’re willing to invest the time to freely share your expertise and thought leadership with others.

Here are 5 ways you can generate leads via LinkedIn:

Step #1 - Create a polished and personally branded profile on LinkedIn. Start connecting to your current and past contacts - focus on connecting with contacts where trust already exists.

Step #2 - Join LinkedIn groups where your clients/customers gather and participate.

Step #3 - Post relevant content on groups. Start building your credibility in the group by sharing relevant content. This can include things like relevant blog posts, links to articles you have written, articles that quote you and event notices for webinars etc. Be sensitive to the dynamics of your group and don’t dominate the conversation!

Step #4 - Answer questions posted on LinkedIn. Answer questions that are relevant to your expertise or something you're passionate about.  Group members often post questions on LinkedIn. Answer them and demonstrate your expertise and add value to the conversation. You can also visit LinkedIn Answers.  

Step #5 - Create your own LinkedIn group and share relevant content. Starting your own group gives you control over its content and reach. You can choose to open the group only to people you know or if appropriate, and you have the time, you can open it up to a larger audience. The goal is to engage your audience and leverage your thought leadership to make a difference with members of your group.

Here are a few other resources that have helpful tips on using LinkedIn for lead generation.

Ford Harding’s blog: Leads from LinkedIn

Hubspot blog: LinkedIn's Little Secret: It's a Great Lead-Gen Tool

What have your experiences been with LinkedIn for lead generation? Which LinkedIn Groups do you find the most useful as a B2B Sales person or Marketer and why?

Seven tips for improving cold calling for lead generation

In spite of the fact that in the past pushy salespeople and poorly trained marketers have tarnished the image of the phone, I still believe that reaching out via phone is a very effective lead generation tool.

Studies by leading marketing research firms like MarketingSherpa show that 92% of B2B buyers are open to cold calls if the sales person is relevant. However, to ensure success, cold-calling needs to be part of a holistic lead generation strategy.

How to Get Started:
To truly use phone calls as an effective lead generation strategy, I recommend you create a specialized sales development team within the sales or marketing group or hire a firm that specializes in teleprospecting. Make certain that your cold-calling is aligned with other ongoing marketing and reputation-building activities.Teleprospectors must be smart, articulate, engaging and organized. Their training should focus on making them a consistently productive and sustainable extension of the selling effort.

The phone is the human touch of your lead nurturing program and thus every opportunity including cold calling to a potential customer should be treated with great respect. Each time you pick up the phone, whether it be the first call or subsequent calls, it’s important to create value by giving your prospects useful information in digestible, bite-size chunks.

Steps for Improving “Teleprospecting” Performance:

Step 1: Sustain the calling – be in it for the long haul. Teleprospecting works best if it’s long term and consistent. Don’t pressure your prospects to make a decision on the first call. Take your time and follow-up with more information. Listen to what they’re asking and if you don’t know the answer, let them know that and follow up again with them to provide them the answer

Step 2: Make every call count - Teleprospectors should never terminate a call upon hearing the targeted individual is not available. Imagine taking time to be helpful to the assistant or updating and verifying your database by working to share information for this source. Always ask if there is an alternative decision maker available as well.

Step 3: Throw away the scripts: Telemarketers use scripts. Teleprospectors use call guides. Scripts leave little room for conversation. Call guides are strong outlines to perpetuate conversation with areas to be discussed and questions to be asked. They must be built with flexibility and assume variable outcomes while still staying on message and promoting key relevancies to the customer.