Effective lead management has many moving parts that span multiple departments, including sales and marketing. Plus, no two businesses are exactly the same, so the lead management best practices for a small business might not be identical to those for a large enterprise. Fortunately, LeadMaster has been providing tangible lead management results to businesses of all sizes since 1998. In that time, we’ve learned a great deal about what works effectively and what can get in the way of productive lead management.
Best Lead Management Processes
We’ve put together the following list of practical lead management tips that can help you achieve the type of business growth all your departments can take pride in:
- Harmonize sales and marketing: Let’s face it: There’s no one-size-fits-all term to define exactly what constitutes a qualified lead. Moreover, while your sales department most likely wants more qualified leads, your marketing department probably wants your sales team to quickly call the ones provided. Put it all together, and without a lead management program that harmonizes the efforts of your sales and marketing departments, you could be creating more conflict and losing valuable leads due to a disconnect in motivations.
- Define your buyer: Here’s where the harmony begins. By knowing the audience you’re trying to sell to — for example, B2C, CIO, CEO, Director of Marketing or some other decision maker — you’ll be well on your way to defining who your buyer is and being able to create a profile of what a qualified lead looks like for your company. Don’t forget to include other important pieces of information, such as the particular regions and size of businesses you primarily sell to.
- Vet your leads: Once you’ve determined your leads, examine closely how they interact with the information you put out there for them. If one lead is mostly still reading informational and thought-leadership pieces, a direct sales call to that lead could be detrimental to developing a long-term relationship. If, on the other hand, the lead is looking at your online catalog and requesting samples and quotes, a sales call could be exactly what that lead needs to advance in the sales cycle.
- Nurture your leads: If you’re into statistics, remember that about 25 percent of newly acquired leads are only close to being sales-ready, and another 25 percent will most likely not purchase anything from you. But the number to consider here is the other approximately 50 percent of leads. They’re absolutely ready to be nurtured through initiatives like drip campaigns, which can supply them with more information and help to establish the type of relationship they need when it’s time to make a purchase.
- Collect the right data: What data are you collecting from your leads? What information are your follow-up reports based upon? What determines how you score hot leads? For converting leads into sales, one of the most important things in today’s always on, always connected business world is data. Of course, if you burden your leads with questionnaires and online forms that are too long, you risk losing them. To practice effective lead management, give careful thought to the exact information you need to best determine what makes a good lead, such as a lead’s location, industry or position in a company.
LeadMaster — Helping All Sized Companies Sell More
Ready to grow your business? The staff at LeadMaster is hardworking, friendly and, above all, knowledgeable. Contact us for answers to all your lead management questions. Helping you convert leads into sales is what our business is all about.
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