Marketers are often surprised at the level of
collaboration required to make lead management
effective, but also state it is worth the effort and
time. Of particular importance is the relationship
with sales and the tele-sales group.
Lack of Best Practices and Structure
There is a stunning lack of best practices and
organization around an effective lead management
practice. Since so many marketers have an ad-hoc
set of activities that comprise lead management,
this is not surprising. Once a framework for the
practice is established and the key stakeholders are
identified and involved, best practices can be
identified and optimized and the appropriate
structure can be put into place.
No Business Case
One of the biggest surprises from the focus group
was the lack of understanding of the potential
value of lead management across stakeholder
groups and to the organization as a whole. It’s
almost as if marketing is so busy “doing stuff,”
they don’t have time to create a solid business case
for the value of lead management. This is no
excuse given the dismal follow-up rates on leads
and the resulting monumental loss in time, money
and effort.
The Business Case for a Dedicated Lead
Management Practice.
A best-in-class lead
management practice produces effectiveness,
efficiency and revenue for sales and marketing.
Benefits for sales include a more predictable sales
pipeline, more time on leads that convert,
continuous digital body language intelligence,
higher average deal size and a shorter sales cycle.
Benefits for marketing include predictable
marketing contribution to sales pipeline, businessoriented investment decisions and transformation
of marketing from a cost center to a revenue center.
To develop your lead management practice
business case, follow these steps.
20
Strictly Marketing Magazine July/August 2016
Step 1:
Understand what intentional lead
management looks like (no more ad hoc). Research
your competitors and peers in your space.
Step 2: Define the value in terms of your
organization. You know the results you are getting
today.
Step 3: Provide proof points. Research, research,
research.
Step 4: ID and collaborate with key stakeholders
– especially sales and tele-sales. It’s never too late
to start.
Step 5: Implement & optimize with transparency.
As you reshape your lead management practice,
be transparent on both activities and KPIs.
The Lead Management Framework and the insights
shared in this article provide a foundation for
moving from “doing” to “practicing” and for
realizing ROI from your lead management practice.
Debbie Qaqish is The Queen of Revenue Marketing,™ and
has been helping B2B companies drive revenue growth for
over 35 years. As Principal Partner and Chief Strategy
Officer of The Pedowitz Group, Debbie manages global
client relationships and leads the firm’s thought leadership
initiatives.
Debbie is author of the award
winning book – “Rise of the
Revenue Marketer,”
Chancellor of Revenue
Marketing University, and
host of WRMR Power
TalkRadio for Revenue
Marketing Leaders, which
showcases marketing
executives from companies like
GE and Microsoft sharing
advice on marketing transformation. A PhD candidate,
Debbie also teaches an MBA course at College of William &
Mary on Revenue Marketing. In March 2016 Kapost
named Debbie among the Top 40 Most Inspiring Women in
Marketing. In February 2016 SLMA named Debbie one of
the Top 40 Most Inspiring in Sales Lead Management.
Connect with Debbie via LinkedIn, email:
[email protected] or phone: 770-331-4443.