You’ve Got The Leads, Now What?

Congratulations, that last marketing campaign was a huge success. Leads came in via the mail, phone and the web. But, now what? Lead generation is not the end, but just the means to a profitable sale. A defined and disciplined approach to lead qualification and fulfillment is a critical step to ensuring a successful campaign.
Whether through direct mail, trade shows, advertising or any other means, lead-generation initiatives are just the first step in a cycle that can lead to a sale. Once generated, a lead must be carefully managed. Not all leads are prospects. A crucial component of the lead management process is establishing the criteria that qualify a lead as a prospect. This step involves qualifying the lead in terms of interest, timing, purchasing influence and decision making process. This step can effectively be completed by using an inside sales person or an outside telemarketing firm. Carefully scripted questions can provide information that will help you determine if the lead is a prospect or a suspect. This can also help you determine what additional information the contact needs to fulfill his or her request for information, and establishes the basis for the next contact.
Once qualified, the leads should be distributed to the appropriate salesperson for follow-up activities. Typically, firms will assign a ranking to leads which maybe an indicator of the level of interest or quality of the lead. The lead quality directly influences the next step in the process. The sales force should have a clear understanding of its role in the process. An effective lead management program also requires a feedback loop. It is critical that the sales team provide the marketing staff with timely and accurate feedback on its follow-up activity and conversion successes. Ideally, these processes are automated through a customer relationship management (CRM) or sales force automation (SFA) system that feeds into a marketing database. Many of these systems have lead tracking and reporting tools built right into the program. However, paper-based processes can be just as effective.
Regular reports on lead generation, conversion rates and closing rates are essential to the administration of an effective lead management program, and ultimately the overall marketing program. Reports can be produced based on a number of factors, including: geography, salesperson, market segment, lead type and many others. These reports can be helpful indicators of sales and marketing effectiveness.
Reductions in sales and marketing staffs coupled with rising costs and tight budgets have resulted in a demand for more accountability on business development efforts. Investing resources and time in developing and maintaining an effective lead management program pays dividends and improves the return on marketing investment.