I just saw this statement from Marketing Sherpa regarding their B2B Summit, and I felt compelled to point it out.
…Jackie Kiley of Sybase advised everyone to *never* put suspects, inquiries, or unqualified leads into the salesforce.com system (or whatever salesforce.com wanna-be you’re using.)Fact is, the minute names hit SalesForce they hit the laps of your sales reps who then are judged on performance from then on. If you put anything in the system that a rep probably can’t close, then they look bad, they waste invaluable time, and soon they begin to distrust *all* the leads you give them.
Once sales doesn’t trust your leads, you’re completely sunk. Time to look for a new job.
Let that settle in for a second.
If Marketing floods Sales with a list of 100 Names, how can we be expected to find the estimated 20% of those names who are actual “Sales Ready” prospects.
Marketers – A couple of items in the above statement that I would point out and Translate:
1. *Never* put suspects, inquiries, or unqualified leads into the salesforce.com system - TRANSLATION- If they just filled out a registration form for a general whitepaper…they probably aren’t yet a lead. Lead Qual, anyone?
2. If you put anything in the system that a rep probably can’t close, then they look bad, they waste invaluable time – TRANSLATION – Nurture them in the Marketing Pipeline, and only pass those who show buying signals to your sales team. Sacrifice Quantity for Quality.
3. …Your sales reps who then are judged on performance – TRANSLATION – Quota carrying sales people have to close deals today….You should consider the following when determining what constitutes a “Lead” (Thanks to Jame Ervin for the definition):
- Is this person someone who wants to buy something? – If Yes, proceed
- Does this person have approval to buy something? – If Yes, Proceed
- Will they will buy your product, or one like yours soon (and let me note that “Soon” differs from industry to industry)? If Yes – Congratulations…You’re the proud owner of a “Lead” that you should pass over to your sales team.
