CSO Insights Blog Posts

"Where Are The Leads? We Gotta Have the Leads."- Glenn Gary Glenn Ross

Increasing revenues was--for the fourth year in a row--the numero uno sales objective reported by 62% of respondents to our 2009 SPO survey. And exactly one-half this number (31%) listed optimizing lead generation among their top three objectives for this year. So what is to be done is clear. Is how to do it equally clear?

Short answer: no.

Tomorrow we are releasing our 2009 Lead Generation Optimization(LGO) report. Summarizing the responses from more than 550 firms, the report offers observations, commentary and recommendations based on the top ten trends. But here's what you'll find on page 13:

Getting leads into the hands of reps is one issue, converting those leads into first calls (on the phone or face-to-face) is another. For the fifth year in a row, conversion rates are declining, which is having a negative impact on the ROI of marketing investments.

There are other key findings suggesting that making the most of your lead gen efforts-and increasing the results-is going to be an uphill slog. Most companies have raised their target revenue for the year, have raised individual quotas, AND two-thirds of firms will have their marketing budgets frozen (i.e., remain the same as last year) or reduced from a year ago.

Doing more with less has been the business imperative for years now but this year seems to be taking this mandate to entirely new level. What to do?

The Lead Generation Optimization report shows that most companies have a problem maintaining accurate customer contact data and an even greater problem doing so for prospect data. Adequately/properly researching accounts is another challenging area and one that is becoming more apparent in the face of changing and increasingly elevated buyer expectations.

At the same time the survey responses indicate on average 35% of leads are generated by marketing's efforts which means 65% come from somewhere else. Heading that list is sales and its own efforts to get something going with existing customers and/or new prospects.

There has been a lot of talk in the past couple years about sales and marketing alignment. Despite the fact that "sales & marketing" are often said in the same breath, survey results show these two functions still are largely not coordinated. Disagreement about the quality and quantity of leads continues and the top recommendation in our report is to stop trying to be all things to all people. Instead: Focus on Being All Things to All Important People.

Who are the "important" people? Contrary to popular opinion, they are not simply anyone "who'll fog a mirror." Instead look for those folks that are most likely to buy (see graphic) and who truly represent good business. When times are tight as they are now, the tendency is to go after "anything that moves." As Rick Cobb outlined in our recent eBook (you can download your own copy for free by clicking here), what' really is needed is just the opposite: focus.

Yes, we all want more leads but what we all need are better leads, with true prospects, really needing what we offer, and able to take action within a defined timeframe. If all but this last criterion is met, then these need to go into a structured lead nurturing program.

It's time to stop talking about sales and marketing alignment and start being aligned; our new report will give you some specific actions to help you get moving.

Learn more about the 2009 Lead Generation Optimization Report by Clicking Here

Sell well.

Barry Trailer

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Abby Patton

Prospects

Thursday July 30, 2009

Really like the concept that all prospects are not created equal.