How to Hit Your Sales Number Without Spending More Money
by Mike Wallen, CEO, The Lead Dogs
Like everyone these days, you’re expected to do more with less. I talk to people like you every day whose budgets are being cut or staying the same, yet the lead output requirement continues to grow. Which is why I recommend clients implement a lead development program if they don’t have one.
Our experience has shown that with a lead development program in place, companies are able to hit their numbers, consistently and without extra cost, while increasing campaign ROI by 3 – 5 times.
Lead development versus lead generation
At The Lead Dogs, we often hear from sales and marketing folks wanting price quotes for outbound lead generation call campaigns.
I sometimes refer to these projects as “taking a picture.” About the most you can hope to accomplish is an assessment of the target audience at that specific point in time. The “picture” received is static – it doesn’t take into account the ongoing dialogue between a company and their prospects necessary to develop an opportunity.
But more important, these types of lead generation campaigns don’t consider the 40 - 60% of prospects that raise their hand as interested, but aren’t fully sales-ready.
Once the campaign is complete, these prospects are often left in a database for “sales to deal with.” But since sales is focused on “low hanging fruit,” the leads end up lying fallow and forgotten.
This is why at The Lead Dogs we say, “Let’s make a movie instead.” A movie includes dialogue (conversations), the characters (target audience), and a plot (sales lead development program) – and it continually engages the often forgotten but important longer-term prospects.
Turning longer-term prospects into sales
Like a movie, the sales lead development process has a beginning and an end. It starts when someone raises his hand and expresses interest: response can come from a search engine ad, downloading a white paper, an initial phone conversation, or a visit to your trade show booth.
This initial step includes qualifying the prospect, with qualified leads going directly to the sales channel. The process ends when a sale is made.
But what happens to those leads that expressed interest but weren’t ready for sales? And what about the leads that did make it to sales, but didn’t make a purchase?
A lead development program answers these questions with specific activities. Prospects who aren’t ready to buy, for example, are sent to a lead nurturing program (a major component of lead development) where they are regularly contacted until they are ready to buy. This process can take 3 – 12 months for considered purchases.
Qualified leads sent to the sales channel but didn’t pan out are put back into the system for additional marketing touches. Once they are deemed “ready,” they are sent back to the sales channel. This process can be a few weeks or a few months.
Let’s face it, it’s harder to make a movie than it is to snap a picture. Lead development takes time, commitment, and follow-through. But the results are worth it – especially if you run multiple campaigns throughout the year.
Next issue we’ll focus on what a lead development process looks like for a typical b-to-b company selling products with long sales cycles. Until then, if you’d like more information on how a lead development program can help your business, give The Lead Dogs a call at 800-710-2926 or drop us a line at info@leaddogs.com.