Sales leads are too important for just salespeople

Every salesperson loves leads. And marketing people spend lots of effort providing them. But too often, there's an artificial demarcation between the role of sales and that of marketing. This is especially true in B2B marketing and also in my favorite dysfunctional industry: automakers and dealers.

Consider the tradeshow. Many companies spend thousands of marketing dollars to exhibit at important industry events. But after the show concludes, marketing simply ties a pretty ribbon around the business cards they received from prospects and tosses the leads over their shoulder to the sales manager.

In the auto industry, dealers who obtain consumer email addresses hoard them as "our property" never doing anything with the valuable names. Marketers at the automaker can't use the names and addresses. Yet people who WANT to receive information about things like new model rollouts cannot. Ugh.

Of course it's the salespeople's job to follow-up on the leads. But you might consider how you can integrate marketing with sales by, say, sending each of your tradeshow visitors an appropriate thank you offer such as a free trial of your service or a complimentary download. Maybe add the sales lead to your email newsletter list.

Break down those walls between sales and marketing and your business will improve.

Comments

[Brad Shorr]

My background is industrial packaging. Distributor sales reps always considered trade shows a joke because manufacturer leads would show up anywhere from a month to six months (no kidding) after the show. Reps were afraid to call the leads because so much time had elapsed: "Hello, sir. I'm calling with more information on that $100K packaging system you asked about 14 weeks ago..." The problem is, big companies get so tangled up in their policies about territories, sales credit, split commissions, etc., they forget the customer wants it NOW.

[chan donahower]

Blog (URL entry error) #2 re.: ChanProton@yahoo.com

One way I've found to get Sales Engineers and Marketing to work together (for Cap'tl.-Gd's.Mkt.)is to create specific "intra-communicated" protocols based on follow-up parameters:
1. Size of potential targeted market (product-by-product)per critical time frame
2. Potential for component,(sub)assembliy,parts and ancillary hardware/supplies marketing levels as OPPORTUNITY to educate (and, therefore sell)for future conditions
3. Personal contact that RECOGNIZES supplier needs to meet a specific problem-solving situation that might not address IMMEDIATE sales opportunities, but places your contact to be an effective future problem solver for that specific client
4. Opportunity to update relevant, "improved" product-line characteristics for PREVENTING FUTURE problems that your client will recognize as critical (for saving time/money/costly errors and "leg-ups.")
5. Consistent visibility and "conditioning" for client to think of YOU as The Source for future issues....
All this(intra-Company)communication (in abbreviated form, as appropriate) between Marketing and Sales cannot help but increase understanding, timeliness, empathy and needed coordination that WILL positively affect THE BOTTOM LINE...
Chan Donahower chanproton@yahoo.com

[chan donahower]

Blog (URL entry error) #2 re.: ChanProton@yahoo.com

One way I've found to get Sales Engineers and Marketing to work together (for Cap'tl.-Gd's.Mkt.)is to create specific "intra-communicated" protocols based on follow-up parameters:
1. Size of potential targeted market (product-by-product)per critical time frame
2. Potential for component,(sub)assembliy,parts and ancillary hardware/supplies marketing levels as OPPORTUNITY to educate (and, therefore sell)for future conditions
3. Personal contact that RECOGNIZES supplier needs to meet a specific problem-solving situation that might not address IMMEDIATE sales opportunities, but places your contact to be an effective future problem solver for that specific client
4. Opportunity to update relevant, "improved" product-line characteristics for PREVENTING FUTURE problems that your client will recognize as critical (for saving time/money/costly errors and "leg-ups.")
5. Consistent visibility and "conditioning" for client to think of YOU as The Source for future issues....
All this(intra-Company)communication (in abbreviated form, as appropriate) between Marketing and Sales cannot help but increase understanding, timeliness, empathy and needed coordination that WILL positively affect THE BOTTOM LINE...
Chan Donahower chanproton@yahoo.com

[A Johnson]

Great point about what passes for a lead from a tradeshow. In my experience, simply handing a business card to someone in sales doesn't count as a lead...it may give them a number to follow up with, but if the so called lead(s) aren't qualified it's a waste of time, and eventually they'll stop following up. Every name taken at a tradeshow should have a couple of qualifying questions attached to them (these will differ depending on your business). And some names you throw out simply because people are willing to hand off a business card to get a free stress ball.

[Terry Davis]

Getting the most out of leads at trade shows (or from any other source) first depends on knowing what a lead is.

• A lead is someone who may or may not be in need of what you have to sell, but they don't really know about you and have not made the decision to buy yet. You goal is to convert leads to prospects.

• A prospect is someone who has decided to purchase is interested in what you have to offer and is looking for more information. Your goal is closing prospects.

Closing, obviously, is moving a prospect to customer status.

The last step in the cycle is customer retention and referrals.

So how do you find out if the person is a lead or prospect? Investigate! Ask questions, follow up FOREVER, and do not give up. If someone gives you a card at a trade show, they EXPECT you to follow up. Make it a monthly contact just to touch bases if nothing else.

Even leads that never buy can become great sources of referrals based on a relationship you build over time. Make calls, send postcards, develop a newsletter, or hire a company like Direct Drive Marketing to develop, print, and distribute one for you. You have to sell yourself before you can sell anything else. I am always for sale. :-)