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September 2006
Lead Generation: Antidote to a Stormy Relationship
By Alka Joshi, Alka Joshi Marketing
I rarely walk out of a client meeting without getting an earful from the Sales and Marketing departments about each other. Like most siblings, Sales and Marketing have a love-hate relationship. If you overheard a conversation between the two, it might go something like this:
Sales: May I talk to you a sec?
Marketing: As soon as I have this corporate identity and branding thing figured out.
Sales: Will you stop drawing those pretty pictures and just give me some leads?
Marketing: What happened to the leads I already gave you?
Sales: You call those leads? They were colder and older than Mount Everest!
Marketing: Hey, it’s not my problem you can’t sell . . . .
On and on it goes. The relationship festers, the players move up or out, and the cycle continues. If the company is lucky, Sales and Marketing enjoy an easy camaraderie, sharing ideas and even taking in a movie now and then. In cases like this, revenues soar. Barring luck, how can you make sure that the Sales and Marketing relationship is productive and profitable?
With two of the most hated words in Marketing: lead generation.
Why does lead generation strike fear in the hearts of Marketing types? Because it's not glamorous. It's not as cool as designing brochures, picking out PMS colors or lunching with the ad agency at the new bistro. It's not as hip as schmoozing with analysts or addressing major conferences.
But it has to be done. And it can be painless. What's more, the reward for Marketing is earning the trust of Sales and getting a big, fat budget to invest in pretty brochures, the right PMS orange, and a dynamic corporate video. I've seen it done; I've helped make it happen.
To make nice with and, more importantly, to be valued by Sales, Marketing must do four things well and do them in the following order:
- Define the term "lead" or "prospect.”
In order for Sales and Marketing to talk to each other, they need to be speaking the same language. In the case of one client, Marketing thought leads meant enterprise companies while Sales actually wanted to talk to small to medium-sized businesses. Naturally, Sales said the leads were no good whereas Marketing thought they had done a terrific job. Develop a common definition or lingua franca so that Sales and Marketing are on the same page.
- Provide warm leads
Don't think just because you allocated a portion of your marketing budget to buying lists that your job is done. The majority of those contacts aren't current, which means Sales will get frustrated with what you provide.
And chances are you only rented the lists for a one-time use, so you don't own the names. Here's what happens: you send your creative files and the list company sends its database to a third-party mailing house. Your response rate is a dismal 2%, and you have no way to follow up with the non-responders to see what happened.
So be creative. (It's what you get paid for, isn't it?) Build your own list! Before you scream and hide under a desk, try this. Ask Sales who their prospects are. What industries are they targeting? What job titles do they need to sell to? How big is their ideal prospect? What does Sales say in their initial pitch? See, now you're talking together. Isn't that nice?
Now think about ways you can create this list. What resources are required? How many warm leads need to be generated to help Sales reach their goal? Prepare a cost analysis of what a rented list versus a proprietary list will cost. The proprietary databases we build for our clients get an average 30 to 40% response rate, as should be the case with most "house lists." So weigh the expected cost-per-lead using both methods for comparison.
Through this process, you may also be able to identify marketing opportunities at several points along the sales pipeline, not just the one that Sales is focused on. For example, you could collect both C-level and manager-level names and devise a marketing campaign for each. After all, most sales pipelines today involve users, influencers and decision makers. Ask Sales questions; listen and give meaningful suggestions. The result will be warmer leads and many more of them.
- Design a contact program for sales
Before you say, "But that's Sales' job!" how about looking at it as a team effort? Did you know their job has gotten 22% harder? That's how much longer sale cycles have expanded in the last several years, especially for high-ticket products and services. In today's media-rich environment, it takes six to 10 points of contact to get anybody's attention.
Surprised? Each of us is inundated by more than 3,500 messages daily on the Internet, TV, billboards, radio, direct mail, company T-shirts—you name it. Just think about the last time an auto-insurance company got you to switch. It probably took five television and online ads, a direct mail piece, a few radio ads and a phone call or two. The fact is that it takes a lot of different kinds of marketing to make just one sale.
Appreciate the fact that selling is hard work. If the salespeople don't sell, your company is toast and you're on the streets. Again. Propose a strategy for communicating with the leads you've generated. Could you provide meaningful information to prospects through a seminar? An industry roundtable? A relevant article? Once you start the dialogue and an action plan, you'll be surprised at the good ideas that come from both Sales and Marketing. Now you're doing what your parents always told you to do: sharing.
- Keep refining your marketing
No one says you have to get it right on the first try. Lead-generation experts who say they can guarantee a certain number of hard sales are not to be trusted. Look, if lead generation and selling were a science, we would use the winning formula every time and succeed. But each company is different; each product is different; each prospect is different; and business environments keep changing.
After the initial program - whether it's a direct mail piece, a seminar or a news release - make sure you evaluate the results and discuss them with Sales. Together, you can refine the program for the next phase and so on. Because you're working as a team, you'll more likely to share ideas that lead to success.
And what about after the deal is closed? Did you know that nurtured prospects buy 100 to 250% more than others? It's easier for Sales to push additional products and services to a current customer than it is to mine a new one. Do you only consider supportive marketing programs when Sales asks for them? Or do you develop a proactive plan that moves prospects and customers successfully through the following 12 months? Marketing is always saying that it knows how to reach the customer. Prove it.
Conclusion
The good news is that when you've earned the trust of the Sales team, you can go off and create the pretty identity systems and focus on branding issues. You've gained a much better understanding of the sales targets, how to talk successfully to them, and what approaches work best. You now know how to help shorten the sales cycle. Everybody wins.
Okay, you can go to lunch now. Mr. Coppola doesn't like to be kept waiting.
©2005 Alka Joshi Marketing. All rights reserved.
About the Author: Although she started her career as a "professional luncher" at McCann-Erickson Advertising, Alka Joshi has designed and executed lead-generation campaigns as well as other marketing programs for high-tech and consumer companies for the past 10 years. Alka Joshi Marketing specializes in a collaborative effort between Sales and Marketing to bring more customers to the table. You can reach us at 650-224-7580 or www.alkajoshimarketing.com.
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