Part
II: Managing the Lead Generation Funnel
Fact: The integration of telephone sales into the lead generation
mix can increase response rates from 2 to 15% over direct marketing
alone. But how do you equip your sales development group to perform
like a team of Michael Jordans and guarantee these results?
When Sales Development (SD) teams fail to produce results it is
usually for one of these reasons:
- They fail to build a good list and profile targeted companies
BEFORE contacting them.
- They use a generic, untailored script that doesn't engage the
target.
- They lack a definition of a qualified lead and thus send poorly
qualified leads to sales.
In this article, we'll walk you through the "best practice"
process used by many large and small businesses today. Successful
companies embrace this process with discipline and determination.
One company improved the number of qualified leads by more than
30% each month by invoking this process. More than $2M could be
directly attributed to leads that were generated in the first 3
months.
Large and small businesses are benefiting today by using a disciplined
process to build lists of targeted suspects and then nurture them
before handing them over to sales. Most successful B2B sales processes
begin with a Sales Development Rep (SDR) reaching out (i.e. proactive
calling) to suspects and then using a consultative sales approach
to understand the suspect's pain and qualify them one by one.
Step 1: List Selection
All SD activities need to start with a good list of likely suspects.
Unfortunately, most subscription, event, and web lists are usually
out of date due to the recent high turnover of executives. Successful
SD teams invest in building their own in-house list first using
these rules of thumb:
- Start with the end in mind. At the end of the year, what companies
do you want to list as customers? For early stage startups, it
is critical to capture name-brand customers first who will be
willing to give you a credible reference. For more established
businesses, it may be more important to gain deeper penetration
in existing accounts. In that case, build a list of other divisions/departments
within your customer base.
- Use executives' rolodexes to quickly make contact with target
accounts where there is a prior relationship. This is a good way
to gain some market traction quickly. However, don't let this
be your marketing strategy as it will not scale if used alone.
- Less is more. Since internal resources are limited, focus on
marketing efforts and market segments that have something in common.
Do not try to be "all things to all people." If possible,
target 1-3 verticals or functional areas and develop messages
and tools relevant to those audiences.
- Have a central repository for list management. Watch out for
"death by spreadsheets." If you use multiple spreadsheets
for various lists/programs, it will be a difficult, manual process
to analyze the results of your efforts. Investing in a good Sales
Forece Automation (SFA) system is key to success. Plan for this
investment now.
Step 2: Profiling
 Just
having a list of names is not sufficient to achieve success with
any marketing or sales outreach programs. Profiling an account is
the process used to investigate and capture key information about
that account so as to make your conversation with them more relevant.
- Research the target industry - What are the top competitive
challenges facing companies in this industry?
- Navigate to key decision makers and influencers.
- Discover their pain points and current initiatives.
- Understand their organization chart: divisions, partners, locations.
- Gain insight into their current vendors.
Bottom line: The more you know about the account, the better your
chances in establishing credibility quickly and getting your suspect's
attention.
Step 3: The VITO Approach
VITO stands for "very important top officer." Selling
to VITO, a top-selling book by Anthony Parinello, details this sales
methodology. Whether your intended contact is the CEO, line of business
manager, or executive assistant, you want to have the most relevant,
meaningful conversation you can with that person. That means:
- Find out who they are and how to pronounce their name.
- Treat them with respect by acknowledging their time constraints.
- Have a clear objective for every call you make, whether to gain
approval for a 10 minute conversation, educate the prospect on
the benefits of your solution, or close on a face-to-face meeting
or demo.
- Develop a very specific call guide and/or email for the intended
target.
- Use this approach to understand their pain points BEFORE you
begin the sales pitch.
Step 4: Qualified Opportunities
Prior to making any calls, work with the recipient of qualified
leads (inside, field or channel sales) to clearly define the attributes
of a qualified sales opportunity. In general, the definitions below
provide a good starting point for that discussion.
- "A" Suspect
- Pain is a fit, project is identified (i.e. they have a list
of requirements), timeframe may be sooner than 3-6 months, evaluation
timeline is discussed, budget is identified, and a rough amount
is indicated.
- "B" Suspect
- Pain is a fit, project is identified, timeframe is between 6-9
months, budget is identified, but the amount is not indicated.
- "C" Suspect
- Have expressed interest, pain is vaguely identified, no project
plan in place, timeframe is unknown or greater than 9-12 months,
budget is not identified.
Pass "A" and "B" leads directly to sales for
continued follow-up. "C" suspects and those who have only
a minimal interest at present but may have interest in the future
should be "nurtured" through additional marketing and
sales development activities (e.g. continue to invite them to future
webinars).
Step 5: Tips on Targeting Suspects
The primary purpose of the SD role is to quickly qualify the suspect
for their need/pain, authority, and budget. A good rule of thumb
is, for every 10 appointments scheduled, 1 will turn into a customer,
2 will immediately say "no" and 7 will want to "think
it over."
As Michael Johnson, president and CEO of Michael Johnson Sales
Solutions, a sales and training consulting services company, notes:
Don't waste time on suspects who want to "think it over."
They are "no's".
Putting it all together
What ever process you use, implement it consistently. Teams of
Michael Jordans are confident because they know what is expected
of them, and they know how to perform each step in the sales development
process.
- Find suspects: They invest the time to build and nurture a list
of targeted suspects.
- Profile them: They research each company and individual on the
list prior to making their first call.
- Engage them: They use this research to engage in a meaningful
and relevant conversation with the suspect.
- Qualify them: They are quick to qualify the suspect against
Sales-approved criteria.l
- Sell them or abandon them: And, they confidently pass qualified
suspects to sales, as well as abandon unqualified suspects so
as to not waste their time.
Having a clear profile and qualification process is a requirement
for success. But successful SD teams also share some common behaviors,
motivators, and performance requirements. In Part 3, we'll share
some interesting and insightful tips and tricks leading companies
are using for hiring, training and motivating high-performing SD
teams.
Mary Gospe (maryg@kickstartall.com)
is one of the founding members of the KickStart Alliance. The KickStart
Alliance (www.kickstartall.com)
is a team of senior marketing and sales leaders who assist startups
and emerging companies develop and execute a variety of marketing
and sales goals and objectives.
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