"Let's say you have a B2B sales force with an
established, mature lead gen process. What are best practices to increase the %
of leads that get qualified into real cycles?
Meaning - everything else being equal your rep is going to
get some number of leads each week from people who downloaded a white paper or
listened to a webinar...etc. - expressed interest and filled out a form.
What
are the top 3 - 5 best practices for that rep to engage that lead to drive a
higher % conversion to an engagement?"
Vinay: Aligning to the cliched push & pull
mechanisms of sales & marketing cycles - the term 'interested' has 2
independent meanings.
Case 1: Individuals who are in your lead list due to
downloading a whitepaper/attending a webinar are mere 'cold suspects' and need
qualification. The basic criterion/checks are Need-capability alignment check,
Timeline sanity check, Decision making capability check and budget availability
check. These details need to be elicited and matched against bench marked
existing threshold norms before they enter the sales cycle as 'prospects'
Case 2: Individuals who are in your lead list due to voluntary expression of interest through an email or by filling out an online form are 'warm suspects', they have put a proverbial tick in your need-capability alignment check box and have done some of your team's work for you. The other 3 questions however, do remain and as in the previous case need answering and matching before qualifying as 'prospects'
Assuming that we know where each lead list entry stands; before writing to/calling any individual in your list - the rep needs to perform a few mandatory research steps, using 'the question theory' (the 6 simple questions - what, who, how, when, where and why). Here are some best practices that I propagate...
1) Personal agenda: what is the current personal agenda of the individual - remember all of us have one... did that chap download your whitepaper or attend your webinar because he is currently pursuing his PhD or speaking at an forthcoming conference and needed some well researched 'free' material? or did she/he approach your company to
a) replace/warn an incumbent
b) check out the new innovation that your company has 'marketed'
or
c) ratify a recommendation that he has received from an associate/colleague/friend
(most of the above can be found out without having to speak to the individual)
2) Company agenda: Would that company need anything within my offering set? who are their current vendors - do we fall into the same bracket? what is their procurement process? and most importantly - a clear answer for 'why' - why will they select us?
Assuming your rep spends an hour or two in following the steps above and getting answers to the above questions - the email that is sent/call that is made will ensure a very high degree of conversion from cold/warm suspect to a prospect, kicking off the sales cycle.
Case 2: Individuals who are in your lead list due to voluntary expression of interest through an email or by filling out an online form are 'warm suspects', they have put a proverbial tick in your need-capability alignment check box and have done some of your team's work for you. The other 3 questions however, do remain and as in the previous case need answering and matching before qualifying as 'prospects'
Assuming that we know where each lead list entry stands; before writing to/calling any individual in your list - the rep needs to perform a few mandatory research steps, using 'the question theory' (the 6 simple questions - what, who, how, when, where and why). Here are some best practices that I propagate...
1) Personal agenda: what is the current personal agenda of the individual - remember all of us have one... did that chap download your whitepaper or attend your webinar because he is currently pursuing his PhD or speaking at an forthcoming conference and needed some well researched 'free' material? or did she/he approach your company to
a) replace/warn an incumbent
b) check out the new innovation that your company has 'marketed'
or
c) ratify a recommendation that he has received from an associate/colleague/friend
(most of the above can be found out without having to speak to the individual)
2) Company agenda: Would that company need anything within my offering set? who are their current vendors - do we fall into the same bracket? what is their procurement process? and most importantly - a clear answer for 'why' - why will they select us?
Assuming your rep spends an hour or two in following the steps above and getting answers to the above questions - the email that is sent/call that is made will ensure a very high degree of conversion from cold/warm suspect to a prospect, kicking off the sales cycle.
