ViewPoint

MARCH 3, 2016

This is Part Two of a two-part blog (read part 1 here) about how to improve accuracy in lead/revenue projections in organizations with a complex sales process: To recap part one, simple lead generation calculators miss these four things: They don’t take critical metrics (like last year’s revenue) into account.

Lead Ranking 180

Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads ROI Lead Scoring 180

ViewPoint

JULY 24, 2017

A competitor in the teleprospecting business recently published a list of B2B companies based on how easy or hard they were to work from a lead-generation standpoint. At the bottom of the list were what they called “uncloseables,” meaning these were companies that this competitor was not able to generated leads from.

Sales Qualified Leads 149

Sales Qualified Leads PointClear Lead Qualification High Quality Lead 149

ViewPoint

MARCH 19, 2018

The director of marketing, 20 years into her career, was confronted with a bewildering cornucopia of reports, making her heretofore creative life difficult. She needs a bigger picture of the marketing return on investment, which is only available by looking deeply into the digital analytics.

Marketing Management 197

Marketing Management Analytics Budget Programs Marketing Automation Services 197

ViewPoint

MAY 13, 2016

How to define a lead and gain agreement is the first of 7 Truths about Sales and Marketing that CEOs need to know. This post is part of a series about the CEO’s role in eliminating wasted marketing spend and increasing sales results. All because the CEO did not insist on a common definition of a lead.

Allocation 174

Allocation PointClear SIC Ideal Customer Profiles 174

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 3, 2017

Standard B2B lead-generation programs produce an average 5% lead rate while advanced lead-generation programs (which include lead nurturing) produce an average 15% lead rate—three times higher. That is why you frequently hear sales say: “the leads suck.”. In it I state: “How much should a lead cost?

Top of Funnel 168

Top of Funnel B2B Sales Sales Leads Sales Qualified Leads 168

ViewPoint

MAY 10, 2016

Understanding the CEO’s role in eliminating wasted marketing spend and increasing sales results—the first of a 9 part blog series. Whether you are the CEO, or aspire to be, there’s some chance that in your opinion marketing and/or the sales organizations in your company are far from operating efficiently or effectively.

Sales Qualified Leads 212

Sales Qualified Leads Cost per Lead Lead Ranking Paid Search Agency 212

ViewPoint

NOVEMBER 8, 2016

I've written many blog posts on the fact that cold calling isn't dead. there are four primary differences between quality outbound touches and old-fashioned cold calling or “interruption marketing.”. Second, gold calling requires leads to go through a quality control process that ensures each lead passed to the field is solid gold.

Cold Calling 149

Cold Calling Sales Qualified Leads ROMI High Quality Lead 149

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Should marketing and sales agree on the definition of a lead? According to James Obermayer ( Sales Lead Management Association ), the fact that there is no agreement between marketing and sales on lead definition results in these problems: Salespeople say that they are not getting enough qualified leads.

Account Based Marketing 120

Account Based Marketing B2B Sales ABM Sales Qualified Leads 120

ViewPoint

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

James Obermayer, founder of the Sales Lead Management Association , recently spoke with SLMA Radio program host Paul Roberts on how lack of a sales lead management process hampers company growth. PR: If a company has not defined how inquiries will be handled and addressed, whatever you're spending on marketing is kind of a waste.

Lead Management 149

Lead Management Sales Leads Marketing Management Sales Qualified Leads 149

ViewPoint

JANUARY 27, 2017

During the last week of December I asked a panel of experts for feedback on our Leads to Revenue Calculator. The above graphic is a sample from our Lead to Revenue Calculator. It’s about honestly and objectively understanding your best way to go to market, determining who has what role, then executing together.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 27, 2016

If you leave laws and a judicial system out of marketing and sales departments, you have a recipe for disaster. Laws include important elements such as an agreed upon lead definition, hand-off processes, metrics, and reporting. The answer from marketing was a resounding chorus of “Yes!” How can you fix this?

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads High Quality Lead Marketing Automation Services Act-On 120

ViewPoint

JANUARY 26, 2018

Some people ask if voicemail and email should be part of the sales lead generation cadence. Many of the leads we generate for clients are the result of a call back or email reply. In fact, some years ago a client closed a $1 billion deal when the prospect called us back after the 42nd touch and became a lead.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Work Management Marketing Management Terms and Conditions 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 30, 2015

The status quo—that marketing management doesn’t understand the definition of a qualified lead—is nothing new. Salespeople consistently say that they do not get enough qualified leads. Qualified leads, according to sales, are based on criteria they understand but marketing is in the dark about.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Telemarketing Trade Show High Quality Lead 120

ViewPoint

APRIL 14, 2017

Last week I published a blog that provided five ways to avoid getting burned by outsourced B2B sales lead generation, qualification and nurturing. You can read the blog here. In that blog, I wrote: “When the pipeline is weak, desperation and fear take over. The need for sales pressures the CMO to deliver leads fast.

Lead Generation 176

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Sales Leads Generation 176

ViewPoint

AUGUST 6, 2018

In-house tele-prospecting costs more than outsourcing and by outsourcing you can find superior services (however, you must be careful because there is a lot of mediocrity in the lead generation space). Inefficient / ineffective nurturing : Nurturing can triple the return on every marketing investment (see this blog for more).

Marketing Management 136

Marketing Management Sales Qualified Leads Cost Lead Scoring 136

ViewPoint

APRIL 6, 2017

Based on my experience over the past almost 30-years it seems that everyone has been burned by outsourced lead generation. The main reason for these failures is that there is a LOT of mediocrity in the lead generation industry, which is why some say outbound is supposedly “dead.” There is no strategy in their market approach.

Lead Generation 192

Lead Generation B2B Sales Sales Qualified Leads Sales Leads 192

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

What is a lead? While all of these scenarios have potential, none could be called a lead. Sales won’t spend the time it takes to cull through 100 so-called leads for 3 to 4 good ones. Which means those “leads” land in a black hole, and the money spent to generate them is wasted. Is this a person with authority to buy?

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Forecasting PointClear Enterprise Management 120

ViewPoint

JANUARY 22, 2018

Can companies reach the holy grail of marketing—the perfect lead? Well, what is a perfect lead? What is wrong with these formulaic approaches to lead qualification? This blog , by Frederik Jonsson, is interesting as well as entertaining. I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect lead.

Sales Qualified Leads 127

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking PointClear 127

ViewPoint

JUNE 21, 2018

Accurate lead/revenue projections are a powerful tool that all B2B organizations need to manage sales and marketing. Problem is, most lead to revenue calculators out there are overly simplistic. And an excellent tool provides you with insight into the value of inbound vs. outbound leads. Guess what.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads PointClear Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

NOVEMBER 29, 2016

This cartoon was sent to me in response to a blog I wrote a couple of weeks ago. I just love the simplicity of it; not to mention that it absolutely captures what is wrong with marketing in many if not most companies today. Just 42% of marketing qualified leads are accepted and worked by sales. Sales is mad.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Cost per Lead 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 20, 2016

We generate, qualify and nurture leads using Account-Based Marketing processes. Simply put, the root cause of the problem in 2015 was that reps were forced to find their own leads—or had poor-quality “leads” dumped on them—most of which they ignored. See this blog for specifics. Need proof? Let’s talk!

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Wikipedia Sales Qualified Leads Account Based Marketing 120

ViewPoint

APRIL 7, 2015

“Cost of sales is determined by a lot of things,” Jake said, “But lead management isn’t one of them.” First, I got Jake to agree that sales lead follow-up was low in his direct sales force, and that if follow-up increased, so would the closing ratio. Jake finally admitted: Sales lead follow-up will yield greater sales.

Lead Management 120

Lead Management Sales Qualified Leads Sales Leads Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 20, 2017

This is the second of a 2-part series that borrows Miller Lite’s super successful Tastes Great, Less Filling campaign theme to make a point about sales lead generation. We’ve done the analysis that shows that PointClear’s outsourced lead generation approach generates 92.35% more revenue. How many do yours make?).

Sales Qualified Leads 149

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation Sales Leads Lead Scoring 149

ViewPoint

AUGUST 28, 2012

This is the second in a series of four blogs about B2B sales lead management, marketing and sales metrics, and proverbs. Something else not well understood in marketing and sales circles is the importance of certain metrics. In the last blog we talked about lead rates.

Lead Management 120

Lead Management Sales Qualified Leads B2B Sales Sales Leads 120

ViewPoint

JULY 20, 2015

I was the marketing manager of a medical device company and we were near the end of the day’s sales meeting. As I closed my part of the program by projecting an ROI (number of raw inquiries, qualified leads, and projected sales) from our new lead generation program, I innocently asked if there were any questions.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead Marketing Qualified Leads 120

ViewPoint

MAY 20, 2016

Make marketing accountable for sourcing revenue is the third of 7 Truths about Sales and Marketing that CEOs need to know. This post is part of a series about the CEO’s role in eliminating wasted marketing spend and increasing sales results. Measuring marketing’s contribution to revenue. Tier 3: SMB/Channel Accounts.

Enterprise Management 159

Enterprise Management SMB Sales Qualified Leads Allocation 159

ViewPoint

SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

I have written articles and blogs against BANT (as a lead qualifying criterion) for years. A couple of months ago I read a blog by Ardath Albee entitled “BANT is Bunk, BS and Irrelevant”. I summarized Ardath’s thoughts, and mine, in a blog published on July 11, 2013. Think: lead nurturing. BANT isn’t BUNK.

Opinions 120

Opinions Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 120

ViewPoint

JULY 7, 2015

Marketing Automation makes it easier than ever to deliver more poor-quality leads to sales. A key to this trend is lead scoring. According to SiriusDecisions’ Research Brief 1 , the problem with lead scoring at many organizations is as follows: Lead scoring models are based on assumptions or inadequate sales input.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Ideal Customer Profiles Sales Qualified Leads 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 7, 2016

Nurture leads until they’re ready to turn over to sales is the sixth of 7 Truths about Sales and Marketing that CEOs need to know. This post is part of a series about the CEO’s role in eliminating wasted marketing spend and increasing sales results. Many sales reps lack insights on the best way to follow up on a lead.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads PointClear 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 10, 2016

The biggest disconnect between marketing and sales is the hand-off of marketing qualified leads (MQL’s) to sales and the acceptance of those leads (SAL’s) by sales. That’s more than 100 percent higher performance for companies that have the rigor of sales acceptance in their lead management process.

Marketing Qualified Leads 120

Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel 120

ViewPoint

APRIL 17, 2014

In January I wrote the blog: How to Diagnose if Inbounditis is Killing Your Sales Pipeline , which was published by DemandGen Report. In the article I assert: "A healthy, driven inbound marketing department is great, but over-reliance on inbound marketing (what I call ''inbounditis'') negatively affects the revenue backbone of any company.

Inbound Marketing 120

Inbound Marketing Top of Funnel High Quality Lead Sales Qualified Leads 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 18, 2013

James Obermayer, Executive Director and CEO of the Sales Lead Management Association and President of Sales Leakage Consulting is a regular guest blogger with ViewPoint. All real salespeople love sales leads and don’t ever believe anyone who tells you differently. The argument comes when salespeople define a lead.

Sales Leads 120

Sales Leads Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 10, 2016

Understanding the CEO’s role in eliminating wasted marketing spend and increasing sales results—the final of a multi-part blog series. Many challenges facing Sales and Marketing have been around since the beginning of time. Define a lead. Are these truly leads? A summary: 1. Not really.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Planning Peer-to-peer Work Management 120

ViewPoint

JULY 16, 2013

Top performing B2B sales organizations rarely employ just one lead generation tactic. According to recent research, B2B companies are using multiple lead generation tactics including, email marketing, search engine optimization, teleprospecting, inbound marketing, direct mail and trade shows. Build it and they will come.”

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads High Quality Lead Budget Programs 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 9, 2012

Twice over the past two years I blogged about the dangers of using cost per lead as a metric to measure marketing. As a foundation, I published three blogs in 2012 in which I outlined three critical elements that impact B2B lead generation costs in the complex sale: 1. But, let’s look under the hood.

Cost per Lead 120

Cost per Lead Sales Qualified Leads Cost Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 2, 2016

Nurture leads until they’re ready to turn over to sales is the sixth of 7 Truths about Sales and Marketing that CEOs need to know. This post is part of a series about the CEO’s role in eliminating wasted marketing spend and increasing sales results. These are fully qualified prospects who are not immediately interested.

Lead Nurturing 120

Lead Nurturing Top of Funnel Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

This is the fourth (and last) in a series of four blogs about sales leads, marketing and sales metrics, and proverbs. Why it is important to nurture qualified companies that do not represent immediate opportunity—a step missed by many if not most companies leading to wasted marketing spend.

Sales Leads 120

Sales Leads Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead 120