ViewPoint

JANUARY 10, 2018

Readers circled the advertisers they were interested in and mailed back (or faxed back) the card to the publisher which then provided their advertisers with the appropriate leads. Not surprisingly, the “leads” advertisers would get from the magazines were a mixed bag. I recently wrote a blog called How Much Does a Lead Cost.

Sales Qualified Leads 207

Sales Qualified Leads Cost per Lead Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 207

ViewPoint

AUGUST 16, 2018

Your sales team likes nothing better than getting leads with a high probability of closing soon. So much so that many reps often ignore every lead they don’t consider hot. Long-term leads often prove to be more valuable than those slated for a short-term decision. Here’s an example: Marketing spends $60,000 to generate 80 leads.

Lead Scoring 136

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Leads 136

ViewPoint

AUGUST 20, 2018

Most sales and marketing teams are looking for ways to generate more leads. It's likely a daily discussion for most of us, but have you ever considered that your sales reps need fewer leads—or more accurately, fewer raw, unfiltered, unqualified leads. Marketing is paid, in fact rewarded for, lead quantity and not quality.

Sales Qualified Leads 149

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Leads Lead 149

ViewPoint

JUNE 15, 2017

Some companies have several inside departments to take in, qualify, nurture, and filter sales leads to such a finite extent that few leads go to anyone. If the raw lead count is high but there is a mere trickle going to the salespeople, you have a substantial problem. Their favorite script was: Are you ready to buy yet?

Sales Qualified Leads 168

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Telemarketing 168

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 22, 2016

Is "appointment setting" an effective tactic for lead generation and nurturing? Most companies have experienced lead “traction” issues in their history. The biggest complaint I hear from C-level executives is that they have no idea whether or not leads are being followed up.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads B2B Sales Cold Calling Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 5, 2018

4,319 contacts who downloaded a white paper but may or may not be in targeted companies or have any need or authority to buy (email addresses, many bogus, no company firmographics and no telephone numbers). 117 appointments with people in the right companies but may or may not have any need or authority to buy. What is a Lead?

Sales Qualified Leads 136

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 136

ViewPoint

MAY 16, 2017

When it comes time to exploring how you can increase lead generation ROI, that is, produce better leads more cost effectively, move "technology" to the bottom your to-do list. So start by engineering your processes to focus on lead quality not quantity. That is, by not using a cost-per-lead metric.) More about this.

Sales Leads 202

Sales Leads Process Top of Funnel Lead Scoring 202

ViewPoint

MAY 23, 2018

Lead nurture can triple the return on most marketing campaigns. By nurturing leads until they’re ready to turn over to sales, an organization can eliminate wasted marketing spend and increase sales results. Successful lead generation—inbound and outbound—requires nurturing. The numbers speak for themselves. True Nurture.

Sales Qualified Leads 149

Sales Qualified Leads ROI Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 149

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

AUGUST 9, 2016

Your sales team likes nothing better than getting leads with a high probability of closing soon. So much so that many reps often ignore every lead they don’t consider hot. In reality, long-term leads often prove to be more valuable than those slated for a short-term decision. In many cases hot opportunities are already baked.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Demand 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? In fact, buyers perceive value in interacting with sales at every stage of the buying process—even the early stages.” All leads have warts.

Sales Qualified Leads 127

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking PointClear 127

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 1, 2016

At one point he got so angry that he offered sales management the following choices for spending a $100,000 budget to generate leads. 4,319 contacts who downloaded a white paper but may or may not be in targeted companies or have any need or authority to buy (email addresses, many bogus and no company firmographics and no telephone numbers).

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking PointClear 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. In the last blog in this series we discussed how to keep leads from being ignored and going into a black hole by using something I call the judicial branch.

Lead Nurturing 120

Lead Nurturing Top of Funnel Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

AUGUST 30, 2016

As a business-to-business marketing or sales leader you have numerous options for lead generation tactics and tools. Because a phone conversation efficiently replicates face-to-face sales activities, these one-on-one flowing and probing interactions are the most effective method to validate the quality of a lead. Sales is sales.

Lead Gen 136

Lead Gen Telemarketing Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 136

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. What will make or break its value is how completely sales and marketing teams, together, buy into developing and following it through. Download it here.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

AUGUST 22, 2011

Jay Hidalgo is the President of The Annuitas Group, a firm that specializes in helping B2B companies develop a process-based approach to lead management. To learn more about The Annuitas Group and their proprietary methodology, the Lead Management Framework™ , go to [link]. Obtain Executive Buy-in.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Buy Automation 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

JULY 17, 2012

Knowing the B2B lead generation market like I do, here is what I expected to see : “The inbound lead is better because outbound is dead.” That's not to say that inbound leads are less valuable than outbound leads. I asked this question on Focus.com a few weeks ago and got answers that surprised me.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Work Management Lead Ranking Marketing Management 120

ViewPoint

JANUARY 17, 2012

Are marketing resources or sales reps the right resources to do lead qualification and lead nurturing in the B2B complex sale? But first, let's take a look at some lead generation challenges. Cahners Research has shown that 45 percent of qualified leads will end up buying a solution from someone within a year.

Lead Qualification 120

Lead Qualification Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Leads 120

ViewPoint

JANUARY 17, 2012

Are marketing resources or sales reps the right resources to do lead qualification and lead nurturing in the B2B complex sale? But first, let's take a look at some lead generation challenges. Cahners Research has shown that 45 percent of qualified leads will end up buying a solution from someone within a year.

Lead Qualification 120

Lead Qualification Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Leads 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Lauren’s article is based on her survey of marketing automation users that sought—knowing what they know now—the questions they would ask vendors if they were going back and buying their software all over again. Before continuing, I want to mention that PointClear is a strong advocate of marketing automation solutions.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation PointClear Automation 120

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

OCTOBER 8, 2013

If you are using BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeframe) to define a sales-ready lead, it’s time to STOP! Truth is, many companies buy solutions that have never been budgeted. Watch today''s PowerMinute to learn how to establish a meaningful lead definition that matches today’s buy cycle. By Dan McDade.'

Lead Scoring 120

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Leads Lead 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. In the last blog in this series we discussed lead nurturing , and how an advanced lead generation program that includes nurturing can triple your sales. Set sales straight—it’s a win win.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads PointClear 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 16, 2015

What’s a good lead rate? How much should a lead cost? The lead rate for high quality, enterprise opportunity leads has been roughly flat.) That said, for several years the elephant in the room has been inbound marketing and inbound marketing lead rates. I have seen inbound lead rates reported as high as 11 – 14%.

Lead Scoring 120

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Cost per Lead PointClear 120

ViewPoint

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Is ABM the Holy Grail for lead generation or just another black box solution destined to cost a lot of money, distract marketing and end up getting more bad leads to sales faster than ever before? Is Account-Based Marketing the Holy Grail for lead generation or a black box solution?” Buy more lists! Well, it’s neither.

Account Based Marketing 120

Account Based Marketing Lead Generation Cost per Lead Sales Qualified Leads 120

ViewPoint

JULY 14, 2015

This is the final installment of a three-part series in response to the following question: As we enter the second half of 2015, have companies made the adjustments necessary to utilize lead scoring or is the status quo killing results? Because we care about quality leads. Lead scoring models are: Based on assumptions.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Top of Funnel Leads 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 5, 2015

In the first 2 parts of this series we discussed the role of executives and best practices for planning and preparation when outsourcing your lead generation program. I n the first two weeks of the program you will see disproportionately more unqualified dispositions than qualified dispositions or leads. (In

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation PointClear Lead Qualification 120

ViewPoint

SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

PointClear’s success doing lead generation, lead qualification and lead nurturing for our clients is grounded in proactively reaching out and connecting with prospects via a one-on-one telephone conversation. A live encounter leads to each party gaining better understanding of the other’s position more quickly.

Lead Qualification 120

Lead Qualification Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 2, 2012

Over the past few months I have had the pleasure of interviewing nineteen influential B2B sales and marketing leaders to discuss their views in areas like traditional and new media strategies, current and future trends, B2B lead generation, and sales lead management. Buying cycles are changing.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads 120

ViewPoint

APRIL 28, 2015

The ways sales executives follow up on leads is a little like trying to win games with the Hail Mary. There are three main reasons why sales rep follow-up on leads is relatively ineffective: The leads suck. If you are sending raw, unfiltered and mostly unqualified leads to sales they will never follow-up on them.

Lead Scoring 120

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Sales Leads 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 6, 2015

Is ABM the Holy Grail for lead generation or just another black box solution destined to cost a lot of money, distract marketing and end up getting more bad leads to sales faster than ever before? Here's the thing: Account-Based Marketing is not really about lead generation at all. It’s also more than just lead generation.

Account Based Marketing 120

Account Based Marketing Lead Generation Lead Ranking Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

JULY 20, 2015

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. The leads she was getting maybe weren’t turning into a sale for her, and that was a different problem.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead Marketing Qualified Leads 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Is ABM the Holy Grail for lead generation or just another black box solution destined to cost a lot of money, distract marketing and end up getting more bad leads to sales faster than ever before? 3) Get personal fast because companies don’t buy anything, people do. There are hundreds of thousands of employees at AMEX.

Account Based Marketing 120

Account Based Marketing Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Marketing Automation Services 120

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 14, 2010

Conventional wisdom—that something called a “lead” can and should be had at consistently lower price points where it will still deliver value—is at the root of a host of sales and marketing problems and deserves a closer look. Perfection, of course, is that 100% of MQLs become SALs and 100% of SALs become SQLs.

Cost per Lead 120

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

ViewPoint

APRIL 24, 2012

As much as marketing and sales best practices—not to mention just plain common sense—dictate that cost-per-lead not play a prominent role in managing and measuring B2B lead generation investments, the metric continues to prevail. The problems and costs of a cost-per-lead approach.

Cost per Lead 120

Cost per Lead Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation Cost 120

ViewPoint

AUGUST 18, 2015

Proper alignment is the result of a documented, effective, efficient and measurable process for capturing, engaging, nurturing, managing and converting leads into customers. Increased spending on lead generation. Purchased technology to score and nurture leads. Hired a social media marketer. Hired a social media marketer.

Lead Scoring 120

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Top of Funnel Leads 120