Contrary to popular belief, reps don’t need more sales leads. They need fewer leads—or more accurately, fewer raw, unfiltered, unqualified leads. Best sales lead management practices continually show that reps need qualified leads that have been carefully vetted, properly and consistently nurtured and appropriately developed, increasing the likelihood of a completed sale. Good sales reps are by nature hunters, eager to close in on highly qualified leads for the kill. Take Steve, for example. Not a senior executive? Budget undefined? Goodbye. Next-year decision? No way. MORE >>

At the occasion of our latest event in December, we joined forces with agency The Reference, to conduct a survey regarding the digital marketing evolutions in my home country, Belgium. The objective: give an overview of the landscape in Belgium in terms of budget, resource allocation, satisfaction, challenges and plans for 2012. We targeted decision [.]. Blog Research digital marketing Belgium mobile websites ROI social media Belgium The Reference MORE >>

As a marketer, your most important job is to generate leads for your business.  But what good are those leads if they’re not managed properly?  These 7 statistics show that if you’re not taking advantage of lead nurturing , you’re losing customers and revenue, and very quickly. Only 25% of leads are legitimate and should go to sales.  50% are qualified but not ready to buy. Source: Gleanster Research). Nearly half of your leads will not be ready for a sales call immediately after their first conversion.  Lead nurturing emails get 4-10 times the response rate compared to standalone email blasts. MORE >>

Just ended a pretty impressive Content Marketing Institute webinar hosted by Joe Chernov , VP of Content Marketing for Eloqua and Rebecca Lieb , Analyst for Altimeter. During the Q&A session, Joe talked about how to sell content marketing to the C-level through some amazing books. Below are some recommendations from Joe (and some that I would recommend as well) for the marketing pro that needs more content marketing budget. The New Rules of Marketing & PR. consider this David Meerman Scott book mandatory reading for all marketers. Get Content Get Customers. Content Rules. Chapman. MORE >>

For many companies, it seems like customers have vanished almost overnight. Business growth has come to a halt. Credit is scarce and cash even scarcer. For anyone in business, times have been tough for the past few years. But for heads of sales, things have been an absolute nightmare. Imagine having to get up every morning, rally your troops, and send them into a battle they can’t possibly win. am sure they must feel like William Wallace from the movie Braveheart , inspiring his troops for what is in reality imminent death. To find business where none seemingly can be found. MORE >>