Unbelievably, most are still sending only raw leads to Sales, and they aren’t making an effort to bring those leads to a place where they’re ready for Sales to bite into. 64% of marketers still send all leads that respond to marketing campaigns directly to Sales. And, leads that are ready to buy right now are the only kinds of leads Sales really wants – they have quotas to meet, after all. am certain there are marketers who will read this and say, “Well, I would love to give Sales only qualified leads, but they are starving – they want every lead we get!”. MORE >>

In the b2b world of long sales cycles involving multiple decision-makers and influencers, sales funnel leakage is one of the most challenging issues Sales and Marketing face. It occurs when Marketing Qualified Leads are passed to Sales but do not actively enter the sales cycle, and as a result, fall out of the funnel. Why should reducing funnel leakage be a top priority for organizations? Lead Scoring models help your sales team prioritize leads that are ready for action. Are there bottlenecks in your sales funnel? MORE >>

Lead nurturing is a crucial part of your marketing and sales success. With lead nurturing , however, you can bring those leads through your sales funnel and garner 4-10 times the response rate compared to a regular email blast while doing it [Source: SilverPop/DemandGen Report]. To nurture those leads correctly, however, you need to somehow adjust your messaging based on their point in the sales cycle. Here's how you can map lead nurturing content to every stage in the buying cycle. Understanding the Buying Cycle. But how do you do that? MORE >>

The sales organization doesn’t have a role in lead nurturing. Although nurturing seems close to a marketer’s heart, the sales folks have always practiced this and know better than anyone how to establish and maintain relationships. The only significant difference: In sales, they have actual conversations with prospects. The sales team already has an instinctive sense for – or a formal definition of – the nurturing process, and as such can offer valuable guidance. Related posts: Is Your Funnel Sick? Is Your Funnel Sick? Don’t bet on it. MORE >>

However, the most expansive definition takes a total end-to-end look at every interaction a person has with a company from simply becoming aware of the company at the very top of the sales funnel, all the way through customer service contact after the final conversion to a closed deal. With a complex sale, many personal touch points in customer relationship management are present – such as directly answering a question posted on social media or an online forum. At the same time, the real engine driving CRM and keeping prospects moving through the sales funnel is technology. MORE >>