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. In his book New Sales. That’s because in most companies: Marketing measures itself on lead quantity rather than lead quality. Sales measures itself on revenue generated (and sometimes margin).

Sales Qualified Leads 212

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

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

In the search for the holy grail of marketing KPIs, we want ones that correctly emphasize ROI over lead cost, tie lead generation to overall revenue and profits, identify the most successful marketing initiatives and deliver insights that can be leveraged to run future high-return activity. Lead-to-Pipeline Conversions (MQLs-to-SALs).

Cost per Lead 189

Cost per Lead Sales Qualified Leads Cost Lead Ranking 189

ViewPoint

AUGUST 17, 2018

Organizations that optimize sales and marketing achieve kickass results by doing just three things well. Deliver fewer, but better, leads to sales. Often sales and marketing haven’t collaborated on such fundamental issues as who their audiences are, how to best reach them and once they do, what to say.

Sales Qualified Leads 136

Sales Qualified Leads Optimization Marketing Management High Quality Lead 136

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Our own Kimmy Netterville made the Sales Lead Management Association’s “Most Inspiring” list of 40 outstanding individuals in our industry, announced today. Kimmy was recognized in the category People in Lead Generation Companies for her many contributions in the last decade-plus helping PointClear clients as Program Director.

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PointClear Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads 0

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. Sales/B2B Marketing execs feel intense need to do something, but are afraid to risk budget. The need for sales pressures the CMO to deliver leads fast.

Lead Generation 176

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Sales Leads Generation 176

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.

Sales Qualified Leads 149

Sales Qualified Leads ROI Lead Ranking Lead Scoring 149

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

These companies have a very high demand for their products and services, but they still need strong lead generation and qualification processes. It is unrealistic, even for the aforementioned companies, to think that sales can close every opportunity they receive. Qualify Your Lead. Turn Your Lead into a Sale.

Sales Leads 159

Sales Leads Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead 159

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

A broken lead generation strategy could mean trouble for your sales and marketing team, but not just because of the fundamental misalignment between the two departments. Have marketing and sales decided on a shared definition for a qualified sales lead? Do your marketing and sales teams trust each other?

Marketing Qualified Leads 168

Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation 168

ViewPoint

MAY 18, 2016

How to drive revenue from all sources is the second 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. But inbound alone can’t generate enough leads to drive the revenue you need. Here’s why.

Planning 168

Planning Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel Paid Search Agency 168

ViewPoint

NOVEMBER 8, 2016

In fact, doing the right amount of research, adding a personalized touch to your outreach attempts, and a lot of persistency will help you get in the door for more prospects than you might think. Using these gold calling techniques will help you have faith in the cold calling process. Cold calling is about quantity, not quality.

Cold Calling 149

Cold Calling Sales Qualified Leads ROMI High Quality Lead 149

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 5, 2018

He was willing to provide the sales team one of six choices: 200,000 targeted contacts (name and title) in the right vertical (no email addresses). 81 highly qualified sales opportunities with the right contact who has a need backed by some form of compelling event. What is a Lead? You have heard it all before. (To

Sales Qualified Leads 136

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation Lead Ranking Lead Scoring 136

ViewPoint

MARCH 7, 2018

This is a skill that we teach our associates, who spend their days making dials (80 to 100 a day) and engaging B2B sales prospects on behalf of our clients. It also helps both parties be clear on mutual responsibilities and follow-up. Perhaps the most important topic that we go over—in detail—is the art of active listening.

PointClear 159

PointClear B2B Thought Leadership Lead Qualification Thought Leadership 159

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.” Often multiple times. It isn’t dead.

Lead Generation 192

Lead Generation B2B Sales Sales Qualified Leads Sales Leads 192

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

MAY 14, 2018

Momentum in sales and sports is a strange phenomenon. For salespeople and sales managers, few understand the Prime Directive of Sales Management: Enhance Sales Momentum (Never Interrupt It). Sales momentum isn’t about sales skills. It’s measured as a product of its mass and velocity of your sales efforts.

Forecasting 149

Forecasting Organic Leads Work Management Trigger Marketing 149

ViewPoint

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

Territory turnover for this new sales manager isn’t unusual, but the solution can be evasive, expensive and humbling. Experienced sales managers, however, know how to deal with it. He had 10 sales territories in his domestic North American sales force. Experienced sales managers, however, know how to deal with it.”. _.

Forecasting 149

Forecasting Sales Qualified Leads Telemarketing Marketing Management 149

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

I spend a lot of time on the phone every day, talking to sales and marketing leaders—including prospects. What they have in common are complex sales processes, and the need for outbound account-based marketing services that generate high-quality leads for sales. I’m often asked what kind of companies PointClear serves.

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ViewPoint

MARCH 22, 2018

I practice it every day in my role as lead salesperson for the company. (We The challenge is that lead generators with happy ears don’t ask the questions that might effectively disqualify an account. A so-called lead with a company that will never buy is going to end up being a waste of a field sales rep’s time.

Lead Ranking 189

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Work Management Paid Search Agency 189

ViewPoint

JUNE 28, 2018

Companies with optimized sales and marketing organization achieve results by doing three things well. Deliver fewer, but better, leads to sales. Here is what you must do to fix it: Agree on market, lead definition, message. What constitutes a good lead? Is a good lead only one where a c-level executive is involved?

Enterprise Management 136

Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management Sales Qualified Leads 136

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

AUGUST 6, 2018

The misconception that building an internal team of sales development reps gives you more control and costs less is widespread. 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).

Marketing Management 136

Marketing Management Sales Qualified Leads Cost Lead Ranking 136

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

What is a lead? While all of these scenarios have potential, none could be called a lead. Just try to pass them on to your field sales team and you’ll see. Because the chances are pretty low—probably 3% to 4% at best—that any of these names are bonafide opportunities if you are a B2B company with a complex sales process.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Forecasting PointClear Enterprise Management 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 28, 2016

I posted a question on LinkedIn's Sales and Marketing VP's Group and the results have been fascinating. First, here is the question as posted: "What is the minimum acceptable close rate for leads provided to sales in a complex selling situation (long sales cycle and multiple decision-makers)?".

Sales Qualified Leads 159

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Leads 159

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

JANUARY 26, 2018

Multi, multi, multi (which is multiple dials, voicemails, emails and in some cases direct mail across several sales cycles) has been re-termed “Cadence.” Some people ask if voicemail and email should be part of the sales lead generation cadence. I have an answer for that is well: Non-lead outcomes.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Work Management Marketing Management Terms and Conditions 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. Set sales straight—it’s a win win.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads PointClear 120

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

Everywhere you look, inbound marketing is identified as the ultimate lead generation tool. While its popularity isn’t without merit, this marketing strategy is not the end-all for lead generation. Inbound Helps Fill Your Revenue Gap, But How Much? High-performing reps avoiding inbound lead follow-up opportunities.

Inbound Marketing 149

Inbound Marketing Enterprise Management Trade Show Lead Nurturing 149

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

Qualified leads can be generated any number of ways: phone calls email, webinars, direct mail and even marketing automation if done well. It's not, however, the quantity of leads that counts. It’s the quality of the leads. Management is measuring marketing on the number of leads turned over to sales and on a cost-per-lead basis.

B to B 120

B to B Cost per Lead Marketing Automation Services Inbound Marketing 120

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 7, 2017

“Hi, we’re very interested in talking with you; please press 1 for sales and 2 for customer service.” I pressed 1, as sales is usually staffed. Hi, this is sales; how may I help you?”. He is the VP of Sales.”. Yes, it’s Tim Kelly, the VP of Sales, your boss.”. Oh, I don’t know about that, I am just in sales.

Paid Search Agency 168

Paid Search Agency Companies Lock-In Press 168

ViewPoint

JUNE 24, 2016

A remarkable new book is changing the way that B2B sales professionals think about, approach, and serve their customers. We met and worked together at a software company many years ago, and our paths through the continuously evolving world of B2B sales and sales performance have crossed many times.

RFP 159

RFP B2B Sales Work Management Cross-Selling 159

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? Both are working toward different, conflicting metrics.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

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

ViewPoint

MAY 5, 2017

At the Funnel Media Group we believe that AI is the future of sales and marketing operations. Because of this, CRM Radio and the sister program SLMA Radio, have been interviewing executives on the subjects of the marketing and sales uses of Artificial Intelligence. About InsideSales.com.

Marketing AI 136

Marketing AI Marketing Analytics Tools Top of Funnel Enterprise Management 136

ViewPoint

NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Those of us who use the phone to successfully generate sales leads have picked up an essential trade secret. Sometimes, this leads to a future appointment, often it neutralizes their attitude and allows me to continue. Instead, my sincere words “I am sorry to catch you at a bad time,” can lead to a productive conversation.

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation PointClear Sales Leads Lead Ranking 120

ViewPoint

JULY 12, 2017

I read and reread Andy Paul’s book Zero-Time Selling , and gave it to my sales reps. We discussed the 20 chapters in sales meetings each week, with a different representative taking 2-3 chapters and highlighting what he or she had learned. We expected everyone in the sales team to chip in. I couldn’t stand it. “I

Top of Funnel 149

Top of Funnel Forecasting Pricing Price 149

ViewPoint

JANUARY 5, 2017

How well are your B2B organization’s sales and marketing behaviors, practices, and processes reliably and sustainably producing required outcomes? Read on and learn how you can get better ROI on marketing, how you can let your sales people focus on what they do best, and how you can close significantly more deals than you did before.

B2B Sales 136

B2B Sales B2B Marketing Tips ABM 136

ViewPoint

AUGUST 11, 2016

While cost-per-lead measurement has been the de facto favorite for evaluating marketing programs, we are seeing radical and positive shifts in how marketing is evaluating qualified leads. Marketing must align its B2B lead generation activities and resources with deeper-in-the-funnel outcomes. Cost-Per-Lead.

Cost per Lead 120

Cost per Lead Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation Cost 120