Most of the others had little or no pre-qualification information. 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. Budget undefined? MORE >>

This implies a continuous dialog or conversation helping to guide that buyer to the right educational and information resources. ’” He adds that buyers now prefer to be educated and informed rather than sold to, and this will impact how marketing and sales budgets will be rebalanced in the future: “I really think that, in the future, if you look at that cost envelope, it will look like a more even split of marketing and selling monies and activities.” My PowerViews guest today is Rich Vancil, IDC Group Vice President for Executive Strategies. Then Speak. MORE >>

That sales managers share their quotas with me instead of having me beg for the information so I know how many qualified leads they need.”. 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. So what do you want from your salespeople?” I asked the marketing manager. Little did I know that she would launch into a stream-of-consciousness, pre-Christmas/New Year’s/birthday gift list that she had apparently been holding back to regurgitate at just the right moment. MORE >>

No longer will companies buy data from one vendor but rather they will create a network of data providers to deliver to them the specific information in their target markets. Comment on The Bridge Group's ten predictions for inside sales in 2011. Trish Bertuzzi and Laurie Page start the new year off with some surprising predictions. Roles will continue to segment. No longer will the Inside Sales Rep be a “jack of all trades” Roles will be clearly defined and measured based on specific desired outcomes. Rather than just “how many calls did you make?” MORE >>

The Tsunami of information available online has reversed that focus, only marketers have been slow to respond accordingly. Marketers need to start thinking about what comes after contact information. After all, the subject is top of mind enough to cause them to pay for content with information. I recently had the opportunity to interview Ardath Albee about the importance of lead nurturing and I think you’ll be interested to read some of the valuable feedback she provided. Yet B2B marketers seem to be more focused on lead generation than the rest of the process. MORE >>