ViewPoint

OCTOBER 10, 2016

The biggest disconnect between marketing and sales is the hand-off of marketing qualified leads (MQL’s) to sales and the acceptance of those leads (SAL’s) by sales. That’s more than 100 percent higher performance for companies that have the rigor of sales acceptance in their lead management process.

Marketing Qualified Leads 120

Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel 120

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.)

Sales Leads 202

Sales Leads Process Top of Funnel Lead Scoring 202

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. So, they settle for a cheap solution—which is how mediocre sales lead generation firms survive.

Lead Generation 176

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Sales Leads Generation 176

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? Additionally, avoid outdated techniques for lead qualification.

Marketing Qualified Leads 168

Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation 168

ViewPoint

NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Thinking back on my career, I realized early on that marketing spending of any sort, whether for people or programs, must be rooted in my ability (and our marketing department’s ability) to justify the expense. Naturally, not every lead gen program will be a success. Nothing else made sense to me then or now.

Lead Gen 221

Lead Gen ROI Spending Barriers 221

ViewPoint

MAY 24, 2016

Understand the price you are paying for your leads and then optimize. Document the cost per lead is the fourth 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. Have all contacts been engaged?

Sales Qualified Leads 174

Sales Qualified Leads Cost Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads 174

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 5, 2018

The CMO of a Fortune 500 company offered the CRO the following options regarding spending $100,000 on a marketing campaign. No matter what he did, no matter how he spent the company’s money, the CRO would complain about lead quality (and quantity). Marketing was convinced that sales never effectively followed-up on any leads.

Sales Qualified Leads 136

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 136

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. Longer-term opportunities increase marketing ROI.

Lead Scoring 136

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Leads 136

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? I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect lead. All leads have warts. What is your definition of the perfect lead—and why?

Sales Qualified Leads 127

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking PointClear 127

ViewPoint

MAY 17, 2018

A senior marketing executive once got so frustrated with his sales counterpart that he offered the following choices for spending $100,000 on a lead generation campaign: Option. Content Aggregator “Leads”. Sales Qualified Leads. To be fair, marketing’s mandate was to generate more leads every year with shrinking budgets.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Buy Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 120

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.” There is no strategy in their market approach.

Lead Generation 192

Lead Generation B2B Sales Sales Qualified Leads Sales Leads 192

ViewPoint

APRIL 7, 2015

“Cost of sales is determined by a lot of things,” Jake said, “But lead management isn’t one of them.” First, I got Jake to agree that sales lead follow-up was low in his direct sales force, and that if follow-up increased, so would the closing ratio. Jake finally admitted: Sales lead follow-up will yield greater sales.

Lead Management 120

Lead Management Sales Qualified Leads Sales Leads Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 18, 2015

In their opinions marketing is not needed. Well, I hate to break it to them, but without marketing the majority of companies will either fail or fail to reach their full potential. And lead management has told these winners where to spend their marketing dollars. Sales Leads Sales & Marketing Management'

Lead Management 120

Lead Management Sales Leads Efficiency Word of Mouth 120

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Walk out of your office and ask the first three marketers and the first three sales executives you encounter one question: What constitutes a lead? With technology it is now possible to get more poor quality leads to sales faster than ever before. Watch this brief video to learn how to establish a lead definition.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Leads 120

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

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. Longer-term opportunities increase marketing ROI.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Demand 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 12, 2017

Now you have the number of units that will be sold in the coming months without lead generation. This is the basis for projecting the number of leads needed to make the forecast from sales leads for the new year. Now you need 6,000 total raw leads. Now you need 6,000 total raw leads. Here’s How it Works.

Forecasting 166

Forecasting Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead 166

ViewPoint

MAY 26, 2016

Keep leads from being ignored is the fifth 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. How much did you spend for the leads? This is a problem marketing and sales cannot solve alone.

Sales Qualified Leads 189

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Leads 189

ViewPoint

JULY 19, 2017

a prospect asked me, following our discussion about PointClear’s lead generation, qualification and nurturing services. We had just finished talking about the importance of marketing and sales coming together to mutually define a lead prior to starting a lead generation program. “What could derail this project?”

Lead Generation 149

Lead Generation PointClear Sales Leads Generation 149

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. Frankly, no.

Cost per Lead 189

Cost per Lead Sales Qualified Leads Cost Lead Scoring 189

ViewPoint

JUNE 9, 2017

While some sales people stop after placing one or two calls (if they don’t get the prospect on the phone or don’t get a call back, they deem the lead no good) our sales support associates keep trying. We persevered—and then turned over a Sales Qualified Lead which closed for $1,000,000,000 five months later. We didn’t stop.

Lead Qualification 220

Lead Qualification Touchpoints Sales Qualified Leads PointClear 220

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)?". So too is the quality of the sales force.

Sales Qualified Leads 159

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Leads 159

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

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

NOVEMBER 7, 2017

PointClear’s Kimmy Netterville has been nominated as one of the 40 Most Inspired Leaders in Sales Lead Management. The Sales Lead Management Association announced today that nominations are now closed, and voting is open until Dec. Look for Kimmy’s name in the “People in Lead Generation Companies” category. You have until Dec.

Sales Qualified Leads 159

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Management Sales Leads Lead Qualification 159

ViewPoint

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

James Obermayer, founder of the Sales Lead Management Association , recently spoke with SLMA Radio program host Paul Roberts on how lack of a sales lead management process hampers company growth. PR: If a company has not defined how inquiries will be handled and addressed, whatever you're spending on marketing is kind of a waste.

Lead Management 149

Lead Management Sales Leads Marketing Management Sales Qualified Leads 149

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 20, 2017

This is the second of a 2-part series that borrows Miller Lite’s super successful Tastes Great, Less Filling campaign theme to make a point about sales lead generation. We’ve done the analysis that shows that PointClear’s outsourced lead generation approach generates 92.35% more revenue. How many do yours make?).

Sales Qualified Leads 149

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation Sales Leads Lead Scoring 149

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 1, 2016

I once worked with the then SVP, Marketing of a large public company who was frustrated with sales. At one point he got so angry that he offered sales management the following choices for spending a $100,000 budget to generate leads. For details on how sales should follow-up on a lead click here. How much should a lead cost?

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking PointClear 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 24, 2017

In 2015, I wrote this blog for Sales & Marketing Magazine: Dead is Dead (in Sales & Marketing). It seemed like, suddenly, a lot of things were dying: cold calling was dead; telephone prospecting was dead; outbound marketing was dead … many said that even marketing was dead. Maybe I was just sensitive.

Cold Calling 470

Cold Calling B2B Marketing PointClear B2B 470

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. These companies are successful because of their established roles, processes, and responsibilities for their marketing and sales departments. Qualify Your Lead. Find the Pain.

Sales Leads 159

Sales Leads Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead 159

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Should marketing and sales agree on the definition of a lead? According to James Obermayer ( Sales Lead Management Association ), the fact that there is no agreement between marketing and sales on lead definition results in these problems: Salespeople say that they are not getting enough qualified leads.

Account Based Marketing 120

Account Based Marketing B2B Sales ABM Sales Qualified Leads 120

ViewPoint

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

As Account-Based Marketing continues to rise in popularity among B2B companies, I decided to pick the brains of fellow industry experts and get their input on the matter. Today, in part 2, we hear from Adam New-Waterson , Chief Marketing Officer at LeanData. Account-Based Marketing is a philosophy, not a product. Buy more lists!

Account Based Marketing 120

Account Based Marketing Lead Generation Cost per Lead Sales Qualified Leads 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

APRIL 17, 2012

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. Marketing’s plate is full. Sales and marketing operate on different frequencies. Today’s lead generation is not my father’s lead generation.

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Generation Leads 120

ViewPoint

MARCH 13, 2014

Nick Stein, SVP of Marketing at Vision Critical Vision Critical is the world''s leading provider of insight communities, currently supporting over 650 brands worldwide. Matt Heinz, Heinz Marketing, The Quality of Sales Leads is Abysmal. The quality of leads being generated nowadays is abysmal. percent were quality.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Social Marketing Paid Search Agency Leads 120

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 Scoring 120

ViewPoint

SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

According to a report by SiriusDecisions, 2015 State of Account-Based Marketing (ABM), more than 60 percent of companies plan to invest in technology for ABM to better align sales and marketing over the next twelve months. Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is hot right now, and the responses I received were excellent.

Account Based Marketing 120

Account Based Marketing Lead Generation ABM Lead Scoring 120