Every B2B organization wants to generate more leads, and improving collaboration among business units can help make it happen. Everyone agrees that aligning Sales and Marketing around common goals and processes is critical. However, are there other stakeholders who should be involved in the maximize lead generation discussion?
Defining lead qualification levels and performance benchmarks should be viewed as a team exercise. This process should begin with alignment on terminology and criteria.
Defining lead qualification levels
Sales and Marketing need to agree on the following terminologies and criteria:
- Leads: At what point does a specific contact become more than just another target in the database? What does the contact have to do to be re-categorized as a lead?
- Qualified Lead: What constitutes a qualified lead in your organization? Is it based solely on their budget? Their timing for implementation? How quickly the sales cycle will close?
- Opportunity: What activity must a lead undertake to be considered a prospective buyer?
Standardization of these terms will help to get everyone on the same page. The result? A larger volume of qualified leads and more opportunities for your business.
Establishing Performance Benchmarks
To ensure you are meeting goals, you must monitor performance and use the data you collect to make decisions. According to a recent report from Marketo, which provides marketing automation software, tracking the following metrics will provide you with a good start:
- Cost per qualified lead: How much do those leads cost you? What is the cost of the leads that actually end up in the sales funnel?
- First-touch ROI: This metric enables you to see which first-touch activities are most effective, whether you’re using email or calling campaigns.
- Multi-Touch ROI: Determine which methods and tactics are effective over time and at different stages of your lead management process.
Consistently monitoring these benchmarks will reveal which tactics work best (and which ones don’t). After identifying which tactics are most effective, you can take steps to increase the number and quality of leads entering the sales funnel.
Intelemark can help you optimize B2B sales lead generation through custom calling campaigns that incorporate all of your lead qualification criteria. We also collect critical performance data, so you know exactly where you stand, ROI-wise. Get in touch today to discuss a test campaign!