Investing in quality leads has long been one of the most important elements of any marketing buy and the key to successful sales. However, the decision on which leads to buy and how much to spend on them can be complicated and difficult. This is why a Lead Management System can be essential to an efficient, effective lead generation process. Not only does a Lead Management System automate your process and improve your closing rates on every lead you but, but a LMS can be used to determine which leads you should purchase more of and why, allowing you to maximize your ROI and hone your marketing spend so that you’re getting the most out of every dollar.

The average sales organization closes just 15% of their leads.¹ As a result, getting the most out of every lead is important. So what can a LMS do for you? How can it improve your system of lead generation? The first method is through lead scoring. Lead Management Systems can allow you to identify those elements of any lead that have translated into success so you can focus on finding leads that fit your specific needs and focus on buying those leads. “All leads are not created equal. The best leads for you are the ones that are actively looking for the products and services you offer. Internet leads are too expensive to waste your money on those that don’t qualify for your offerings, or are simply window shopping.”² This same approach also spills over into lead routing and the process of working the leads. Lead routing is essential to effectively working leads, allowing a sales manager to get the right leads in the hand of a salesperson who can work the lead immediately and ensure that every lead gets followed up on as many times as necessary. Good lead routing can ensure that your speed to contact is as low as possible and that no lead is given up until it has been thoroughly worked. Another element of the process is Lead Tracking, where each lead gets followed from cradle to grave to ensure that every stage of the process is working at its best. Any area where you may be falling behind or failing to seize an opportunity can immediately be identified and improved on with a LMS. Finally, one of the most important aspects of a LMS is scorekeeping. Lead Management Systems allow a sales manager to track specific and customizable metrics that will allow them adjust any aspect of their sales process using a data driven and analytical approach. These metrics will help reveal how you’re working leads and how well that approach is working.

So how can you adjust your lead generation approach by using a Lead Management System? Simply put: Lead Management can help you identify the money you’re spending that isn’t working and isn’t helping your staff and focus your marketing buy where it’s most effective. A LMS allows a sales manager or CMO to identify exactly which leads are and aren’t working and why. Through this, sales teams can maximize their ROI by refining their process for working leads and by determining which lead sources are best suited for their company. Lead scoring allows sales teams to find those leads that are the most specifically tailored to their staff and company and focus on purchasing those leads that work best for you and your sales process. Or, as a Leads360 whitepaper puts it: “Using Internet leads reduces the time and effort you spend on marketing. Choosing your leads wisely reduces the time you spend qualifying and selling. Start by identifying the right quality of Internet leads for your business, which will depend on whether you want to spend more money buying leads or more time working them. Both approaches can work.”³ Shared leads, for instance, require a sales team that can work them hard and work them immediately. If you have a large and dedicated staff with a LMS that will allow them to work leads quickly, they might be a smarter buy for your company. Your lead scoring can also become much more refined by using the metrics and scorekeeping data that comes from your LMS system. You can sharpen your lead scoring approach to include data about leads that you would never have realized was important until your LMS identified it. What’s more, the metrics you keep can help you identify ways that your marketing buy is inefficient. In some cases, companies have discovered, with the help of their LMS, that leads from a less expensive source were generating a higher ROI. By incorporating LMS software, you can get a broad look at every piece of data coming out of your sales process and identify inefficiencies that would be impossible to see with the naked eye. By breaking down every stage of the sales process, a sales manager can also identify areas where sales generation needs to improve, but also areas where his staff’s performance is the culprit and continue purchasing the valuable leads while adjusting his staff’s approach.

Lead generation can be a tricky and harrowing aspect of operating a sales staff and any help in finding the right approach can be invaluable. This is why a Lead Management Systems like Leads360 cannot be underestimated as a tool in the fight to prefect your approach to lead generation. Leads360 can not only ensure that every stage of the sales process is working as efficiently and profitably as possible, but it can also help you identify which leads make the most sense to purchase and why. It provides any sales manager with a simple, transparent approach to their lead generation that can be adjusted to fit the data they’re collecting and ensure that every stage of the sales process is operating at maximum efficiency. By identifying lead sources with the best ROI, you can then reduce your marketing but and get the most of the leads that you’re generating.

1 Winning Through Smart Lead Scoring and Routing; IncentAlign Whitepaper by Derek Choy and Jack O’Holleran; pp. 3; www.incentalign.com

Now personally I think LinkedIn is an excellent tool. It’s a great way to get in touch and stay in touch with people you know. Also from a sales perspective it’s very useful for getting introductions to people. If you search for someone you’d like to meet and they are two degrees away (only one contact between you), then you can ask your contact for an intro and away you go. If you can’t get an introduction or they are three or more degrees away you can at least research the person prior to cold-calling. So you know where they’ve worked before, their career trajectory, their education, etc. All very useful background.

Returning to my networking event; one of the people who I invited to connect to me did so, but on closer inspection I noticed that his contacts were hidden. This is a well-documented option and obviously I’ve come across it before, but for some reason this time I found it really annoying. Is it just me or is this against the whole ethos of LinkedIn? Surely joining a social network that’s based on the power of networking & introductions, connecting with someone and getting to see all of their connections but refusing to share your own is just plain mean?

I can understand why someone might choose to do this. If you’re in sales you may not want to show possible competitors who your customers are, you may want to avoid a headhunter farming your contacts, or you may just feel that you’ve gathered your them over the years, why you should share them? I thought about this early on when using LinkedIn and in the end decided that for LinkedIn to work best there has to be a degree of reciprocity (you show me yours and I’ll show you mine), otherwise it wouldn’t be half as powerful as it is. If everyone hid their contacts where would we be?

So let’s see what you think…

It should look like that!

You will recall that in late 2009 we looked at how to set sales goals for 2010. Well it may have escaped your notice but it’s getting to the end of Q1, so how are you doing? With a week and a half to go, now is about the right time to start worrying if you’re not there yet. So to help you along the way here are a few short term and then longer term ideas to help you achieve your sales goals.

Tactical

• Don’t panic. It won’t help and customers, like dogs, can smell fear. If they know you’re desperate and it’s end-of-quarter, expect some “take it or leave it (until Q2)” low-ball offers.
• If you need to chase someone up to try and get an order placed, now is the time to do it. If you leave it until the last week of the quarter sure as eggs is eggs the one person you need will be on vacation.
• Take a systematic look at your Q1 numbers, particularly if you are coming up short. What can you sensibly try to pull in from Q2?
• If it looks like you are going to miss your numbers through something beyond your control (e.g. customer went bust) now is the time to try and negotiate something on your Q1 quota. When the numbers are in it’s too late.

Strategic

• Now is the time to start setting your goals for Q2, although you may need to fine-tune them based on Q1 achievements. All too many companies wait until the dust has settled on one quarter before setting goals for the next. If you’re not careful those goals aren’t finalised until you’re midway through the quarter.
• Take the time to review goals for you and your team for the whole of 2010.
  • Are they unrealistic?
  • Has anything critical changed?
  • Are they too easy?
  • Do I need to re-deploy my resources based on Q1 performance and markets?
  • Do I need to re-prioritise my customer list?
  • Should I reset my goals for the rest of the year?
  • Is there anybody in my team struggling? Do they need extra coaching or help?

Good luck with the end-of-quarter, I hope you hit your goals and have healthy bonuses to spend in Q2!

Oh no! I'm a prospect...

One of the most interesting and entertaining experiences for sales people is when someone tries to sell to them. Common opinion is that sales people are easy to sell to because the sympathise with person selling to them. I’m not really sure whether this is the case, personally I quite like to torture the person selling to me.

I can recall when I was in my early twenties, single and living in a flat/apartment. The kitchen was pretty horrible so I phoned a supplier and asked for someone to come round to give me a quotation for a new one. An appointment was made and a few days later a super-keen young man arrived on the doorstep.

On entering the flat the first thing he did was compliment me on my “lovely home”. This was very nice of him, but remember this was a bachelor flat complete with empty take-away cartons, festering rugby kit, probably a good selection of empty beer cans scattered around… you get the picture. I told him that we must have been on the same sales training course because I’d heard the (naff) tip about starting the meeting with a compliment. That was his credibility shot from minute one.

He then launched into a presentation with the aid of a flip chart (this was in ancient pre-Powerpoint days). I don’t think he really asked me anything about what I wanted, why I wanted it or how serious I was. What I wanted was what I asked for, a quotation. I had no idea whether a kitchen cost £5 or £50,000 and wanted to find out.

After his presentation he finally got round to giving me a price. I thanked him for his time and pointed him in the direction of the door. He then said that as a one-off token of good will, valid only for today, he would give me a 30% discount. This didn’t raise his credibility in my eyes… he had just tried to rip me off to the tune of several thousand pounds. I thanked him again (less vigourously) and once again indicated where the door was. He then told me as I edged him out that he’d taken a liking to me and while putting his materials back in the car would ring his boss to see what might be done.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he went through the pantomime routine of “ringing his boss”. He shortly returned to tell me that he had twisted the arm of his boss and they would be happy to sell me the kitchen half-price, but I would have to sign immediately on the spot. So now I knew that he was going to rip me off to the tune of double the going price only a few minutes earlier. Adios.

Actually I don’t like to torture people selling to me. Like all customers, if I think the sales person has my interests at heart, is credible, honest and respects my time I’m more than happy to talk to them. If I think they are manipulative, untrustworthy and not really interested in my needs they get the bum’s rush. Twas ever thus.

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But… then Bert (obviously feeling very pleased) continued to rattle on for 10 minutes about the virtues of his company and products. I could see Fred’s eyes glazing over as he tried to get back to his beer. I’m certain he was by now thinking “what on Earth have I let myself in for?”

The idea with any type of prospecting (even when one lands in your lap) is to qualify the prospect and get the appointment. You do not want to get into selling at this point. It’s the wrong time and place. Your efforts may very well work against you.

Ask yourself…

• Is my product/service a good fit for the prospect?
• Does it solve a problem for her?
• Are they a good fit for my company? Do I want to do business with them?
• If so… ask for a meeting with the prospect
• Got it? Job done, now save your selling for the big day.

Most sales trainers advise you not to knock the competition and in general that’s very wise advice. Early in my career I’m embarrassed to admit that I ignored it (as most inexperienced sales people do) and came a cropper. I was competing for a good size deal and from previous experience thought that the person I was competing with had questionable ethics. When it came down the final two I couldn’t help but slip this into a conversation with the customer… I thought I was doing her a real favour. As it turned out the customer knew my competitor personally. I didn’t get the order and also had a very embarrassing conversation the next time I bumped into my competitor, who had been told about my opinion of him.

So that you don’t have to learn the hard way like me, here are three problems that arise from knocking the competition…

• It reflects badly on you and can be seen as “dirty tricks”.
• You may actually raise the profile of the competitor in the eyes of your customer. For instance if all of your product comparisons are against one particular competitor you are as good as saying “these are the guys we worry about at night”.
• You open a can of worms. The customer may be enthusiastic about your comparison with the competition and start asking you how you compare on other features that aren’t so favourable to you.

However we all know that sometimes the customer will ask you how you stack up against a competitor. Or your competitor may have “knocked” you… and the customer wants to know if their facts are correct. So if you must talk about the competition…

1. Make any comparisons generic rather than specific to the competitor. So you might say “our new flanged widget offers a 20% speed increase and 10% downtime reduction compared to older unflanged designs”. This way you are seen to be making a general point and as even-handed.
2. If you are forced to comment in a one-to-one way on a competitors product, talk about your features, advantages and benefits not the competitor’s short-comings. This way you are more likely to come out of it smelling of roses. Also if you try and comment on your competitor’s features you may be wrong (you haven’t been trained on them after all) and end up looking foolish.

So, as ever, engage your brain before putting your mouth into gear. It’s tempting to take a cheap shot, especially when you think you are helping the customer but better to take the high ground.

So good luck with your product demos. I guess demos really act as accelerators of the sales process. Done correctly it can move you quickly to a close, done badly it you can move you quickly back to thebeginning.

Preparing for the big demo

Preparing for the big demo

Being in tech sales has certain pluses and minuses. One of the pluses is that you get to see lots of cool technology before the guy on the street. One of the minuses is that you sometimes get to demo state-of-the-art stuff before all of the wrinkles have been ironed-out.

If I had a pound (or dollar) for every time I’d sat in a customer meeting trying to divert attention while an applications engineer colleague desperately tried to get a piece of kit to work I’d be a rich man.

Although to a certain extent this comes with the territory there are some things you can do to minimise your chances of embarrassment…

• Don’t just do a demo because you can. That would be a “throw it at the wall and see what sticks” strategy. Have a very clear understanding of what the customer needs, what you want to show them and how this will advance the sale.
• As the old British Army adage says “Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance”. Do a dry run before the customer meeting. Do this far enough in advance of the customer meeting that you can fix any problems that you might find. In the dry run replicate exactly what you are going to show the customer.
• If you have one, take a spare. If the demo is a really important one (for instance you are going to be on stage at a major trade show) send the spare via a different route. That way if your luggage gets lost or stolen you aren’t left empty-handed.
• Take all the hardware you will need. If you rely on hooking-up to a piece of customer equipment it might not work the way you expect.
• Don’t let anyone else tinker with your equipment! I can recall several demos where an apps engineer had to stop and hack for 10 minutes because someone else had used the machine and changed the Unix directory structure.
• Be open with the customer about the state of the product. Better to explain in advance that they are really lucky to be seeing something hot out of the labs… but it’s not quite there yet, than to give them the impression it’s tried and tested… and then watch it fall over.
• Get feedback from the customer as you go along…

“Is that useful to you?”,
“Does that explain how you would implement feature xyz in your abc?”
“Is that enough performance for you application?”.

• Try and get feedback on other demos they may have seen from competitors. Be subtle… ask how yours shapes-up, not for exact data on your competition.
• If the customer doesn’t seem to be liking something ask them why. It might be something that you can easily rectify or a simple misunderstanding.

So good luck with your product demos. I guess demos really act as accelerators of the sales process. Done correctly it can move you quickly to a close, done badly it you can move you quickly back to the beginning.

The great Sir Winston Churchill once said “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it”. He was true to his word, writing “The Second World War”, “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” and winning the Nobel prize for literature in the process (as you do).

About to get his version in first!

Likewise for us mere mortals the importance of getting your version of a meeting circulated first is not to be underestimated. In fact I heard a story a while back about an ex-colleague who visited a very major account, had an OK meeting and went off on his way. A month or so later his boss wanted to visit this very major account with him and asked our friend to arrange it. So he picks up the phone calls them and asks for the meeting… to which they respond “no… we haven’t seen the action list from the last meeting yet”. Ouch.

As we’ve documented on Real Life Selling previously, sales people are notoriously shy of paperwork. However this is one case where you really have to grit your teeth and bash those minutes out.

If you don’t get your minutes out pretty quickly there are two risks…

* The momentum of the sale is lost. You’ve had a great meeting, got some commitment, but in two weeks time both you and they have moved on to the next urgent item.

* The customer minutes the meeting. “Great” you may think, “that’s saved me the effort”. But, of course, in their version of the minutes the commitments they made may be just a little softer than they seemed at the time and the items you committed to have been “bigged up”.

Here are some suggestions on minuting that I hope you’ll find useful…

1. Minute meetings as soon after they finish as possible. If it’s at your office, stay on in the meeting room for 15 minutes to write-up it up. If it’s at a customer’s site, sit in your car outside and use your laptop before you leave, or at the airport, or on the plane home.
2. Concentrate on the next actions and use W3… who, what, when.
3. Start your follow-up actions immediately. You may not be able to finish them, but at least initiate them. So if you need a quotation… fill in the form and submit it. If you need someone to do something, email or call them and tell them what needs doing and by when.
4. Use your diary or electronic calendar to set some follow-up reminders.
5. Thank the customer for their time and hospitality.
6. And finally keep the minutes to-the-point and business-like. As Sir Winston said “This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read”.