Optimize Lead Management - The top 10 to dos

What percentage of marketing and sales management professionals currently state they have at least (2) full time responsibilities within their organization? The answer.......over 50%. Granted if you asked the group of respondent's respective boss' the percentage would be much lower. The point is most of us have more to do than we can get effectively done each and every week.

As a result, it is more important than ever that we, as marketing and/or sales management professionals, maximize our productive output per hour worked.

To ensure that I and my team are directly engaged in high-value & high-return work focused on ensuring delivery of the top line revenue and margin goals via our lead lifecycle management program I have established a top 10 litmus test. Before we take on a new project, or initiative and prior to making modifications to existing programs, team structures, and initiatives we ensure we are focused on the key drivers that deliver and enhance an optimized lead lifecycle management ecosystem.

TOP 10 ENABLERS TO OPTIMIZE LEAD MANAGEMENT & PRODUCTIVE OUTPUT

1. Ensure Sales & Marketing Alignment
   
2. Clearly define program objectives
3. Establish common goals & success measures
   
4. Confirm disciplined processes are in place
5. Validate there will be passionate execution via cross department "buy-in" & "ownership"
6. Set benchmarking & milestones
   
7. Set key Performance indicators
   
8. Model ROI and confirm your targeted return will be achieved
9. Test Financial measurement
   
10. Review & Document Opportunity costs
    

If nothing else this list will act as a great workload "traffic cop" ensuring the ever growing congestion of projects, initiatives, and priorities begin to flow more smoothly and productively across your desk and your extended team(s).

Lead Management Process; Inquiry to Sales Ready

Welcome!

This Blog will be dedicated to open discussions and commentary regarding best-practices in the Lead Management Process and Sales/Marketing alignment. My practical findings and experience working in Sales-Marketing for Fortune 500's such as Kodak and Xerox, .bomb start-up's, and mid-cap public companies over the past 12-years had led me to the conclusion tha a great un-tapped potential exists inside most marketing and sales organizations. The alternative to my conclusion is that I simply worked for (5) consistently underperforming organizations in the area of Lead Management, which I believe not to be the case.

For purposes of focus, greatest impact, (and to leverage my knowledge base/experience) this Blog will be focused on the B2B marketplace, where a single lost, ignored, mis-handled lead can cost an organization tens 0f millions of dollars.