Lead Management for the Complex Sale

Lead Management for the Complex SaleA lead optimization process that goes beyond lead capture

Brian Carroll

About meBrian Carroll

Brian Carroll is Former Chief Evangelist of MECLABS and founder of InTouch, part of the MECLABS. Author of the bestseller, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, Carroll is a leading expert in lead generation and he's profiled and regularly quoted in numerous publications.

He has been profiled and quoted in numerous publications such as BtoBmagazine, Selling Power, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Target Marketing, Inc., Marketing News, DM News, MarketingProfs,MarketingSherpa, Software CEO and CMO Magazine.

@brianjcarroll

Biggest B2B Marketing Challenges

Source: 2015 Lead Generation Trend Report © 2015 Crowd Research Partners.

Marketers see generating high quality leads as their number one business challenge.

64% of marketers send all leads directly to Sales.

What’s the Problem?

What’s the Problem?

59% of marketers do not have lead nurturing programs in place.

Background: A small IT management firm ($80M in annual revenue, 100 channel

partners) who had an ongoing lead nurturing program (27 salespeople, 10 marketers).

Objective: To improve the efficiency of the lead management program.

Test Design: A/B sequential test between two different approaches to lead management (principles and processes).

Case Study on Lead Management

• Experiencing a < 2% lead-to-sales pipeline conversion rate

• Sales didn’t pursue majority of leads

• Marketing felt as if their leads were going into a ‘black hole’

• Marketing was not able to measure ROI

Marketing-Driven Leads

Customer

Sales Handoff

THE MARKETING

& SALES FUNNEL

< 2% lead-to-sale pipeline conversion

Case Study on Lead ManagementThe current situation from a Marketing perspective

• Leads weren’t being qualified and prioritized

• Sales felt that the leads they were receiving from Marketing were not leads at all

• Sales felt that low lead-to-sale conversion rate was due to poor-quality leads from Marketing

• Sales people cherry picked leads that requested demos

Johnny Johnson

ABC Software

CEO

555-1234

[email protected]

Mickey Mouse

The Mousketeers

Director

111-2233

[email protected]

Jane Adams

Adams & Company

-

-

[email protected]

Case Study on Lead ManagementThe current situation from a Sales perspective

1. Aligned Sales and Marketing on Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and Universal Lead Definition (ULD)

2. Disciplined their database to clearly understand the specific motivations of each lead

3. Analyzed lead data to prioritize lead nurturing efforts (who to include and exclude)

4. Added a responsive lead scoring system to score leads based on key behavior triggers

5. Implemented lead nurturing via emails and phone calls matching prospect’s role and motivations

6. Sent only “sales ready” leads off once they qualified at the optimal intensity (as defined in the ULD)

7. Started closed-loop huddles between Marketing and Sales to balance lead quantity and quality

Case Study on Lead ManagementTactics to address these challenges

Closed Loop

Feedback

Marketing

Sales

CUSTOMERS

CHANNEL A CHANNEL B CHANNEL C CHANNEL D CHANNEL E

Sales-Ready Leads

LEVEL X, Y, Z LEADS

LEVEL 2 LEADS

LEVEL 1 LEADS

INQUIRIES

QUALIFYNURTURE

CAPTURE

Content

INTEREST

INTENT

INTIMACY

LEAD MANAGEMENT MAP

Case Study on Lead ManagementBuilding a lead management process map

Closed Loop

Feedback

Marketing

Sales

CUSTOMERS


Sales-Ready Leads

LEVEL X, Y, Z LEADS

LEVEL 2 LEADS

LEVEL 1 LEADS

INQUIRIES

QUALIFYNURTURE

CAPTURE

Content

INTEREST

INTENT

INTIMACY

LEAD MANAGEMENT MAP

What were the results?


Closed Loop

Feedback

Marketing

Sales

CUSTOMERS


Sales-Ready Leads

LEVEL X, Y, Z LEADS

LEVEL 2 LEADS

LEVEL 1 LEADS

INQUIRIES

QUALIFYNURTURE

CAPTURE

Content

INTEREST

INTENT

INTIMACY

LEAD MANAGEMENT MAP

375% Increase in sales-ready leads

200% Improved lead-to-sales opportunity

$4.9M Additional sales in 8 months


CUSTOMERS


Sales-Ready Leads

LEVEL X, Y, Z LEADS

LEVEL 2 LEADS

LEVEL 1 LEADS

INQUIRIES

QUALIFYNURTURE

CAPTURE

Content

INTEREST

INTENT

INTIMACY

Closed Loop

Feedback

Marketing

Sales

LEAD MANAGEMENT MAP

We’ll focus on two critical areas of lead management:

1. QUALIFYING LEADS

Lead Management: Qualifying

CUSTOMERS


Sales-Ready Leads

LEVEL X, Y, Z LEADS

LEVEL 2 LEADS

LEVEL 1 LEADS

INQUIRIES

QUALIFYNURTURE

CAPTURE

Content

INTEREST

INTENT

INTIMACY

Closed Loop

Feedback

Marketing

Sales

LEAD MANAGEMENT MAP

We’ll focus on two critical areas of lead management:

1. QUALIFYING LEADS

2. NURTURING LEADS

Lead Management: Nurturing

Internal Alignment

Disciplined Data

Responsive Scoring

1

2

3

Qualifying Leads

1. Lead Qualification is the bridge between the Marketing and Sales teams

2. First step in Lead Qualification is forcing clarity (alignment) between Sales and Marketing concerning two defined standards:

Ideal Customer Profile – What is the optimal capacity of a sales-ready lead?

Universal Lead Definition – What is the optimal intensity of a sales-ready lead?

3. Internal alignment is a process – requires constant, closed-loop feedback between Sales and Marketing

Internal AlignmentThe key principles for success

ACCURACY

CO

MP

LETE

NES

S

Industry Change H

um

an C

om

pla

cen

cy

Data Hygiene

Dat

a A

pp

end

ing

Disciplined DataEnsure data is complete and accurate

LEAD MANAGEMENT FLOW WITH SCORING

Lead enters system

Lead is scored by intensity level

Lead IS optimal intensity

Lead IS NOT optimal intensity

Lead delivered to Sales

Lead nurtured to optimal intensity

Responsive Lead Scoring

Background: Provider of professional management services for technology assets for mid- and large-sized companies.

Goal: To increase the total number of leads generated.

Research question: Which lead qualification process will generate the greatest number of leads?

Approach: A sequential test of the qualification process.

Case Study on Responsive Lead Scoring

Leads Enter System

Leads are Sent Directly to Sales

Sales “cherry-picks” best leads

Many leads are overlooked

Case Study on Responsive Lead ScoringOriginal lead qualification process was very linear

LEVEL 3 LEADS

LEVEL 2 LEADS

LEVEL 1 LEADS0 – 19 Points

20 – 39 Points

40+ Points

Sales-Engaged

Leads• Organization set up a responsive

scoring system – leads assigned numeric value based on role/behavior

• Scoring system had 3 levels – once lead scored enough points to enter third level (40+ points), Sales would engage

Case Study on Responsive Lead ScoringTesting out a responsive scoring system

Profile Score

CEO, Owner President, VP of Sales 10 pts

Target Market ID – IBM BP 10 pts

Email Campaigns Score

Open an Email 5 pts

Clickthrough an Email 7 pts

Web Metric Scoring Score

Visits Any Webpage 1 pts

Visits Offering Page 5 pts

Visits Thought Leadership Article 5 pts

Visits Thought Leadership Video 10 pts

Views a Previous Webinar 15 pts

Visits Testimonial Page 5 pts

Visits Demo 15 pts

Web Metric Scoring Score

Contact Us 25 pts

Webinar Registration 20 pts

Web Demo Request 25 pts

Promotional Dialogue 25 pts

Webinar Playback 25 pts

Case Study on Responsive Lead ScoringBuilding a lead score card

LEVEL 3 LEADS

LEVEL 2 LEADS

LEVEL 1 LEADS0 – 19 Points

20 – 39 Points

40+ Points

Sales-Engaged

Leads

• Leads sent marketing content matched to their particular score

• Aim was to nurture leads up the funnel and provide more opportunities to increase lead score

Case Study on Responsive Lead ScoringBuilding custom nurture campaigns

Increase in Lead Generation75%New process increased total number of leads engaged by Sales by 75% over previous year

“If you look back three years ago, we were doing all of this work and we weren't seeing any results, but we didn't really have the system set up to really be able to

measure our success. So, I think for us it's really been looking at and revising processes and procedures, and just being smarter about how we operate.”

Trish McLoughlin Marketing Manager

Case Study on Responsive Lead ScoringThe results

25

Touch pointsUser-tracked behavior

What have they engaged?

Explicit Information

Meets Universal Lead Definition

Contacts Companies

IdealCustomer

Profile

Hand off possibilitiesto sales

Implicit InformationDoes it meet

the ULD?

Rep call to qualify

Assign to rep

Inquiry comes into DB

Responsive Lead ScoringQualify leads based on Universal Lead Definition (ULD), not lead score

1. Most leads are not sales-ready leads. Understand when a lead achieves optimal intensity(ULD) – handing a lead off too soon (or too late) is biggest issue

2. Lead scoring is a responsive mathematical approach to assessing the intensity of leads

2. Lead scoring is not meant to replace human touch, but rather to prioritize it

Responsive Lead ScoringThe key principles for success

Closed Loop

Feedback

Marketing

Sales

CUSTOMERS


Sales-Ready Leads

LEVEL X, Y, Z LEADS

LEVEL 2 LEADS

LEVEL 1 LEADS

INQUIRIES

QUALIFYNURTURE

CAPTURE

Content

INTEREST

INTENT

INTIMACY

Lead NurturingFocus on how to create and deliver messaging to move leads up the funnel

Understand Audience

Organize Content

Track Results and

Engagement

Execute Tracks

Messaging Strategy

•Touch

•Track

•Follow-Up

1•Touch

•Track

•Follow-Up

2•Touch

•Track

•Follow-Up

3•Touch

•Track

•Follow-Up

4

Interest Intimacy Intent

Progression Across Buying Stages

What is Lead Nurturing?Relevant, consistent conversation with potential customers, regardless of readiness to buy

The Right Message

The Right Prospect

The Right Time

1

2

3

Nurturing Leads

Case Study on The Right Message

30

Background: ActiveNetwork is a large event management software provider

Goal: To increase total lead inquiries (phone calls + form sign-ups) from visitors who abandoned the free trial sign-up process

Research Question: Which email tone will result in a higher rate of lead inquiries?

Test Design: A/B single factor split

Standard Sales Tone

Control

Empathetic/Service Tone

Treatment

Case Study on The Right MessageUsing A/B testing

Treatment

Empathetic/Service Tone7.08% Conversion Rate

Control

Standard Sales Tone1.58% Conversion Rate


ControlTreatment


!By addressing the customer’s anxiety through the tone of the email copy, they saw a 349% increase in total lead inquiries

1. People don't want to be marketed “to”, people want to be communicated “with”. Lead nurturing

is not a monologue, it is a dialogue. People don’t buy from companies, people buy from people.

2. Effective messaging requires one often overlooked skill on the part of the marketer: empathy

3. If the marketer can participate in the prospect’s conversation, they can guide it (with messaging)

toward a satisfactory conclusion (the purchase)

The Right MessageThe key principles for success

In one lead nurturing effort, you might be dealing with multiple prospects before the lead becomes a sales-ready lead:

So how does the marketer ensure that the right message gets to the right prospect?

CEO Practitioner Manager IT Admin

The Right Prospect

Sample Persona Diagnosis

Prospect-level Persona Diagnosis – The Business Manager (finding solution)

The Right ProspectBuild persona diagnoses for each prospect persona

• Use responsive scoring to help you assess the level of intensity for particular leads

• Scoring systems vary based on industry and organizational differences – but research suggests 3 common phases in the intensification process

SalesEngaged

Leads

INTEREST

INTENT

INTIMACY

Three Phases of Lead

Intensification

The Right TimeFocus on the three phases of lead intensification

38

Background: TAB helps organizations store and manage print and digital documents.

Goal: To increase the overall response to email lead nurturing efforts

Research Question: Which lead nurturing program will generate the greatest number of email responses?

Test Design: Sequential test of lead nurturing program

Case Study on The Right Time

• Company loosely defined a sales lead as anyone who downloaded a whitepaper, attended a webinar, or completed one of a range of other actions

• Number of leads generated was overwhelming for a salesperson – average salesperson did not have enough time to call or email all leads, so many leads were getting wasted

• Only nurturing effort in place was a regular generic email newsletter

Case Study on The Right TimeChallenges faced by the organization

Marketing decided to test a more targeted lead nurturing program to help qualify and

nurture leads before sending to Sales

Prospect #1: If I am a decision-maker looking for paper management solutions (paper only), why should I purchase from you rather than any of you competitors?

Prospect #2: If I am a decision-maker looking for hybrid management solutions (paper and digital), why should I purchase from you rather than any of your competitors?

Case Study on The Right TimeApproach to building targeted lead nurturing program

Focused efforts on the two main prospects:1

Prospect sees problem w/record management

Prospect desires to learn more about solutions

Prospect considers different providers

Prospect encounters resistance to solution

Prospect makes a selection

2. EDUCATION1. RECOGNITION 3. EVALUATION 4. OBJECTION 5. DECISION


Mapped decision sequence average prospect experienced during purchase/nurturing cycle

2

Case Study on The Right TimeApproach to building targeted lead nurturing program



Nurturing Track #1:

Nurturing Track #2:

Email #1 Email #2 Email #3 Email #4Email #5

Email #1 Email #2 Email #3 Email #4Email #5

Score: 15 Score: 30 Score: 45 Score: 60 Score: 75

Score: 15 Score: 30 Score: 45 Score: 60 Score: 75

Case Study on The Right TimeOrganize and build the nurture tracks

SalesEngaged

Leads

INTEREST

INTENT

INTIMACY

Email #1

Email #2

Email #3

Email #4

Email #5

Email #1

Email #2

Email #3

Email #4

Email #5

15

30

45

60

75

15

30

45

60

75

New Lead Nurturing Initiative

Case Study on The Right TimeIntegrating responsive scoring into nurture tracks

Overall increase in lead conversion rate of 32.6%.

650% Increase in Email Clickthrough

“Going forward, we are expanding the number of campaigns to reach other topics and we are going to use more complex decision-

tree logic to dictate the next message in the cycle.”

-VP, Global Marketing

Case Study on The Right TimeThe results

Lead Management for the Complex SaleA lead optimization process that goes beyond lead capture

Brian Carroll

Free Lead Scoring Tool

• Lead Score Card Template is a basic lead scoring guide to help you begin scoring leads

• Most common qualities and triggers included – you simply have to assign scores

• Extra space included to customize score card with own qualifications and triggers

• Template simply designed to help you get started – may be helpful to fill out with Sales

Lead Score Card Template

Free Resources

Lead Management for the Complex Sale

Business

Transcript of Lead Management for the Complex Sale