The Science of Converting More Leads Into...
Transcript of The Science of Converting More Leads Into...
Today’s Speakers:
Featuring: Henry Bruce President The Rock Annand Group @hebruce Moderator: Andrew Gaffney Editor DemandGen Report @agaffney
About DemandGen Report
- Launched in 2007 to track best practices in lead generation
- Newsletter has grown to more than 25,000 readers
- We also offer a menu of research and best practices reports
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LeadGen Quick Start Series:
The Science of Converting More
Leads Into Deals
Henry Bruce, President
The Rock Annand Group
June 28, 2011
About The Rock Annand Group
■ My Focus: B2B Software and SaaS solution companies
■ Typical engagement scope/deliverables:
Client acquisition strategy/program development
Go-to-market strategy/positioning/messaging
Sales and marketing alignment
• Strategic sales tools to drive pipeline performance/execution
Interim VP/Director of Marketing
■ My Background: VP Sales/Marketing/Strategy
Extensive sales and field ops/exec management experience
Check me out:
• www.rockannandgroup.com
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/henrybruce
• Twitter: @hebruce
Some interesting stats to consider …
■Only 3 to 7% of new lead inquiries are “sales-ready”
■70 – 80% of “inquiries” have “latent” demand and
therefore go uncalled on by the sales team
■87 out of 100 deals were initially left behind by sales
■Takes 7 – 9 proactive communications to get attention
■Best-in-class sales and marketing teams generate 4x
closed deals than average teams
Focus on Lead Quality … NOT Quantity
Inquiries
Marketing Qualified
Leads (MQL)
Sales Accepted
Leads (SAL)
Sales Qualified
Leads (SQL)
Closed/Deals
Inquiries
Marketing Qualified
Leads (MQL)
Sales Accepted
Leads (SAL)
Sales Qualified
Leads (SQL)
Closed/Deals
Funnel Stage Average Good Best
Inquiries 10,000 10,000 10,000
MQL 5% 7% 10%
500 700 1000
SAL 58% 65% 75%
290 455 750
SQL 50% 58% 60%
145 264 450
Closed 22% 26% 30%
32 69 135
Source: Sirius Decisions 2010
Demonstrate Thought Leadership
■Focus on your buyer’s problems … NOT products
Start with the primary problem you solve
■Break the problem down into 3-4 main themes
Why multiple themes? Buyers each have their “hot-buttons”
■For example: eSignature Process Automation
Audience: Financial Services (banks, lenders, debt services)
Problem: Customer service expectations and regulatory compliance strain operational efficiency and increase costs
Themes: Focus on process areas
• Automated account opening
• Loan origination and consolidation
• Debt consolidation
• Customer account management
Program Fundamentals: Focus on 1 Theme for First 90 Days
■ Develop one good white paper
Usually involves re-purposing an existing collateral piece
Focus on the problem as it relates to the buyer
Talk about the recommended solution as it relates to you BUT don’t mention your product
Relate a client case study and highlight the results they achieved
No more than 1000 words, ideally 500-600 words
• Hint: the length of a good blog post
■ Develop a 90 day campaign focused on that theme
Month 1: Promote the white paper (email, BLOG post, tweet)
Month 2: Webinar on the white paper (ideally with client)
Month 3: Recap with white paper, webinar and client case study
Create a separate landing page for all program components
Program Fundamentals: Focus for Next Two Quarters
■ Repeat the campaign cycle for theme #2 in Q2, theme #3 in Q3, etc
■ Other recommendations: Optimize for search for each campaign
If permission-based contacts is a problem, consider using reputable third party publishers (like DemandGen Report)
Drive themes to other media channels • LinkedIn
• Syndicated sites, guest blog posts
Re-purpose each white paper into other formats • Blog posts, Voice-over slides, YouTube video, etc
Provide links to theme #1
Establish “Welcome Campaign” for Inbound leads: • When someone hits the web site or opts-in for newsletter or downloads content as
part of specific campaign
• Qualify interest (preferences)
Telemarketing Online Marketing Direct Mail Web site Email Trade Shows
Sources
Database
(CRM System)
Targeted
Communications
& Qualification
Lead Evaluation
& Scoring – How
sales ready?
Sales
External
Partners/Sellers
Automated Ongoing
Communications
Sales Ready (Yes) Not Sales Ready (Maybe)
Lead Gen &
Management
Relationship
Management
Drive to Buy/Refer Build Relationships Influencers/Buyers
Source: Forrester, Aberdeen Group, Sirius Decisions
Program Fundamentals: Establish Lead Management Platform
Summary and Take Aways
■Focus on lead quality NOT quantity
■Demonstrate thought leadership to gain credibility
■Focus beyond the immediate quarter
■Establish platform that fosters community
■Test and measure everything ,,,
Thank you … Any questions??
Twitter: @hebruce
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/henrybruce
Blog: www.rockannandgroup.com/blog