No Lead Left Behind

This Lead is No Good!

OK, so this topic is getting a little tired.  There as many articles, blogs and tweets written about the quality of leads passed from sales to marketing as there are potholes in Michigan at the end of the winter.  But I’m going to throw one more snippet out there.  It has to do with the best way to build trust when you, as a marketer, pass a lead along to sales. 

If the lead is no good, ADMIT IT.  Say it’s no good, fix your process, and move on down the highway.  And make sure you give sales an easy way to tell you it’s no good.  Ask them these specific questions (and record their response with yes/no checkboxes on a webform) so you can fix the right part of your process: 

• Was the lead reachable? 
• Was the lead in market?  
• Did the lead come with sufficient information to allow for intelligent follow-up? 
• Was the lead a duplicate? 
• Was the lead ready to be called by sales? 

Finally, have a tenet in your Sales/Marketing SLA that demands quick feedback from sales on those questions.  Getting accurate feedback and addressing sales concerns quickly (including admitting when a poor quality lead slips through) will go a long way in building trust with your sales organization.

JT McDonald