No Lead Left Behind

Why B2B Sales Lead Management Needs Another Blog

January 5, 2010 at 4:09 pm | Posted in Lead Management | 1 Comment
Tags: Channel Sales Strategy, Lead distribution software, Lead Management Software, Lead management solution, lead scoring

In my line of work I’ve been exposed to a lot of research, visited numerous sites and blogs, and attended conferences left and right.  Between that and problem solving for our existing clients, I’ve come to know a lot about B2B sales lead management. Credit is due to the “masters” I’ve met and heard speak over the years; Brian Carroll, Howard Sewell, Steven Woods, many of the people at Marketing Sherpa and others.  Yet I believe a large part of the B2B lead management space has been neglected.  It’s possible that I’m the only person who thinks this is a big deal.  I’m talking about manufacturing companies that sell through a complex channel:

• Dealers
• Branches
• Value added resellers
• Distributors
• Wholesalers
• And any combination of the above, indirect mixed with direct

It’s probably due to the complexity of handing off leads to possibly hundreds of individually owned and operated companies (while still needing to prove ROI).  Almost all marketing departments are tasked with filling the pipeline with leads.  Now imagine you’re responsible for filling the pipeline by channel, based on each channels’ revenue goal for the year.  The dealers get 42%, internal employees get 42% and VARs get 16%…  Unless the lead is within a specific geography, or for a specific product line that only one channel carries, or for a specific promotion that is channel-specific regardless of ratios or territories.  This takes sales lead management to the next level. 

I’m not just talking about qualifying, scoring, nurturing and loading leads into your CRM solution.  This can’t be done when you’re selling through channels.  Imagine trying to talk 450 independent dealerships into paying for a license to salesforce.com so they could view and follow-up on leads (especially if they are multi-line). They aren’t going to do it and the costs don’t scale anyway.   Furthermore, how can you hand them a lead and then nurture it if you don’t know what activities they’re performing against the lead?   And maybe the biggest hurdle; how do you get them to report sales back to you so you can tell which lead sources are closing and therefore successful?  

How do you ensure there is “no lead left behind”?

B2B sales lead management for the channel is a different animal. I’ve been working in this space for almost 10 years now and want to share what I’ve learned while soliciting feedback from others that are in the same boat.  I’m looking forward to your comments, questions, suggestions and replies to my rants and raves.