The awareness of the importance of lead management is at an all time high in the B2B world. Most often, the job of developing and implementing the lead management process falls to marketing. Yet often, marketing is ill equipped to manage the task. Often this is because they don’t have the authority or “pull” necessary to get sales buy-in, secure operational resources, or authorize expenditures. In many organizations the development of lead management process dies on the marketing door-step because as one CMO echoed to me, “We just don’t have the voice within the organization to get everyone’s attention.”
Much of this “lack of voice” is a result of the marketer’s own doing. So, perhaps getting lead management in through another door is more appropriate. Perhaps the area of lead management would be better received if Sales drove it. To that point, here are 4 reasons why it just may be better to let sales drive lead management.
1. The Voice of the Customer
The lead management process enables organizations to have a better dialogue with the buyer. It not only allows for engagement with their buyers, but it helps them manage the conversation at every stage of the buying cycle, thereby leading to more sales faster. With this understanding, doesn’t it make sense to entrust lead management to those with a better connection to the customer (i.e., the sales people)?
If you look at much of the marketing content available today, you have to wonder if the creators (marketing) understand that they are speaking to buyers (people) who have real needs and want real solutions. Look at this example from a popular IT Vendor (Names have been removed to protect the not-so innocent):
“Vendor gateways provide comprehensive, flexible and extensible security solutions, while keeping security operations simple and affordable. With integrated hardware appliances, independent or pre-defined bundles of software blades, and virtualization options, a vendor solution can be customized to fit the needs and budget of any size or type of business.
Vendor gateways are modular, centrally managed software blades to tailor targeted network security solutions to specific business security needs. Firewall, intrusion prevention, Web security, anti-malware, and other security gateway software blades can be combined for a customized solution.”
Do IT people really speak that way? (Maybe they do when they’re together at parties.) I’ve worked with hundreds of IT folks over the years, and although their technical knowledge is far superior to mine, I’ve never heard this kind of speak from any of them.
Although marketers are gaining ground in understanding and engaging the buyer, sales is in the buyers’ world every day. They have a better perspective on the buyer journey, the buying process and the buyers language.
2. R-E-S-P-E-C_T
As echoed by my CMO friend, marketing often doesn’t have the voice or respect throughout an organization that sales does. Many marketers I speak with repeat the same refrain: “We are a sales driven organization.” This is not necessarily a bad thing. It actually can be used to drive real change through an organization. So, if you can’t beat them, enable them.
If it’s true (and it is) that a solid lead management process will have a positive impact on revenue, and if it’s true (and it is) that nothing gets sales charged up like revenue, then leverage that to implement lead management. A motivated sales force that has the attention of those in the organization should be used to the company’s advantage. Use it to drive the lead management process.
3. Measured by Revenue
As mentioned above and shown in various research studies, the development of a lead management process will lead to an increase in revenue. Since sales is already measured by revenue creation, it seems natural that they would also be the ideal candidates to drive the lead management initiative.
Marketers traditionally haven’t been leaders in terms of driving revenue. While that is changing in some organizations, the overall traditional focus of marketers has been top of the funnel activity (just get more leads). This historical focus has made it hard for marketers to rally their organizations around the development of process. On the other hand, sales is paid to generate revenue. When they have new ideas that will drive more revenue, often times organizations listen.
4. They Are The Ones Who Benefit Most
At the 2010 SiriuDecisions Summit, it was reported that only 2-5% of raw inquiries ever convert to sales. This is an extremely low amount which paints the picture of a very constricted funnel. With these rates, it’s no wonder sales has traditionally ignored leads sent from marketing.
One of the outcomes of a well defined and implemented lead management process is higher quality leads (leads that have a higher propensity to buy) being sent to sales. Ask any sales person if they would like those kinds of leads, they will respond with a resounding “Yes!”. Better leads mean more sales, which mean higher commissions. So, since sales is the main internal beneficiary of a defined lead management process, they may just be the key group to lead the initiative.
So, ask yourself, what’s more important: Getting lead management in place, or determining who leads the charge? The reality is that regardless of what team or group leads the development of lead management process, it’s a necessity for increasing revenue. Marketing and sales should figure how to do so in a collaborative fashion. In his Selling Power Blog, Gerhard Gschwandtner states – “Organizations that want to win must find a way to get sales and marketing to speak with ONE voice. Ideally, sales and marketing leaders should be able to complete each other’s sentences.” This one voice includes working together to define, develop and implement a closed-loop lead management process. Marketers, if that means you follow sales’ lead, then so be it.