Four Ways To Grade Lead Management Maturity

Mature lead management processes pay off in better sales follow-up rates and higher close-rate percentages for marketing-generated leads. To define a realistic road map for process improvement, B2B marketers must sit with sales, telesales, customer support, and field marketing to benchmark lead management processes. Process improvement starts by agreeing upon common lead quality definitions and working to alter long-standing beliefs, practices, and organizational structures in favor of streamlined practices that report on opportunity progress at every stage in the sales process. More mature firms then work to refine processes that capture lead quality information; validate, score, and classify leads; improve lead routing precision and efficiency; develop programs to nurture leads that don't yet warrant sales attention; and define metrics ¿ and create visual tools ¿ that directly identify marketing's contribution to the sales pipeline and closed deals.