Best Practice Report

Identifying And Resolving Second-Lead Syndrome In Demand Management

July 6th, 2018
Terry Flaherty, VP, Principal Analyst
Terry Flaherty VP, Principal Analyst
With contributors:
Karen Traikovich , Shayna Neuburg

Summary

When managing their demand, organizations often place disproportionate value on new leads in new prospect accounts, while disqualifying or ignoring subsequent leads from the account. This tendency, known as second-lead syndrome, often results in limited insight on buyer group engagement in the initial opportunity, as well as missed opportunities in the account. Implementing demand management processes that leverage demand units can eliminate second-lead syndrome and maximize the value of each account.

When B2B organizations make assumptions about leads and their value, they limit their ability to achieve an account’s revenue potential. In particular, organizations suffering from a common affliction known as second-lead syndrome assign a disproportionate amount of value to the first qualified lead from a new account and fail to recognize the full value of additional leads within the same account, which significantly impairs the effectiveness of their demand management processes. In this report, we define second-lead syndrome and provide guidance on how to diagnose and eliminate this process inefficiency.

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