tends to roll toward the mean as
people at very large companies
downplay their size while those at tiny
companies pad their numbers; and
people sometimes lie because they do
not wish to reveal personal details.
To avoid relying on inaccurate
information, a solid lead management
approach should also take into
account a prospect’s behavior,
such as Web site visits, white paper
downloads, email opens and clicks,
etc.
3.) Not accounting for recency and
frequency of prospect behavior
The fi rst behavioral component is the
action itself. But beyond that, you
must also account for the recency
and frequency of the behavior—how
often and how recently a person took
an action. This is a critical component
of a successful lead management
solution. Any good sales rep knows
that the quality of a lead changes
both over time and as more or less
interaction with the prospect occurs.
For instance, consider the difference
between a prospect who takes a
product demo today and another who
took it six months ago. The behavior
is the same, but the person who most
recently took the demo clearly is more
likely to be in an active phase of the
buying cycle. In another example, a
prospect who visited your Web site
10 times this month is clearly more
engaged than someone who has
visited just once.
The art and science of lead
management is critical to streamlining
likely to engage in meaningful conversations fi rmagraphic information can be vital as you the lead-to-sales process and
with leads rather than spending time needlessly correlate attributes of leads that generate improving marketing ROI and impact
chasing down cold opportunities. sales. For example, you might fi nd that mid-size on company revenue. And a key
companies in the Western United States appear attribute of top-performing BtoB
A solid lead scoring approach not only helps to have a greater affi nity for your product than marketers is their ability to build
sales to rank prospects against each other, but those on the East coast. You could adjust your processes and systems that effectively
can smooth the lead fl ow and help you build marketing efforts and lead scoring techniques track and manage leads. Lead
a more powerful and accountable marketing accordingly. management has traditionally required
organization based on rigorous analysis and a lot of hands-on maintenance.
testing, rather than intuition and educated Although valuable, the information prospects But fortunately, powerful tools are
guesswork. provide such as occupation, company name, now available that automate these
company size, and timeline to purchase can also processes for marketers. Now, by
2.) Relying solely on self-declared prospect be unreliable: Self-reported information tends fi xing a few avoidable mistakes, BtoB
information. to be aspirational as people give answers they marketers can focus on what’s really
Self-reported data, such as demographic and believe are more desirable; company information important – the bottom line.
22 marketingtimes
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