Real World Rules for Lead Scoring & Prioritization What Really Defines a Hot Prospect?
Today's Presenters Sham Sao is Chief Marketing Officer of OneSource Mr. Sao is responsible for OneSource s strategic marketing and global lead generation efforts. Lisa Cramer President LeadLife Solutions, Inc.
Today s Agenda Finding Your Sweet Spot: How Do You Identify & Attract Priority Prospects? Not All Prospects Are Created Equal: Seeing the 360 Degree View of a Prospect by Appending Data The Case for Lead Scoring: Why Marketing & Sales Need to Find Common Ground Lead Scoring & Prioritization Real world rules for evaluating & scoring leads
Research Shows According to Forrester Research 48% of B2B Marketers reported that lead quality is a top concern On average only 16% of the total leads that are deemed sales-ready opportunities actually close But many companies still not using lead scoring because Lack the expertise around lead scoring Have incomplete information on leads (e.g., missing data such as revenues, employee counts, industry, etc.) Sources: Forrester Research, The Aberdeen Group 2009 Lead Life Cycle Management Study and 2008 Lead Prioritization and Scoring Study.
The Challenge Quality is #1, but Quantity is in the top 3 need to deliver both. Getting it right is critical because if the criteria is too loose, you get too much junk; if it s off or too tight, you miss good leads
Benefits of Scoring Enables Sales to close more good business Empowers Marketing to run the right campaigns Helps Sales and Marketing get on the same page Drives results for the business overall
Prioritizing by Objective Goals by Product/Region: Grow revenues as quickly as possible? Maximize profitability by selectively focusing growth? Increase throughput by closing more deals, faster?
Getting a Clearer Picture Add to sales & marketing database or CRM system (Industry, Sector, Functional Area, Title, Geography)? Improved account planning More completed leads with shorter form (more leads) Corp Family Tree Info Co. Profile & Industry News Rep Notes Better targeted marketing campaigns Lead prioritization Prospect Supplied Info Appended Data
Poll Question Have you analyzed what types of deals close the fastest, generate the most revenues, and drive the most profit by industry, size, region, etc A. Yes, we do this B. No, we do it based on gut-feel C. No, but we are planning on doing this D. No, we are missing some of the data we need
Lead Scoring & Prioritization Defining a Hot Lead Needs Nurturing? WARM COLD HOT WARM Sales Ready?
Why Lead Scoring? Lead scoring has become crucial for marketers. Leads must be scored and prioritized for appropriate action. Otherwise, you ll be wasting, time, effort and your budget.
Leads Flow In Inquiries and suspects flood in to marketing from all directions: o Email o Website o Events o Whitepaper Downloads o Google AdWords o Banner Ads o Direct Mail
Guidelines of a Sales Ready Lead What makes a good lead a good lead? o Fits the criteria of a qualified lead defined by your sales and marketing departments. Title, size, industry, geography, etc. o History and behavior. What are they doing on your site? What are they downloading? o Shows interest in what you are buying and selling. They come back to your website repeatedly or respond to your nurturing programs. Bottom Line: A good lead is one that fits your company criteria combined with showing an interest in what you are selling.
Lead Scoring & Prioritization Marketers must figure out how to sort through and find valuable leads while they are hot.
What is Lead Scoring? The process by which marketing can distinguish (prioritize) leads that are sales ready versus those that should be nurtured further. o Method of assigning point values to different criteria for each lead that comes into your organization. o By ranking and prioritizing leads you can decide the likelihood of that lead becoming a customer.
Types of Scoring Types of Scoring Demographics: Information about the prospect o Ex: Company size, job title, geography, etc. Behavior: Monitoring the prospects behavior o Ex: Website visits, whitepaper and/or case study downloads, etc. Demographics + Behavior = The complete picture of your lead.
Lead Scoring Model Lead prioritization is a different discipline than categorization, more attuned to Marketing action than Sales. It comprises a set of levels for suspects, leads and Sales-ready leads. A very basic scoring scheme might look like this: Note: Do not expect to get your scoring scheme right the first time. It s a process, so remain flexible to adjust based on experiences.
Customer Example Look for engagement with the content before having any further conversations. How many points is that engagement worth? o If/then statements o Is attending an event more important than a Webinar? o How many activities need to happen = engagement? o If nothing happens for 6 months do you reduce? o Keep it simple
What Do I Score? An example of what you can score Scoring from an Email Campaign 2
Metrics that Matter By implementing a lead scoring and nurturing process LeadLife customers have found: Increase in qualified leads by 78% Decrease in sales cycle from months to weeks Increase in first call contact success rate from 12% to 85% Decrease in cost of sales by 10% Improved conversion rates up to 3x Increase in quality of leads going to sales
Lead Scoring Poll Q: Do You Currently Have a Formal Lead Scoring Process? A. Yes, we have an automated lead scoring process in place B. Yes, but we do our lead scoring manually C. No, but we are moving towards a manual lead scoring process D. No, but we are considering an automated lead scoring solution
Want to Learn More? To request a Product Demo from LeadLife email info@leadlife.com or Call 1-800-680-6292 Receive free trial access to OneSource: www.onesource.com/leadgen Special Offer for Call-Ins Only: Receive 25% off your data enhancement project (add new contacts or business information, update existing contacts, de-dupe your database) 1-866-632-1910 To request the slides from today's presentation please email info@leadlife.com
Questions & Poll Results
Poll Question Have you analyzed what types of deals close the fastest, generate the most revenues, and drive the most profit by industry, size, region, etc A. Yes, we do this B. No, we do it based on gut-feel C. No, but we are planning on doing this D. No, we are missing some of the data we need
Lead Scoring Poll Q: Do You Currently Have a Formal Lead Scoring Process? A. Yes, we have an automated lead scoring process in place B. Yes, but we do our lead scoring manually C. No, but we are moving towards a manual lead scoring process D. No, but we are considering an automated lead scoring solution
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About LeadLife Solutions Overview: LeadLife Solutions, Inc. is a provider of on-demand lead management software that enables B2B marketers to automatically track, score, prioritize and nurture leads. With LeadLife s flexible and intuitive software you can increase the value of your lead generation dollars online/offline, qualify sales leads, shorten sales cycles and increase your marketing ROI. At LeadLife it s not only about leveraging automation, but also delivering lead management best practices to increase marketing and sales success. For more information on lead management and our best practices, please visit www.leadlife.com or call 1-800-680-6292.