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How to Increase Lead Conversion Through Better Sales Effectiveness From Marketing to Sales: The Lead Handoff Challenge When marketers are doing well, they have a large stack of leads to give the sales team. However, large numbers of leads don t necessarily produce increased revenue, which can result in one of the most fundamental Marketing/Sales conflicts: Sales bemoans the poor-quality leads, while Marketing assumes Sales dropped the ball. But oftentimes, low lead conversions are the result of the lack of contextual information and support material that need to accompany the lead handoff. Left to their own devices, sales reps might research the lead, or search the portal for a case study or proof point to use as reference or they might just wing it. The lead handoff marks not the end of Marketing s involvement, but the beginning of a new phase one that requires its own content strategy to ensure sellers maximize lead conversion. Here are some concrete steps marketers can take to improve sales effectiveness and ultimately help increase revenue: 1 Right content, right time: support the lead to conversion process post-handoff 2 Create the right process for maximizing sales effectiveness 3 Measure Marketing s influence on Sales 2014 MobilePaks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1
Right Content, Right Time: Support the Lead-to- Customer Conversion Process Post Handoff Beyond Marketing Collateral: Help Your Reps Hold Better Selling Conversations Whitepapers, briefs, case studies and data sheets are important sales assets as sellers engage with prospects, but are poor teaching aids for reps. To better enable the sales team, add sales conversation guides, playbooks and quick job aids that actually help them stay on message and uncover the value they bring to a prospect. Examples work best, such as showing how other sellers have been successful with like prospects, or selling similar value in the product/service. Sellers tend to be opportunistic learners: they prefer to learn only what they need to know of the topic at hand, in the moment they need it. Packaging content in short, interactive modules (no more than 5 minutes of material) not only encourages use, it also helps reps quickly absorb and apply the information they need in a real selling situation. For maximum effect, pair these short, hard-hitting knowledge aids with marketing collateral so sellers use the right content to engage the prospect and have a better selling conversation. Create Content that Engages Prospects More Effectively Engaging prospects with the right marketing content can provide invaluable assistance to sales reps. Integrate a guided selling tool with the marketing automation platform to provide an additional layer of insight by tracking the content sellers share with prospects, and from there the prospects engagement with the material. This information can then be reported back to the marketing automation platform for enhanced lead scoring. Use this data to deliver the most engaging content for sellers to share with prospects and move them forward in the buying process. 2014 MobilePaks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2
Creating the Right Process for Maximizing Sales Effectiveness Get Interdepartmental Improving sales effectiveness is one of the most important opportunities to boost corporate revenue and growth. Work with both Training and Sales departments to identify areas of improvement for customer conversion then target those areas with the right collateral and knowledge aids. Match Support Content to Each Stage of the Buying Cycle Engaging a prospect at the earliest stages of the buying cycle, such as during the awareness or exploration stage, is very different from the later stages, such as evaluation and negotiation. Sellers need their support content customized accordingly. Materials can include quick training bursts, sales messaging and question examples, customer testimonials, and assorted reference aids that help them with having a good selling conversation. Identify the gaps where sellers need support at each stage of the cycle, then work to create the right assets to close such gaps. Make Content Access Easy Uploading content to a content portal doesn t guarantee that the sellers will be able to find or use the materials. According to IDC, salespeople waste an average of 7 hours a week hunting for the right content. More sophisticated sales enablement tools, like guided selling, can save sellers some serious time by automatically recommending relevant content in real time. When integrated with a CRM system (e.g., Salesforce, MS Dynamics, etc.), guided selling tools intelligently pair collateral with training bursts, reference materials, and job aids keyed to prospect data, sales stage, transaction type, buyer persona, and more. Besides saving sellers administrative time, marketers can ensure sellers are using the right content at the right time. 2014 MobilePaks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3
Measure Marketing s Influence on Sales Measuring lead to customer conversion is an important indicator of success. Marketing is instrumental in the build-up of this funnel, but their role in supporting the sales organization after prospects have become qualified leads can be equally powerful. In order to refine and improve this over time, marketers need a way to determine which pieces of content give the biggest bang for their buck and which pieces need to be retired. A handful of enablement tools and apps have emerged that now give marketers visibility into usage and value. Connecting such tools to the CRM system can provide rich insight, like which pieces of content are most used in closed deals, or correlating the usefulness of different content types with buying stage. Many also automate the process of gathering sales feedback, and allow the sales reps to rate the content they found most helpful. This data, combined with other information, can help drive more intelligent investment in sales support efforts. For example, if a particular product positioning paper is strongly tied to high-dollar wins for the quarter, but sales reps rate it only 3 out of 5 stars, that s probably a sign it s a high-value asset that could benefit from an update. These analytics are invaluable for boosting lead conversions because they enable Marketing to make intelligent decisions based on evidence, vs. guesswork or excessive influence by the loudest team members. Summary Converting leads to customers involves one of the most integrated, crossdepartmental acts of teamwork. Lead handoffs without support from Marketing are less effective because sellers do not necessarily know the most effective next steps in engaging those leads. Getting sellers the best content that s relevant to their needs throughout the buying cycle not only cuts down on wasteful non-selling activities, it helps them engage those prospects more effectively and ultimately, boost lead conversions. 2014 MobilePaks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4
About MobilePaks MobilePaks improves sales effectiveness and productivity with scalable products that help companies develop and deliver the most effective sales enablement content. Based on proven retention science, MobilePaks solutions are available as stand-alone web applications and can also be integrated with partner portals and CRM systems such as Salesforce, Oracle CRM and Microsoft Dynamics, as well as Marketing Automation Systems such as Marketo and Eloqua. For more information, contact MobilePaks at 1-800-737-8481 or visit www.mobilepaks.com. 2014 MobilePaks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 5