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The Sales Lead Center: Everything About Sales Leads
As always, don't hesitate to ask me for help if the information and guidance provided in the Sales Lead Center does not answer all your questions! Related Links: Sales Process Management • Qualified Sales Lead • Sales Lead Sheet • Cold Calling Tips • Cold Calling Techniques • Cold Calling Scripts The Difference Between Sales And Marketing One you have a valuable commodity to take to the market, the marketing engine kicks in and utilizes the elements of the Marketing Communication Mix to communicate your message to the market. And an Integrated Marketing Communication strategy ensures that the various components of your Marketing Communication Plan are in sync with each other. The marketing audience here is any and all persons that fall within your demographic target audience. It is only once you have a qualified prospect that the sales engine starts in earnest. The difference between sales and marketing is the same difference between speaking to a group of people versus speaking to just one person. On the one hand, the two may seem like black and white, that is, complete contrasts. However, closer observation reveals that the best group speakers are those that have a personal relationship with their audience and speak to them as if they were chatting with a friend, alone, one-on-one. The Sales Lead Center is where you learn how to capture this successful personal element in your marketing efforts as well as sales.
The same analogy holds true for sales and marketing as well. Why should your marketing message and approach be different from your sales approach? It should not be. Sales has long taught that the key to success in business is putting the customer first. "You" Marketing teaches the same. Your message and how you deliver it should always be warm, friendly and personal. You should always focus on how the customer is benefiting first. Why design marketing campaigns around blaring, self-aggrandizing messages that your salespeople joke about in front of customers?
Sales and marketing both perform the same purpose which is to engage, inform and persuade someone to do business with you. "You" Marketing defines this "persuasion" as the process of enabling the sale by demonstrating to the customer's satisfaction that doing business with you is in their best interest. The first step in the sales process is persuading the customer to give you the time of day, that is, create a qualified sales lead. The Sales Lead Center is the starting point for all of the Sales Lead related information on Sales-And-Marketing-For-You.com. As you go through this information, a common theme that arises is how marketing and sales are treated as functionally the same. The only difference is that sales targets an audience of one (person or entity) whereas marketing targets many. In the first instance, your job as a business person is to make sure that a customer's faith in doing business with you is well-founded, that is, that you have a beneficial product, service or idea that will immeasurably improve their situation. Another way of putting this is that you have created value. Sales Lead Generation is the first step in creating customers for this value.
Because lead generation lies exactly midway between the Sales and Marketing functions, it is sometimes governed by the marketing department and is sometimes seen as a part of sales. The real distinction, once again, is that you will engage your sales team wherever and whenever there is a "live" prospect who is ready to embark on the next step and requires individual attention. The Sales Lead Center and related resources simply views sales lead generation as an activity that falls right in between sales and marketing. Marketing "throws out the net" to generate a qualified sales lead in the form of a prospect who has a basic understanding of your product or service. The prospect also meets a basic number of the VBANT or similar criteria as defined by your marketing programs for sales success. You will define for yourself what number of the VBANT qualification criteria - Vision, Budget, Authority, Need, Timeframe - a prospect should have to move into the sales cycle and become a forecasted opportunity. Direct Marketing techniques such as direct mail, catalogs, coupons and inserts, telemarketing, online marketing and television infomercials are use to generate preliminary sales leads. These initial leads can then further qualified by telesales personnel before being passed to the sales team. Direct Marketing is the set of Marketing Communication Mix techniques that involve direct interaction with the customer.
Sales Leads have assumed the importance of a magic answer to many companies. This is especially true for fledgling companies eager to make their mark without the benefit of an established product. "If we can just generate enough leads we'll be alright," says the VP of Sales to the VP of Marketing. "My team will be able to convert them into sales." Do you feel the same way? The problem with this line of thinking is that it appeals to the "quick fix" way of thinking whereby we want the rewards without the hard work. Experience shows that this is just not a viable long term solution. Regardless of whether or not you outsource your Lead Generation program, your sales team needs to be able to do the "heavy lifting" required to generate leads as this is very much the same skillset that is required to turn leads into deals. The Qualified Sales Lead and Sales Lead Sheet sections contain information on strategies, tactics and attitudes for successfully generating qualified sales leads through prospecting and proper qualification. The Lead Generation Companies page furthers the discussion on outsourcing your lead generation program and provides links to sales lead providers for further inquiry. Whether or not your do outsource your sales lead program, it is a good idea to know about the fundamental principles contained in this Sales Lead Center and related resources. As always, don't hesitate to ask me for help if the information and guidance provided in the Sales Lead Center does not answer all your questions! Related Links: Sales Process Management • Qualified Sales Lead • Sales Lead Sheet • Cold Calling Tips • Cold Calling Techniques • Cold Calling Scripts Return to HOME from The Sales Lead Center
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