Sales and Marketing Alignment / Lead Management Programs

In his fascinating report Kellogg Lead Response Management Survey, he studied several key questions: 

There are some great insights about the way most companies respond to new leads. For example:

• the most common timeframe for a first attempt to contact a new lead was found to be within 8 hours, long after the best time to reach the prospect
• it usually requires 2-3 calls to a prospect before making first contact (so no one should be giving up after the first call)
• the majority of companies don’t keep metrics on lead development programs and have no idea what happens once to leads get turned over from the marketing to sales organization

There is also a great interview with Dr. Oldroyd over at the Sales Machine blog with insight on outside sales and cold calling:

GJ: How is outside sales changing?

JO: Outside sales responsibilities are becoming more and more like inside sales jobs. An average of 41% of outside sales activities are done over the phone. Companies need to provide similar tools to support both kinds of groups.

GJ: How can I apply this research to sell more?

JO: Always give priority to your newest leads. If you have a lead that is two hours old and one that just came in, focus on the on the one that just came in. If you do the opposite, you’ll always be fighting an uphill battle trying to reactivate leads that are already dead.

 Further reading:

>> Kellogg Lead Response Management Survey

>> See the The Mad Scientist of Cold Calling