Why sales squander leads – and what to do about it

Here’s an exercise - ask each person on your sales team to explain how they manage their leads. Whether it’s an inbound lead from marketing or someone they met at last week’s conference, there should be some type of system in place. Right?

How many different answers would you likely receive?

We talk extensively about achieving consistent results through a repeatable sales process. Unfortunately, such a best practice approach is often absent before the funnel - despite it being the basis for creating the opportunities that will help us reach quota.  

Unless your team is already a well-oiled prospecting machine, here are a few reasons sales squander leads and what you can do to address them.

Problem 1: No structure

Let’s say you have a converted website visitor. How quickly should a sales person reach out to this new inbound lead? Should it be via email or telephone? Is there a script or email template in place to ensure everyone shares the same story? What is the next step after the initial contact and when does it need to take place to ensure momentum?

Some type of engagement is great. It beats a cold calling list. However, your sales people always need to know the next step, just like in the sales process. Map out how your sales people should engage with new leads, from initial contact to sales qualified lead.

Problem 2: No segmentation

Sales have different types of leads. They can be converted website visitors, contacts from networking events, or referrals, to name a few. Now, different types of leads require different engagement levels. A website visitor should be contacted ASAP, whereas the contacts you’ve kept in touch with at a major strategic account might only require a monthly touch.

Make sure to segment your leads based on source. Next, make sure the steps in the “campaign” for each type is relevant. You don’t want to flood strategic contacts with multiple emails and phone calls and you don’t want to wait two weeks before a website visitor has been contacted.    

Problem 3: Not enough touches

We are all busy and overwhelmed. Even if someone downloaded your white paper, the odd email or phone call won’t keep you top of mind. Research shows that anywhere between 7 and 13 contact attempts are required to get a hold of the relevant people and earn the right for further engagement.

Again, map out all the contact points required (that’s more than 2 or 3) and when they need to take place over time.    

Problem 4: Using the same contact methods

Too often, we rely on the same form of communication when reaching out (I’m looking at you, email). Make sure to incorporate the telephone, Linkedin and other social media when connecting with your leads.  Where do your targets customers go online to seek advice and guidance and how can you and your company be seen in these contexts?

Problem 5: Reaching out to the same contacts

Decisions in B2B sales is not made by one person. Yet we keep reaching out to the same contact over and over again. I know, I know. That was the person who looked at the webinar you hosted, so it seems relevant to engage the already engaged. However, to gain traction we need to cast a wider net. Make sure your contact attempts include reach outs to other people in their organization. If four people at a company have received something of value from you, they’ll likely to bring it up in their internal conversations at some point.

Problem 6: No sales qualification criteria

Even if you do what we’ve covered so far really well, it is of little value if the companies you’re contacting are unlikely to buy from you. Subsequently, you need to put in place specific sales qualification criteria that must be met before converting the lead into an opportunity. 

I can’t stress this enough – document what constitutes a sales qualified lead for your organization and make sure your sales people use these criteria when qualifying new leads.

Problem 7: No system to manage leads

Effectively managing your leads requires a system. Trying to do this manually will consume an enormous amount of time. The tools you employ should allow you to segment by source and map out all the steps and activities – yes, all 7 to 13 of them - required to either disqualify the lead or convert to an opportunity. Preferably, it will make sure you keep going even after you feel like giving up – which usually occurs somewhere between the second phone call and first InMail. 

How to get started

First, segment your leads based on source.

Write down all touches required for each lead type, including when (e.g within 24 hours after handed over from marketing), method (phone, email, social media) and who (remember, you need to contact more than one person).

Make sure you add supporting documents to each touch – such as email templates, relevant content and important questions to ask.

Next, write down your sales qualification criteria. You can get granular later – for now, base them on your ideal customer profile. Make sure these are communicated to your sales team so they use them as the basis for either disqualifying or converting a lead into an opportunity.

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