There is some good news. It comes in the form of research and advice.
In Q4 of 2008 The Bridge Group, Inc. surveyed over 125 North American technology companies on inside sales implementations. The focus areas were metrics and compensation.
There are some points from the survey worth considering:
- Where Lead Gen Reports. In 74% of the companies, Lead Generation reports to Sales, up from 68% in 2007. This aligns with other recent research. The reason for this is that Sales believes Marketing isn't getting the job done for them and they need to take control of their own destiny, or at least a component of it.
- Mistakes. The Bridge Group points at three mistakes sales managers make that limit productivity for the Lead Generation group: a) providing product training and not sales training, b) not providing a documented process supported by compelling sales tools, and 3) not providing coaching. ESR's research bears this out as well.
- Touches. To the question, "On average, how many touches (from both sales & marketing) does it take to convert a 'suspect' to a 'prospect'?" the response was an average of seven! For companies focused on SMBs the average number of touches was five. For enterprises, it was eight. Clearly an effective lead nurturing approach can make a significant impact.
There is a reason that President Trish Bertuzzi and The Bridge Group possess an unusually high level of experience and depth of practical knowledge in the area of lead generation. They completely understand their customers and their market. This report must be required reading for every sales and marketing leader in small to mid-size technology companies.
Photo credit: © James Steidl - Fotolia.com
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