Exhibit of the Month:
Effective Lead Retrieval, Part II - Establishing Credibility for Your Leads
Last month we discussed how to get the most out of the leads you generate at trades by qualifying and prioritizing them. Still, none of that means very much if your sales representatives ignore those hard-earned, costly, leads.
Here's the challenge: Typically, good sales representatives spend a large amount of their time and energy chasing down their own leads, and so they likely believe that their leads are the reddest and hottest on the planet. Your leads, by contrast, may seem like unknown quantities or even just so much busy work to make the marketing department look good. The result: your reps may not give them the attention they require. Therefore, you need to persuade your sales team that the leads you’ve generated are actually for real. Here’s how:
1. Before you collect the information, explain your lead retrieval process to the reps. Involve them in the process of creating the lead qualification questions to be asked on the show floor. Also, don’t brag too much about your efforts and don’t imply that there’s anything wrong with the sales department’s work. Your leads are designed to help them make more sales, not to supplant their efforts.
2. Provide them with whatever research information you have on the company in question: How much is its annual sales? What is their budget for your product? Does it have a history of using your product? Do you have any inside information – or even relevant gossip – that might be helpful?
3. If you have the information on hand, provide them with past “close” ratios on leads generated at trade shows versus other types of leads. If these ratios look promising, it will encourage them to pursue these leads more actively.
4. Make sure the leads get to your sales department on time and typo-free. It may seem like a minor point, but nothing hurts your credibility with sales people more than an incorrect phone number or e-mail address. Sales people hate wasting time.