LeadGen Quick Start Series: The Science of Converting More Leads Into Deals

Henry Bruce, PresidentThe Rock Annand GroupJune 28, 2011

About The Rock Annand Group

■ My Focus: B2B Software and SaaS solution companies

■ Typical engagement scope/deliverables: Client acquisition strategy/program development Go-to-market strategy/positioning/messaging Sales and marketing alignment

• Strategic sales tools to drive pipeline performance/execution

Interim VP/Director of Marketing

■ My Background: VP Sales/Marketing/Strategy Extensive sales and field ops/exec management experience Check me out:

• www.rockannandgroup.com

• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/henrybruce

• Twitter: @hebruce

Some interesting stats to consider …

■ Only 3 to 7% of new lead inquiries are “sales-ready”

■ 70 – 80% of “inquiries” have “latent” demand and

therefore go uncalled on by the sales team

■ 87 out of 100 deals were initially left behind by sales

■ Takes 7 – 9 proactive communications to get attention

■ Best-in-class sales and marketing teams generate 4x

closed deals than average teams

Focus on Lead Quality … NOT Quantity

Inquiries

Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)

Sales Accepted Leads (SAL)

Sales QualifiedLeads (SQL)

Closed/Deals

Inquiries

Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)

Sales Accepted Leads (SAL)

Sales QualifiedLeads (SQL)

Closed/Deals

Funnel Stage Average Good BestInquiries 10,000 10,000 10,000

MQL 5% 7% 10%500 700 1000

SAL 58% 65% 75%290 455 750

SQL 50% 58% 60%145 264 450

Closed 22% 26% 30%32 69 135

Source: Sirius Decisions 2010

Demonstrate Thought Leadership

■ Focus on your buyer’s problems … NOT products Start with the primary problem you solve

■ Break the problem down into 3-4 main themes Why multiple themes? Buyers each have their “hot-buttons”

■ For example: eSignature Process Automation Audience: Financial Services (banks, lenders, debt services) Problem: Customer service expectations and regulatory

compliance strain operational efficiency and increase costs Themes: Focus on process areas

• Automated account opening• Loan origination and consolidation• Debt consolidation• Customer account management

Program Fundamentals: Focus on 1 Theme for First 90 Days

■ Develop one good white paper Usually involves re-purposing an existing collateral piece Focus on the problem as it relates to the buyer Talk about the recommended solution as it relates to you BUT

don’t mention your product Relate a client case study and highlight the results they achieved No more than 1000 words, ideally 500-600 words

• Hint: the length of a good blog post

■ Develop a 90 day campaign focused on that theme Month 1: Promote the white paper (email, BLOG post, tweet) Month 2: Webinar on the white paper (ideally with client) Month 3: Recap with white paper, webinar and client case study Create a separate landing page for all program components

Program Fundamentals:Focus for Next Two Quarters

■ Repeat the campaign cycle for theme #2 in Q2, theme #3 in Q3, etc■ Other recommendations:

Optimize for search for each campaign If permission-based contacts is a problem, consider using reputable

third party publishers (like DemandGen Report) Drive themes to other media channels

• LinkedIn • Twitter• Syndicated sites, guest blog posts

Re-purpose each white paper into other formats• Blog posts, Voice-over slides, YouTube video, etc

Provide links to theme #1 Establish “Welcome Campaign” for Inbound leads:

• When someone hits the web site or opts-in for newsletter or downloads content as part of specific campaign

• Qualify interest (preferences)

Telemarketing

Online Marketing Direct Mail

Web site Email Trade Shows

Sources

Database

(CRM System)

Targeted Communication

s

& QualificationLead

Evaluation & Scoring – How

sales ready?

Sales

External Partners/Sellers

Automated Ongoing Communications

Sales Ready (Yes)

Not Sales Ready (Maybe)

Lead Gen & Management

Relationship Management

Drive to Buy/Refer

Build Relationships Influencers/Buyers

Source: Forrester, Aberdeen Group, Sirius Decisions

Program Fundamentals:Establish Lead Management Platform

Summary and Take Aways

■ Focus on lead quality NOT quantity

■ Demonstrate thought leadership to gain credibility

■ Focus beyond the immediate quarter

■ Establish platform that fosters community

■ Test and measure everything ,,,

Thank you … Any questions??

henry@rockannandgroup.comTwitter: @hebruceLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/henrybruce Blog: www.rockannandgroup.com/blog