Lead Progression and Lead Nurturing eBook

© Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Lead Progression and Lead Nurturing

2 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Buying Patterns Have Changed!

Reports by Sirius Decision and CSO

Insights show that buyers are progressing

through 70-80% of the buying cycle

before engaging directly with a sales

person.

Four-fifths of buyers say that they found

the seller rather than the other way

around.*

Many companies we interviewed say that

it is far more difficult to get a buyer on the

phone, and to meet face to face,

compared to two years ago.

.

* Source Ardath Ablee - eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale


Changing Preferences

Today, the power lunch and the in-person PowerPoint presentation have

been replaced by websites, blog publications, social media discussions and

downloadable content as the main form of communication during the early

stages of the buying cycle.


A recent study by Forbes Magazine

found that on a daily basis:

• 49% of C Level Executives

regularly use the internet

• 57% of senior management at large

corporations use the internet

• 85% of all business respondents

use search engines

Consider This


Buying Behind Closed Doors

Because the internet provides ready access to

the information they need to help them make a

buying decision, buyers are now reluctant to

meet with sales people.

Ninety-five percent of the people who visit your

website are there to do research – educating

themselves on the kinds of solutions available.*

An overwhelming number of buyers say that

they learned nothing new as a result of their first

meeting with a sales person.

Much of the buying process now takes place

without a sales person is present!

* Source Brian Carroll ‘Lead Generation for the Complex Sale’


Keeping the Seller at Arm’s Length

Our own research shows that only 10-25% of

new leads are willing to engage with a sales

person early in the buying process. The rest

push back on entering traditional sales

engagements.

In reality, these leads are not cold. The buyer is

conducting research, generally online

research, preparing to make a buying decision.

It’s estimated that 70% of these ‘cold’ leads will

eventually buy a related product or service.*

To ignore these leads is a great waste of

opportunity, since they are actively looking for

a solution!

* Source InTouch


Continual Cold Calling Will Drive Them Away

Yet, in desperation, some sales people continue to relentlessly pursue early sales opportunities. This reduces the chance of winning a deal. Buyers report that persistently pushy sales behavior is one of the biggest factors in making them not engage with a seller.

From a CIO’s point of view, an unsolicited cold call tops the list of things that annoy them.


There has to be a better way!


Lead Nurturing and Lead Progression

Lead Nurturing is the process of providing the

right content at the right time based on the

stage in the buying process.

Lead Progression is the act of persuading

buyers to take next steps to move forward in

their buying journey. It’s the art of creating

pipeline momentum.

For more information on this: click here

http://www.espressob2b.com/blog/bid/47932/Potato-Potahto-Is-there-a-difference-between-lead-progression-and-lead-nurturing


In the early stage of the buying cycle, prospects are looking to educate themselves on products

and services — they are not yet ready to be sold to. Unfortunately, most marketing materials are

too sales oriented and company centric and often ignored by potential buyers.

Research shows that sharing information that is unnecessary or not relevant can reduce your

chance of winning a deal by 45%!1

1 Marketing Sherpa

Identify Business

Need

Interest

Explore General &

Informational

Education

Solution Specific

Proof of Concept

Reference Stories,

Testimonials

ExploreVendor

The Right Content at the Right Time


Identify Business

Need

Interest

Stage 1: Business Need – At this stage, buyers are struggling

with issues or challenges that impact their ability to meet

business goals and objectives. They may have experienced

problems for some time, or it’s possible that a compelling

event has led to a search for a new solution.

Either way, your buyers are seeking general and educational

information – they want to know what others are doing to

solve the problems they face. But all too often we see

companies hurl white papers or customer reference stories at

buyers during this early phase. This can confuse rather than

enlighten the buyer.

The buyer is looking for is information on what others

(preferably with a similar job title, in a similar sized company,

and in an relevant industry sector) are doing to solve these

problems.

At this point information needs to be geared toward industry

trends, business issues and the need to look at alternative

solutions.



Explore &

Educate

Education

Stage 2: Explore and Educate – The prospect is now actively

interested in educating himself about ways of initiating

change – and understanding what this change might mean

to the company.

At this point, the most effective discussion here is one

focused on the buyer’s pain points – exploring types of

solutions available. The goal is to provide information on

solutions and to get the buyer to understand the value of

making a commitment to change.

Painting realistic scenarios that demonstrate your value

proposition is appropriate and relevant at this point – but

again, this needs to be presented in an educational and fact-

based discussion.



Solution Specific

Proof of Concept

Stage 3: Solution Specific – Now the buyer is committed to

change and is narrowing focus to a short list of solutions –

he’s starting to look at solution capabilities to understand how

specific issues and challenges can be addressed.

Bear in mind, your buyer may have to do internal selling to

get his management, direct reports or other teams on board,

so sharing information on the benefits and advantages of your

solution is important. Enabling the buyer to envision how your

solution will work for him and his company is key.


Courtesy – Ardath Albee



Explore

Vendor

Decision

• Stage 4: Explore Vendor – At this stage, the prospect has

built a business case, has gained a level of competence about

the subject matter, and is about to make a decision.

The buyer is now looking for justification for selecting a

specific solution – he’s looking for information on ROI,

expected benefits, risk mitigation and any other factors that

might impact a successful implementation of your solution.

This is a good time to share customer success stories and

demonstrate how others have achieved success.

You need to distinguish your organization from others

providing similar solutions. Showcase your unique value

proposition. Demonstrate how your company’s assets – your

expertise, product capabilities, existing client list –

differentiates you from the others.


Provocation to Advance the ‘Journey’

Call to action strategies and provocation points advance the buyer’s journey forward.

Here’s a list of some that we have seen used effectively:

• Specific actions, such as down load a white paper

• Topical news items (such as Wikkileaks, Economic News, Corporate reports)

that could spark interest and generate buyers’ action

• Regulatory changes and the impact they have on specific businesses

• For more information on sales provocations: click here

Identify Business

Need

Interest

Explore General &

Informational

Education

Solution Specific

Proof of Concept

Reference Stories,

Testimonials

ExploreVendor

Provocation

PointProvocation

Point

Provocation

Point

http://www.espressob2b.com/blog/bid/43330/Lessons-from-my-plumber-how-to-unclog-a-lead-generation-pipeline


Right Content at the Right Time

Delivering appropriate content at the right time in the buying cycle is one of the best ways

to establish yourself as a thought leader – one who stands apart from all the other sellers

on the market.

Tailoring the content you share to job position, industry and company size will also establish

you in a leadership role.

• 82% of prospects say content targeted at

their specific industry is valuable

• 67% say content targeted at their job is of

interest

• 49% say content targeted at their

company size is of interest

1 Marketing Sherpa


Buyers Look to Buy from Someone They Trust

More than 70% of the time, trusted advisors come away with the sale!

Source: Susan Mulcahy ‘Evaluating the Cost of Sales Calls’


Getting Started in Six Steps


Create a Definition of a Sales-Ready Lead

1. Create a definition of a sales-ready

lead.

The definition of a sales-ready lead

will vary from organization to

organization. To be sales-ready, the

lead must be willing to meet with a

sales person or move forward in the

sales cycle.

Our research shows that leads that

are not sales-ready tend to clog and

choke the sales pipeline, diverting

selling resources away from high-

value, prospect-facing activity – and

generally inhibit sales teams from

meeting revenue targets.


Establish a Lead Nurturing Funnel

2. Establish a lead nurturing funnel that

is separate from the sales funnel.

Have the marketing team manage

the sales funnel passing leads to

sales only when they hit the agreed

sales-ready status.

3. Move all non performing – those

not yet sales ready – into a

nurturing funnel. This will improve

the health of your sales funnel and

enable the sales team to focus on

those deals that have the greatest

chance of closing.


Map Your Content to the Buying Stages

4. Map content to stages in the buying

journey for each of your target

buyers.

Focus on the buyer roles involved in

the purchasing decision, and for each

buyer role develop a content map.

We recommend developing a sales

frame to help with this process. More

information on sales frames can be

found by clicking here.

Imagine an electronic dialogue

conducted with the buyer at each step

of the buyer’s journey.

Don’t limit yourself to white papers

and data sheets alone – consider

engaging content pieces such as

videos, recorded webinars and

animated presentations.

http://www.espressob2b.com/go-to-market-message-white-paper/


Map Your Content to the Buying Stages

5. Develop an outreach program to

nurture and progress leads.

What we have found to be effective

is building one piece of content for

each stage in the buyer’s journey –

tailored to each specific buyer role.

Each content piece is then placed

behind a landing page where

access is granted only after contact

information is given. For more on

the best way to build landing pages

check out this article.

http://www.espressob2b.com/blog/bid/57689/Ten-Can-t-Miss-Tips-for-Landing-Page-Optimization


Track, monitor and manage your leads

6. Track, monitor and manage.

Existing tools enabling you to track

and score leads using complex

algorithms. These tools often

enable automated lead follow up

based on buyers’ reactions to your

outreach campaign.

In the programs that we run for our

clients, whether automated tools

exist or not, it is critically important

to track email open rates, click-

through rates and landing page

conversions. Contacting a prospect

within hours of them downloading a

white paper will dramatically

increase the chance of converting

that prospect to a sale by as much

as 20 times.

In a future paper we’ll be talking more

about measuring open and click through

rates and landing page conversions.

Many thanks for downloading this paper –

successful selling!

Lead Scoring image courtesy of Marketo, Inc.


Contact Information

Thank you

Mark Lennon

650.346.9683

[email protected]

Dave Brown

650.291 1001

[email protected]

Documents

Lead Progression and Lead Nurturing eBook