The Sorry State of Sales Leads Today

It’s no fun being a B2B salesperson today

They are being given an impossible task.

A new study by Vorsight and The Bridge Group Inc. points out the sorry state of sales leads today. You can download the study here. A survey of over 1100 B2B salespeople shared some damning statistics.

A very small percentage of companies are excellent in this important area. How do you measure up? Is this a problem for you too?

Here are two take-aways:

What Percentage of Marketing-Generated Leads  do you Feel Fit your Sweet Spot? (i.e. company fits your Ideal Customer Profile)

Only 7% had 3 out of 4 or more in Ideal Customer Profile. Over half (53%) said fewer than 1 in 4 fit the target profile.

Marketing is missing targets, plain and simple.

It gets worse. Of the few that fit the target profile which are key executives?

Of Those that Fit your Sweet Spot, What Percentage are Decision Makers or Strong Influencers?(i.e. significant role in the buying process)

Only 12% said 75% or greater.  Almost 3 out of 4 (73%) say less than 1/2, which most of those saying less than 25%.

When one of marketing’s campaigns hits a target, it usually hits the wrong target.

Let me translate for you. “The leads marketing gives me are crap and the few that might fit have the wrong people identified.” I feel sorry for salespeople.

Here’s what the study authors had to say:

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

Creating Opportunity Smart organizations realize that the job of a Sales Rep is not to just “follow up on leads,” but rather to “create opportunity.”

• Sales Reps should view leads as arrows pointing to potential opportunity

• Rather than just calling the responding contact, Reps should use the intelligence gathered from a lead as part of their overall account penetration strategy

• Combining this information with what Reps know about the buyer’s market and potential challenges, they can contact a more appropriate Influencer, Decision Maker or Economic Buyer with a message that is more relevant and with a greater likelihood of resonating. This “arrow to opportunity” strategy eliminates the tendency to have a large number of non-influential people floating around Reps’ “tickler” queues and Marketing lead nurturing tracks. Top performers know how to identify a potential opportunity and engage the appropriate Executive(s) even if they weren’t directly identified as “the lead.”

Sales Managers need to understand the skillset that Reps require to successfully create opportunity and evaluate the skill level and ability of each of their Sales Reps to do these activities.

Jim Burns, CEO of Avitage and I are starting to plan a webinar on taking content and messaging all the way through sales. Stay tuned….