Ideas in Action: Cut Leads for Better Conversations

IDEAS IN ACTION:

CUT LEADS FOR BETTER CONVERSATIONS

Our IDEAS IN ACTION series digs into the lead pipeline for tactics that fill the gaps—and for Marketing and Sales teams operationally primed to flow with mutual benefit.

It’s against every instinct to deliver less rather than more—especially when your team is under pressure. But for smart marketers, that’s the new mandate. We don’t want to introduce everybody to our reps. They don’t have the time. We only want to introduce our reps to people ready to talk.

The new mandate is to operationalize providence—the right outreach to the right person at the right moment—but most marketers aren’t sure how, and most sales executives are skeptical. It’s a mindset shift. Let’s begin.

Yours in influence,

Zee Jeremic CEO + Founder MASS Engines

WHO WE ARE: MASS Engines works with multi-national tech companies helping them

ON OPERATIONALIZING PROVIDENCE

Sales connects what we do (the solution) with people’s pain (the problem). Every closed deal began with this connection made at the right moment. It’s the job of Marketing to lay the groundwork for that connection. It didn’t used to be, but it is now:

MARKETING’S NEW MANDATE

1 Find the right room

2 Find the right door

3 Knock at the right time

4 Set up sales for great, meaningful, and helpful conversations

Marketing automation seeks to make that art into repeatable science. But too often, under pressure for more leads, we fall back into The more leads we give them, the more chance they’ll find some decent ones in the mix. So let’s make the mix as big as we can.

With the best of intentions, we bury sales in an avalanche of leads of dubious value, and the friction between marketing and sales builds.

So what now?

How can we shift the legacy workflow, expectations, and status quo we’ve inherited, and shift our shared culture as well?

“The more leads we give them, the more chance they’ll find some decent ones in the mix. So let’s make the mix as big as we can.”

HOW MARKETERS CAN ORCHESTRATE GOOD TIMING FOR MORE CLOSED DEALS

Some of us would define good luck as fortune, advantage, and success. Others may call it providence: timing so perfect it almost feels like divine intervention. A person with a problem, up against a wall and at a loss as to how to proceed, hears a knock at the door and opens it to find the solution.

That’s the sales dream: to make a call and have a lead turn into, I can’t believe you’re getting in touch right now. My CEO has just lit a fire under us and I need help (tools, choices, guidance), and here you are… help!

Marketing has always done its best to get the brand out there. But for many sales reps, ‘out there’ in terms of general awareness isn’t what they want. They want in— into a warm and qualified room. General awareness can help prime the conversation, but it’s access to the right individual that will spark a deal. They need to reach decision-makers, and with providential timing.

In this ebook, we’ll rethink the lead generation mandate, bust a few myths open, and start charting a path through the classic friction between us and them. At the centre is the question:

Can marketing be a wellspring of sales luck?

Before we answer that question, let’s back up and ask: how did friction and disharmony become the status quo between sales and marketing?

In this ebook, we’ll rethink the lead generation mandate, bust a few myths open, and start charting a path through the classic friction between us and them.

Thanks a lot, internet.

Go back twenty or thirty years—well within many of our careers—and marketing was always responsible for broadcasting. We’d project the brand as far and as wide as we could so people would know us and what we do. Then, if people wanted to know more, they’d call and land with sales.

Sales and marketing didn’t particularly talk to one another, let alone collaborate. The silos were normal and natural. There was no other way. But then we entered the digital age and the explosion of information immediately blurred the handoff between the two.

Suddenly, prospects stopped calling. They didn’t need to. Totally under the radar of sales reps, they’d open their browser and find reviews, ask their peers for advice, and compare the specs of you and your competitors. They were assessing us on their own, and without us. Whether a brand was selling hotel rooms to individuals or multimillion dollar hardware to corporations, everything changed.

How everything changed for marketers

When prospects go to the internet for information, the burden of awareness as well as education—warming the room—falls on marketing. Sales has been cut out of the early-stage conversation. Marketing now must broadcast problem awareness rather than brand awareness, casting a signal that will draw prospects to us by ringing the bell of unmet needs.

But what’s the right moment to propel serious browsers into the meeting room? How we can we gauge their seriousness, and how can we smooth that handoff?

Most of all—how should marketers be measured, if we’re to focus on lead quality over quantity? If ‘less is more’ is our modus operandi from now on, how do we justify our budgets and direct our campaign strategy?

To convert more browsers into buyers—and to track marketing’s impact in helping sales to do so—it’s time to (finally) better align the two.

How should marketers be measured, if we’re to focus on lead quality over quantity? If ‘less is more’ is our modus operandi from now on, how do we justify our budgets and direct our campaign strategy?

HOW TO RESPOND TO CHANGE: THE NEW MINDSET

THE OLD WAY: MUTUALLY FRUSTRATED SILOS

More leads, less qualified

MARKETING

Growing brand awareness

Collecting data

Lead quotas (emails)

Potential opportunities (emails)

More complaints, less follow-up

THE NEW WAY: COLLABORATING TO SPEND TIME AND RESOURCES WELL

MARKETING & SALES

Fewer leads, more qualified

Growing problem awareness

Educating

Earning trust

Facilitating the sales handshake

Lead quotas based on revenue

Conversion optimization & Lead prioritization

More feedback, less wasted time

Following up with top prospects ready for conversations

Growing opportunities

Closing deals

Revenue quotas based on deals

SALES

Prospecting

Qualifying

Educating

Closing deals

Revenue quotas (closed deals)

The first scenario of two mutually resentful silos is familiar to anyone who’s been in the game long enough to be at the executive level. When marketing is largely measured by the volume of leads they generate, they’re incentivized to create as many leads as possible. And Sales faces a deluge of data to weed through, most of which goes nowhere.

The second scenario—the new mindset, aligning Sales with Marketing—ensures

With lead prioritization, we optimize the conversion of prospective leads to opportunities. We flag leads based on buyer engagement and profile fit, floating the strongest leads to the top.

From a hundred junk leads to twenty home runs

It’s not an easy pitch to tell a Sales team you’ll only give them a quarter of the leads they’re used to. But for Samsung Mobile, the first six months of a new lead generation mindset garnered more proof than even the Marketing team itself expected.

Imagine: A sales rep dials a contact number anticipating the usual cold-room response of Who? From where? How did you get my number?

But instead, the voice on the other end of the line says, “Oh! Samsung? It’s great you called. I was on your website the other day and I had a bunch of questions…”

In six months at Samsung, six hundred MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads) drove $129 million in opportunities into the funnel, resulting in $4 million in revenue. With vastly fewer leads than normal—but chosen thanks to intricate metrics designed with Sales—Samsung Mobile’s conversion rate from lead to deal jumped to 23.5%.

Samsung’s revenue boost was created out of thin air, and is an illustration of a process we’ve delivered for many companies.

Our Pipeline Builder approach 1) identifies leads most likely to convert to opportunities and deals; and 2) makes that process a repeatable, shared workflow for Marketing and Sales.

For Samsung Mobile, this shift gave a return of twenty times on their investment.

Tale as old as time: Sales was having a hard time meeting their revenue quota. They needed more leads. So we intervened with Marketing and said, Would you be open to a new type of a lead? People who haven’t raised their hand, but that are actively engaged? What if we could see them, and if they had the right profile? Oh, and also— these will not be the leads you’re used to. They’ll be better.

With Sales willing to try, we analyzed their opportunities:

• Who has been buying from you?

• What are the titles, demographics, industry verticals, and company sizes of your best deals?

• It’s the end of the day. Let’s say you’ve got three leads in your pipeline and only time for one more conversation. Which one do you call and why?

• What’s the pattern of behaviour that indicates more than a casual interest? How do you weed out tire kickers and spot people who are actively curious?

If you go into a dealership and you’re browsing cars, over-eager sales reps may approach you as soon as you enter. Chances are good you’ll brush them off. The

Samsung Mobile saw significant success in the first six months of adopting lead generation strategies.

Junk leads cut by 60% Opportunities up 10% +

Rejected leads down 67% +

+

Lead velocity up: MQL status by 91%

SAL status by 90%

Opportunity stage by 88%

=

Marketing contribution to pipeline up 183% Marketing contribution to revenue up 60%

experienced sales reps will wait, giving serious prospects time to make themselves known. They watch for signals of interest and readiness to engage. Samsung Mobile’s Pipeline Builder reproduced that dynamic twenty times over, and they’re not alone.

Return Path, a B2B software company specializing in email marketing, mirrored Samsung, cutting 50% of their junk leads. Doing so saved their Sales team a ton of time without losing a single deal, and the team agreed to act on a smaller number of stronger leads by following up with every single one.

Even small changes to the workflow tightened up their funnel. A simple tweak to their Contact Us form improved conversions from ‘visitor’ to ‘inquiry’ by 30%, bringing in an additional 1,000 new leads per year (for an ROI of 6,397%).

Return Path also reduced their MQL funnel by 67% with zero impact on the sales funnel, with a 487% ROI on a data-driven Predictive Analysis to Lead Scoring program.

Multi-billion dollar B2B company Wolters Kluwer would have recognized the same loop of friction and wasted time that led Samsung to change their workflow. A technology provider to a diverse array of industries, their Marketing team scanned constantly for as many leads as possible, but reps weren’t following up. There was too much junk. Frantic for something—anything—Sales didn’t know what else to do but scream for more leads doomed to wither on the vine.

First up, we analyzed what kinds of leads converted from a prospect to a confirmed opportunity. We interviewed top reps and management to prioritize for lead quality, and the Sales team was thrilled to follow up on the top 20 as well as give feedback on what was being rejected (and why).

And finally, SEA Mobile’s results were so good, they (and Mass Engines) won the highprofile Markie Cultivator Award for Best Lead Management Program. The Markies organization noted, “Marketers take customers through the maze of a buyer's funnel into the open arms of a ready and willing sales team. This Markie winner deserves a round of applause for crafting a lead management program with smart lead and account scoring that nurtures prospects, delivers dynamic results, and better aligns marketing and sales…”

A division of Samsung, the SEA Mobile team was the source of our It’s funny you called—I was just on your website… story from the field. Sales came back to Marketing in grateful surprise, overwhelmed with great conversation after great conversation from a highly targeted, much smaller list of contacts. Within just six months, 600 MQLs opened up $130 million in SEA Mobile’s pipeline, resulting in $4 million in revenue.

So how does Marketing transition from an avalanche of dubious, unqualified leads to far fewer—especially when Sales is in the habit of calling for more, more, more?

Wolters Kluwer analyzed what converts

“By eliminating junk, our qualified leads went down by 67%, but fewer leads had zero impact on what we sent to Sales. For us, fewer leads meant better results.”

EYTAN ABRAHAMS, DIRECTOR, MARKETING AUTOMATION, RETURN PATH

SEA Mobile saw ‘… conversions through the roof’

CONCLUSION

The better we understand who buys and who doesn’t, the better we can direct our attention for the best shot of a closed deal.

If we’re going to operationalize providence—the right outreach to the right person at the right moment—we need to do more than pause. We need to create a new workflow without interrupting the old one, designing in-motion, and switch over with confidence without looking back.

The stories of Samsung Mobile, Return Path, and Wolters Kluwer illustrate the jet fuel of a focused funnel. By boosting the the value of every MQL, set everyone free to do what they do best and spend their time where it counts.

WHERE TO START

1. Engage with Sales

2. Align with Sales on lead prioritization

3. Implement lead prioritization

4. Roll out and monitor for continuous improvement

Follow these steps to realize results similar to Samsung, Wolters Kluwer, and Return Path.

TOOLS AND TAKEAWAYS

1. Engage with Sales

Where to start step 1 | Fire Up Your Lead Quality with Marketing Talking Points

Ready to kick off your meeting with sales on how to improve lead quality but wondering what to say? This document is intended as a free, customizable tool for teams to use to improve lead quality. Use these talking points to guide your conversation and pair it with the Sales & Marketing Lead Quality Meeting agenda template to run a successful meeting between Marketing and Sales.

Fresh start <5 mins

1. We know it’s not working. We know that most leads we send are not converting for you.

2. We want things to change: we want to provide better leads and need your help to understand what great leads look like for you

3. We know your time is valuable: we will strive to keep all of our interactions with you as brief as possible

Build rapport, trust and confidence that things will be different this time

• Remember, your sales team has been burned in the past.

• This meeting is about moving forward, not dwelling on the past. Encourage everyone to do what needs to happen to help your company succeed.

• Contrition and humility will go a long way to reset the relationship

Who do you really want to talk to? ~15 mins

KEY TALKING POINTS TO COVER

1. What does a good lead look like for you?

a. What is their role, title?

b. What departments?

c. What industries?

d. What regions/states/countries?

e. If applicable, what products/product lines/ divisions are they interested in?

f. What else?

Get them talking so you can confirm your data

• Ask a lot of open ended questions. The “what else” question is particularly important once you’ve got them talking, as this is where the real nuggets live!

• Your goal is to get enough information (characteristics & details) so you can reassess what makes a good lead and determine what to keep from your current process, and what needs to be augmented

What happens next <5 mins

KEY TALKING POINTS TO COVER

1. Process: Here is what the process will look like:

a. marketing will analyze lead data along with feedback from this meeting (2 to 3 weeks)

b. develop an initial lead scoring mechanism to weed out prospects who don’t meet your criteria

c. review with sales

5. Time commitment: We will do 90% of the work. Our minimal ask of you is to provide disposition on every lead we provide. Qualify or disqualify with the click of a button. If you are disqualifying a lead, please select a reason

6. Feedback loops: We will look at every piece of feedback you provide and adjust the scoring mechanism to reduce rejections. We’re focused on a continuous and automated cycle of feedback and improvement

7. Address the elephant in the room: Lead volume will decrease, especially in the short term. But the leads you do receive will be better quality and have higher conversions.

8. Next steps & timeline: We can expect to launch within one quarter and then review every quarter thereafter

a. 2-3 weeks for marketing to review

b. 1 hr of your time to review the analysis

c. Ongoing qualify/disqualify feedback on every lead you get

PURPOSE/GOAL

Communicate clearly next steps, enabling the plan and execution to show the difference

• Focus on communication, collaboration & building shared buy-in

• Emphasize need for candid feedback on every lead in order to really see an improvement in lead quality

• Be realistic and transparent - lead volume will decrease

• Ensure they understand that marketing will be doing the brunt of the work

And there you have it! At the end of the meeting, be sure to thank your sales team for their time. And, if you can, try to finish with 5 minutes to spare. This will earn you extra cred with the team. If you find this document useful, please share! After all, this is all about building collaboration and alignment between sales and marketing.

2. Align with Sales on lead prioritization

Where to start step 2 | Fire Up Your Lead Quality with a Meeting Agenda

Need a proven template for your kick off meeting with your sales team? This document is intended as a free, customizable template to set the agenda for this conversation. Pair it with the “Marketing talking points to set you up for success” takeaway to build a foundation of trust with your sales team.

Sales & Marketing Lead Quality Meeting Agenda

Organization name:

Start time:

Meeting Goals

Attendees:

1. Identify characteristics of a great lead that converts for Sales

2. Agreement on the process for Marketing to send better leads to Sales

Expected Outcomes

1. Marketing is able to update lead scoring programs to send only high quality leads to Sales which will be continuously improved via Sales disposition on provided leads.

Prework

1. Marketing (optional): Conduct an rudimentary review / analysis of existing and/or historical opportunities to understand titles, industries other demographics that convert

2. Sales: none

Meeting Action Items Action

Who

Discussion around your answers to “What does a good lead look like?”

Date:

End time:

TIPS FOR RUNNING AN EFFECTIVE MEETING BETWEEN MARKETING AND SALES

As marketing leaders, make sure you:

Set the stage: send a SHORT email 1 day prior to the meeting to outline the meeting objective, agenda, length, and a light hearted reminder that it will be worth their time!

Are equipped to manage any conflict that arises: determine ahead of time how you will handle conflict, should it arise. Will you set up a parking lot, tackle offline, engage?

Stick to your allotted time: if your meeting is 30 minutes, keep it to 30 minutes. Better yet, strive to wrap early!

Wrap up with action items: identify who is responsible and by when

Send a meeting recap: share notes, summary and action items with everyone on the invite list, even if they didn’t attend the meeting

3. Implement lead prioritization

CHALLENGE 1

Sales Inundated with Too Many Low-Quality Leads

Without Clear Way to Prioritize

A pipeline full of low-quality leads lowers rep confidence in lead quality and increases time to follow-up with best leads

3

Buyer Intent Signals & Profile Fit

Leads are scored and prioritized based on both:

APPROACH 2

Qualify & Route Leads Based on Buyer Fit and Behavior

The aim of lead prioritization is to identify and surface the highest quality leads for sales pursuit

PROFILE FIT – is this person an economic buyer or on the buying committee

ENGAGEMENT –does their behavior indicate purchase intent

4

DETAILS – SCORING MATRIX

Combining Fit and Engagement to Determine Next Best Step

Scoring enables sales and marketing alignment on prospect nurture and qualification

DEPLOYMENT 5

Preserve Access & Enhance Lead Quality

Hand raisers will continue to be directly routed to sales

High relevance prospects researching solutions (attending webinars, consuming key material) will be surfaced if they are an ideal fit

4. Roll out and monitor for continuous improvement

Where to start step 4 | Lead Prioritization Dashboard

1

DOES EVERY SINGLE LEAD HAVE A SCORE?

90% LEADS SCORED

IS MY LEAD PRIORITIZATION WORKING? 2

MQL

How many got passed to sales?

SAL

How many did sales accept?

SQL

How many did sales qualify?

Your SAL to SQL is an important lead scoring signal. Think of it as the first sanity check point.

FUNNEL STAGE CONVERSION

3

WHAT REPORTS SHOULD I GENERATE?

Reports help move the conversation away from "I think/feel" to "I know".

4

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I REVIEW MY LEAD PRIORITIZATION?

FIRST QUARTER

Review rejects & accepts weekly

Adjust monthly

AFTER 3 MONTHS

Adjust quarterly

Review monthly

Slowing week over week improvements (i.e <5%) indicate majority of gain achieved.

% %

Measure your conversion at each stage of the funnel - from MQL to SAL to SQL. How many leads make it through each stage?

DATA COMPLETENESS

Do you have complete data for the criteria that you're scoring? If not, look to improve account intelligence with progressive profiling, or services like Demandbase and ZoomInfo.

INSIGHTS & PATTERNS

Review your conversion data for themes. Are there common characteristics of SQLs? Are there patterns of rejection?

5

HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD LEAD PRIORITIZATION TAKE?

Lead Prioritization is an ongoing process, but a good rule of thumb is:

15 to 30 minutes per week to review accepted and rejected leads

60 to 120 minutes per week to make adjustments