How To Get More On-Target Leads

One of the best ways to increase the number of on-target leads generated by your current marketing tools is to pay close attention to what is known as lead scoring. Lead scoring is a calculated value designed to rank the customers who are most likely to purchase additional goods and services from the company. However, to maximize the use of the lead scores and get the most from your CRM system, here are some ideas worth considering.

In The Loop

Make sure that everybody is in the loop. Many times the data available to the lead scoring system comes from a single source – the website. But there are other sources of information that need to be included – sales representatives, leads acquired at company events and conventions, and even the odd customer inquiry from out of the blue. Taking the time to make sure the complete set of data is entered into the system will present a more accurate picture of the lead scores.

Trust Your Data

While instinct and experience can be valuable tools, trust your data first. The reason you have the CRM system is to maximize your sales efforts. It is not the sole source of information and analysis, but it gives you the facts you need to confirm (or deny) your business assumptions. The numbers don’t lie. Remind your sales teams that lead scores along with their experience are a team as well.

Stay Focused

Get everyone to be and stay on the same page. Lead scores are pointless if there are two different sets of interpretations. Marketers and salespeople may interpret the value of a lead score differently, resulting in salespeople either missing potential leads or ignoring the lead score system altogether. The easiest way to avoid this conflict is to have the sales and marketing people meet and come to an agreement on what the lead scores mean to each group. Everyone will benefit when a compromise is reached when interpreting lead scoring systems.

Prune The Deadwood

Have a pruning strategy. Allowing lead scoring systems to stagnate over time without evaluating the criteria they use to calculate lead scores is counterproductive. Pruning should include a marketing review of which marketing campaigns are actually generating leads that can be processed by the team. Time spent on low result campaigns yields little, if any, return. Cut out the campaigns that are minimally productive.

Reassess And Re-evaluate

Continually reassess and re-evaluate your lead scoring model. This means that as the company grows and adds new product lines the rules of the lead scoring system will need to be modified. The business climate changes continually, and so should the criteria as to how you select your future customers. At least every quarter, sales and marketing teams should sit down and discuss the theory of the value of the lead scores with the actual results the sales teams experience. When the rules are changed to match the experience, the result will be more meaningful lead scores and a higher rate of return on the CRM system.

Remember that any computer system is only as valuable as the information that it produces. It is people that make that information useful and profitable in a business. Lead scoring systems, like most things, require periodic maintenance to perform at their best. The more accurate and complete the information going in is, the higher the quality of what sales and marketing people get.