If you are measuring the effectiveness of your marketing programs by the number of leads produced without answering the question: “ What is a quality sales lead ”; you’re not only wasting your time and money, but that of your sales organization.
For years marketers have had to deal with the stereotype that what we do is smoke and mirrors. This perception, unfortunately, is not entirely undeserved because the numbers being used to measure marketing’s value were hard to understand or justify in terms of direct value to the organization. At the top of this list are figures related to awareness, brand equity, and impressions. These are soft measurements, meaningless to the sales organization.
To truly be effective, the quality of your marketing programs needs to be measured by the revenue they generate for your company. To do that, you need to set a standard for your lead quality that aligns with these goals. Once accomplished, you’ll not only be able to link your marketing programs to revenue creation, but you’ll also be more successful in building a strong, mutually beneficial relationship with your sales team.
All of this is done by developing a clear definition for a quality lead. The definition is agreed upon by your sales organization and it is one that guides at what time a lead is passed off from marketing to sales. Naturally this definition will vary to some degree based on your organization, but the following criteria are nearly universal:
- The prospect’s profile has been complete
- The prospect is aware of a problem and searching for a solution
- Budget is available to make a purchase
- The purchasing timeframe has been identified
Establishing these criteria in advance better enables you to measure the financial success of your marketing programs, justify your marketing strategy and most importantly quantify your value to your organization.
