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Lead Liaison

How Lead Scoring Makes Your Sales and Marketing Department More Efficient

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Lead Scoring Makes Your Sales and Marketing Department More EfficientLearn how lead scoring makes your sales and marketing department more efficient. Marketing automation has quickly became the hottest trend in B2B sales and marketing due to its ability to produce high quality leads that generate revenue while saving valuable resources like money, time, and energy. Lead scoring is an essential component of the marketing automation process. As leads are gathered and nurtured, lead scoring assesses their potential for conversion using pre-established criteria.

Lead scoring qualifies and quantifies a lead’s individual likelihood of purchasing based on their online profile. Every lead leaves a trail of evidence or insight into their character that can be beneficial to your sales and marketing team. It evaluates and prioritizes leads based on pre-determined demographic and behavioral factors that are unique to purchasing certain products or services. By profile unique to your target customers and then ranking new leads against it, marketing can determine how well each lead matches to the ideal customer profile.

Once leads are ranked, marketing will only passes on sales-ready leads for the sales team to pursue further. This way the sales department is only contacting potential consumers who are seriously interested in making a purchase. That is probably the most obvious way it will make your sales and marketing department more efficient, but it is not the only benefit.

Lead scoring quantifies each lead, plus it acts as an effective barometer to quantify current lead generation methods. For example, if your lead generation method is consistently generating low quality leads that are not ready, then you may be you are focusing on the wrong market segment. It could be that the marketing message that is being sent out is not in line with the products or services that are being offered. It also could be targeting buyers who are still in the initial stages of research. Regardless of the reason, a constant generation of low quality leads is a sign that the lead generation method and overall marketing strategy needs to be reviewed and revamped.

Lead scoring improves efficiency by providing the marketing automation department with a reliable and powerful source of feedback. By giving clear, concise and measurable information, such as what stage the current lead is at, or what are the chances this lead is ready to be converted into a customer, or even what methods of interaction that have been successful so far, lead scoring can be used to enhance lead nurturing efforts and further engage the potential consumer with additional relevant content.

Also, lead scoring works well because it brings in more loyal customers. Customers obtain during the marketing automation process are obtain by developing a strong and meaningful relationship. Leads that convert will feel a connection with the company based on appreciation for educational or helpful content. This increased loyalty will save your marketing department the time and expense of securing new customers when others fail to come back.

Marketing automation is designed by nature to improve inefficiencies and lead scoring is vital in that process. Generating sales-ready leads, evaluating current lead generation methods, providing useful information for lead nurturing, and developing more loyal consumers are all ways that lead nurturing can improve the efficiency of your sales and marketing department.

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Building Your Lead Scoring Matrix: What to Include

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Building Your Lead Scoring MatrixInclude key items when building your lead scoring matrix. Before you can determine a lead score for a marketing contact, it is important to determine the criteria that will be used to calculate that score. A typical lead scoring matrix will rank leads according to explicit (demographic) and implicit (activity) criteria. Explicit scoring criteria define who has been contacted and provide fundamental data that reveals whether the contact is relevant to your business. In many lead scoring programs, explicit criteria is assigned a grade, such as A, B, C, etc. Types of demographic grading criteria should include:

  • Company Name
  • Location
  • Revenue
  • Industry
  • Title
  • Number of Employees
  • Products Purchased
  • Competitors
  • Relationship
  • Lead Source
  • Partners
  • Timeframe
  • Environment Technologies (CRM, ERP, etc)
  • Email Type (personal, professional)

Implicit criteria are used to score activities which a lead has performed that are relevant to your business. Most lead scoring programs will assign points for implicit criteria, such as 0-10 points. A lead scoring matrix should include:

  • Website traffic – Frequency of website visits, which pages have been viewed, and the duration of each visit/view.
  • Phone calls – Number of phone contacts with representatives and duration of conversations.
  • Press release views – Number of views, article type, and article sharing activity.
  • Books/eBooks requests – Publications viewed, ordered or downloaded.
  • Content requests – White papers, infographics or product manuals viewed or downloaded.
  • Content subscriptions – Requests for newsletters, updates, news or other ongoing content.
  • Video views – Viewing frequency, video tag searches, and duration of viewing.
  • Webinars attended – Number of webinars attended, duration of attendance, and most recent event attended.

Negative criteria should also be included. Typically, decremented scoring adjusts a lead’s rating for factors that make a lead less desirable, such as a lack of response to marketing messages. Negative scoring criteria include:

  • Unsubscribing from an email list
  • Lack of website product pages visited
  • Request to be added to Do Not Contact list
  • Inactivity period

There are many other factors that can be included in a scoring matrix. One model may not fit all companies, but it is important to include essential scoring criteria that can clearly differentiate a hot lead from a cold one. To learn how our lead scoring software can help prioritize your leads, contact Lead Liaison for more information.

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Three Key Rules for Developing Lead Forms

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Three Key Rules for Developing Lead FormsB2B marketers have a plethora of tools available to gather information about marketing leads. One of the more effective methods is using online lead forms. Using a form to capture relevant data about a lead allows you to organize leads, personalize marketing messages, and score behaviors. There are three key rules for developing lead forms.

Developing effective forms requires thoughtful consideration about what information you want to gather and how forms will be used within a lead nurturing system. The first rule of lead form development is: don’t get greedy! Asking for too much information too early in the qualification and nurturing process can put any future relationship at risk. The most effective lead forms for a newsletter subscription or white paper download will only ask for a name and email address. Once the email address is collected it becomes an alternate communication channel, and an opportunity to deepen the relationship. So ask for minimum information up front then earn permission to request more.

The second rule of lead form development: keep it fresh! Rotating questions is a form development technique in which new questions are posed each time a lead revisits a form. For instance, a lead that visits a product page must enter a registered user name and answer a few questions that reveal qualifying criteria – such as company size, revenues, and industry – in exchange for an in-depth video about the product’s features. The next time that lead visits the same product page, she enters her username and answers three different questions that reveal need – such as purpose for visiting page or growth expectations – in exchange for a live chat Q & A session.

Protecting personal identifiers should be an essential factor in developing lead forms to gather information. Therefore, the third rule of lead form development is: keep it safe! Security verification certificates are commonplace among internet vendors providing online transactions, and should be included in any marketing page that contains a form. Secure socket layer (SSL) certificates present you as a trusted vendor to your leads, and can provide them peace of mind when sharing company information.

A final note: default form fields should be left blank. If your form has a default setting which returns a certain score in your lead scoring matrix, then the possibility exists that the lead will not select the another option. Often a lead will plow through a form by selecting the default option. Therefore, the score may be inadvertently skewed, and worse, not clearly represent a lead’s actual circumstance. For example, using “executive” as a default setting for a lead’s position may not clearly specify her position within the organization. If the associated score for a response of “executive” is 100, but the lead turns out to be a middle manager with a score of 15, then the resulting score won’t accurately reflect that lead’s appropriateness.

Lead Liaison offers companies professional-grade web form and landing page design solutions.  If you’re interested in visually creating forms and landing pages using drag/drop technology and using advanced techniques such as progressive profiling, form pre-fill and more let us know! We’d love to earn your business.

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Use Lead Scoring to Increase the Chance of Conversion

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Use lead scoring to increase the chance of conversion. Marketing departments are collecting endless leads through demand generation activities such as email list sign-ups, events, and website registrations. Every lead has a unique profile and potential based on how they were obtained. Lead scoring is a powerful tool that can dramatically increase a company’s chance of conversion by ranking and qualifying leads prior to handing them over to the sales department.

Use Lead Scoring to Increase the Chance of Conversion

Identifies where they are in the buying cycle

Every lead is at a different point in their buying cycle. Lead scoring rates each lead using a pre-determined set of criteria to identify both their potential to purchase and their behavioral triggers. This method allows only leads with a high likelihood of conversion to be given to sales, which will ultimately increase the chances of turning each scored lead into a sale.

Buyers online activity is priceless

Savvy buyers are spending more and more time researching products online prior to purchasing. Their online activity is a clear indicator of their interest and position within the buying process. This information can be priceless, when scored and ranked.

Prioritize based on the ideal lead

Lead scoring starts with a relevant list of criteria that is based on the ideal lead profile. The criteria should determine which leads have the highest potential for conversion and which are still in the infant stages of their buying cycle. By prioritizing leads, a company can redirect leads that are not ready to purchase back to the marketing department for further lead nurturing.

Improve the efficiency of the sales team

This process will improve the efficiency of the sales department, since they will no longer be wasting their time on unqualified or unlikely leads. Lead scoring also provides a more in depth profile of a quality lead’s characteristics, making it easier for sales to relate to specific leads and hopefully convert them into a new stream of revenue.

Quality over quantity

The number of leads given to the sales department will most likely drop significantly, but the odds of converting the leads they do receive will more than make up for it.  Statistics show that lead scoring can increase the chance of conversion by up to 80%.

Increased chance of connecting with a lead

The better a salesperson understands a lead and their behavioral and demographics characteristics, the more likely they will be able to connect with the lead. The new trend in marketing is based on creating meaningful relationships with leads, since consumers are more likely to purchase from a company if they feel a connection has been made.

Lead scoring is based on quality over quantity. It gives the sales department more qualified leads, as well as an inside advantage on the lead’s specific needs which will significantly increase the chance of conversion.

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Implicit Lead Scoring, What Really Matters

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Implicit Lead Scoring - What Really MattersLead scoring rules for B2B marketing automation programs may differ across various lead management architectures. An attribute such as a lead’s company position may receive higher scoring in one program than in another. But most programs will include explicit and implicit lead scoring matrices. While explicit, or physical, scoring is critical to lead qualification, it is the implicit, or behavioral, scoring that can really determine how sales-ready a lead may be. And we’re not just talking about establishing a score for a single website visit; effective scoring also includes the level of a lead’s interest.

There are several implicit scoring considerations that should be included when developing a lead scoring system.

Website Visits

How did a lead find you? The path a lead takes to land on your site may reveal some attributes like buying authority and need. Internet searches generally indicate a greater urgency or interest; therefore, scoring for a website visit should reflect how a lead arrived at your site.

How many and which pages were viewed? Site engagement is an important lead scoring criteria. The pages a lead will visit can indicate the level of buying authority and purchase imminence. Also, the amount of time spent viewing your content can reveal buying authority or influence and timing.

Webinar Attendance

Don’t forget about webinars as a variable in implicit lead scoring. When a lead attends your webinar, the score should reflect the deeper commitment to participate in your marketing efforts. This commitment may indicate buying authority, need, and timing. Time spent in attendance may reveal buying influence. A lead’s level of participation should also be used in your scoring metrics. Did she raise any questions? Those that ask questions are typically more interested than those that simply attend.

Content Download

Most automated lead scoring programs assign a score for content downloads. But not all download scoring is the same. For example, a lead who has downloaded free content should warrant a low to medium-level score, whereas a lead who pays for a download should receive a higher score.

It’s also important to score the type of content and the frequency of downloads by a lead. Has a lead requested a single white paper download or has he subscribed to a newsletter? Content download activity may reveal buying authority and need. It’s important to score the curious differently than the active buyers.

Email Activity

Email response is important as well, and scoring for this activity should include variations to reflect interest levels. Leads that open your email may all likely have a need for your solution. Their interest may be passive or active, but a lead who has opened a marketing email should be assigned a score that indicates an elevated level of interest. Click-through activity is also an important indicator that should be accounted for within an implicit score matrix. Leads that follow an embedded link may be close to sales-ready status.

If you would like to learn more about effective lead scoring, contact a Lead Liaison representative today!

 

 

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Three Important Criteria for Lead Scoring

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Three Important Criteria for Lead ScoringScoring the quality of leads is not an exact science, but there are ways to determine if a lead is worth nurturing toward a sales engagement. Lead scoring includes metrics that account for buying authority, interest level, budget availability, and purchase timing. In order to accurately qualify a lead’s readiness for a sales engagement, your lead scoring framework should include three criteria: match, activity, and depreciation.

Match as a Criteria for Lead Scoring

The first step in qualifying any lead is to determine if a lead matches an optimal lead profile (OLP). The OLP includes all the attributes which make a lead a solid candidate for a sales engagement. The most qualified leads will fit the profile completely; in some cases, a lead might match some profile criteria but require nurturing in order to determine whether she is a complete match. Your marketing tools should extract enough details about each lead to allow you to determine if a lead is a match.

In order to receive a high score, a lead should possess the appropriate attributes of having buying authority (which can include decision-making influence), a budget that can accommodate the purchase, a need that can be fulfilled with your offering, and an imminent desire to purchase.

A match is primarily scored according to demographics such as industry, company position, revenues, location, company size, and other definable characteristics.

Activity as a Criteria for Lead Scoring

A lead’s behavior should also contribute to scoring his sales-readiness. The activities a lead performs while engaged with your marketing efforts will reveal his propensity to purchase, as well as identify his role in the buying process. A lead that appears to be actively researching available options should score higher within most automated marketing programs than a passive, curious lead.

Scoring should measure more than the type of activity a lead is engaged in. Scores should also reflect how involved he is in the buying process. What interest level is he at? What type of activities has he participated in? How many engagements have taken place? A fully engaged lead will hit several touch points during his research.

The duration of activities, such as website visits, or the frequency of actions, such as content downloads, can indicate the interest level. A lead that spends two minutes viewing a company profile on your website should score lower than one that spends ten minutes reading product descriptions.

Depreciation as a Criteria for Lead Scoring

Lead scoring should also account for gaps in time between marketing responses. The activity dormancy period should be scored according to its duration. How long has it been since a lead has responded to a message or has searched for your site, company or product? If there have been more than a few weeks between engagements, a lead’s score should be reduced. By decrementing a lead’s score to allow for engagement depreciation there is less likelihood of an untimely sales engagement.

Want to learn how Lead Liaison can help your company better qualify leads using lead scoring principles? Fill out the brief form on the top of this page.

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How Lead Nurturing can help a Business in a Bad Economy

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How Lead Nurturing can help a Business in a Bad Economy?When the economy is rough, it becomes increasingly important to nurture your contacts and connections to improve the chances of converting more leads into revenue. Focus has shifted from the top of the marketing funnel, where new leads are added, and it is now more focused on the bottom of the marketing funnel, where quality leads are being converted using effective lead nurturing. This is an effective strategy during a bad economy. In summary, lead nurturing can help a business in a bad economy.

Lead Nurturing Cuts Costs

In these lean economic times, every company should be trying to cut costs anyway that they can. Using lead nurturing has been proven to cut marketing costs significantly and companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales ready leads at a 33% reduction in cost. Being able to bring in additional business at a fraction of the cost is the best strategy any company can have in a tough economy.

Nurture Savvy Consumers

Consumers are also looking to save money without the risk of bad service or future problems, which is why they are spending more time researching their options online. These savvy customers spend a significant amount of time online looking to be educated about their future purchases and that is where lead nurturing becomes essential. Quality content needs to be readily available to help point them in the right direction.

Lead Nurturing Builds Trust

Lead nurturing provides the consumer with free helpful content that gives them a better understanding of a product or service. It is not a promotional piece or a sales pitch, but something that establishes value or expertise. The essence of lead nurturing is to build trust prior to the sale and it is important the message is well received. Consumers are more likely to make multiple purchases with a company that has already earned their trust.

Lead Nurturing Takes Time

Consumers are not rushing to make purchase decisions since they are being more selective with how they spend their money. The first article or blog that is sent to a lead is most likely not enough to persuade them into making a decision. It takes a strategically planned marketing campaign that builds a relationship slowly over time. Once a consumer finds a company that they can rely on, they will be more likely to stick with that company for as long as they need the product or service. The time invested in converting the lead will be worth it for their future loyalty.

A bad economy needs to be taken seriously. Companies that actively look for ways to cut expenses, pursue new business opportunities, and strengthen their reputation are more likely to survive in tough times.  Lead nurturing helps in a bad economy because it reduces marketing costs, increases the conversion rate of qualified leads, and builds lasting relationship with long-term customers and prospects that will be there when the good times come around.

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Should You Invest in Lead Nurturing?

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Even in today’s competitive B2B environment, there are still some executives wondering if they should invest in lead nurturing. Let’s take a look at why lead nurturing should be incorporated into your lead management strategy.

Research done in 2012 reveals that nurturing leads increases sales opportunities 20% over non-nurtured leads. Another 2012 study shows that an effective lead nurturing strategy can:

  • Increase sales-ready leads by at least 50%
  • Reduce cost per lead by an average of 33%
  • Lower ignored or discarded leads from 80% to as low as 25%
  • Increase sales quota achievement by 9%
  • Reduce “no decisions” by 6%

So operational returns can be improved significantly, but what about financial returns?

Calculating ROI

There are several options when calculating a return on your lead nurturing investment. As an example, let’s use the number of leads converting from a prospect status to sales-ready lead in the sales funnel, with and without nurturing. Using a database of 1,000 existing leads, let’s assume a non-nurtured conversion rate of 5% – or 50 sales-ready leads. Next, estimate a reasonable increase in conversion from lead nurturing activities of 2.5x the existing conversion rate (Industry analysts suggest using an average increase of 2.0-3.0 times non-nurtured leads). Then multiply the non-nurtured conversions (50) by the nurturing conversion rate (2.5), which results in 125. This is an increase of 75 sales-ready leads.

Now, if you’re monthly marketing budget is $10,000, with 10% devoted to lead nurturing, you’ll spend $1,000 for lead nurturing activities. Divide that amount by the total new sales-ready leads (1000/125); this will give you an average cost per lead of $8.

If your average sales amount is $50 per close then your cost per lead is 16% of sales. Not a bad return.

Compare that result to the cost per lead without nurturing. If your budget is $10,000 to convert 50 sales-ready leads, then the cost per lead would be $20.00. By nurturing leads toward a sales engagement, your total cost per lead decreases by 60%!

By incorporating Lead Liaison’s proven lead nurturing strategies, you can boost your marketing results and decrease your cost per lead. Find out how – contact a Lead Liaison representative today!

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How B2B Lead Nurturing can Convert Even Seasoned Buyers

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How B2B Lead Nurturing can Convert Even Seasoned BuyersSeasoned buyers have higher standards and are typically harder to convert without an effective lead nurturing strategy. It makes you wonder, how B2B lead nurturing can convert even seasoned buyers? The longer someone has been purchasing for a company, the less susceptible they are to sales pitches and traditional closing tools. The only thing that is going to convince them to buy is hard facts and solid proof that it is a worthwhile or cost effective investment. Buyers will ask themselves whether or not your solution will help them make money or save money.

The foundation of B2B lead nurturing is building trusting relationships with potential buyers, so they want to willingly give a company their business out of respect and appreciation. Nurturing leads means creating a lasting connection with a potential buyer using worthwhile content and then allowing them to come to their own conclusion once they are ready to commit. It is not a series of forceful or obvious promotional pieces that are used to rush them into a decision.

Seasoned buyers are the toughest customers which is why B2B lead nurturing has to first brand the business as being an expert in their field. By regularly providing a purchaser with free and useful information, they will experience the benefit of the relationship prior to making a purchase. It will make the lead view the business as a valuable resource instead of a vendor who is only trying to score a new deal.

B2B lead nurturing has to be cleverly disguised as an attempt to inform and educate the buyer rather than as a sales promotion sent to everyone in hopes that someone will bite. Always focus on how a product or service can make their job easier or their business more efficient. Don’t try to directly sell the product or service. The emphasis should be on how it will benefit the purchaser without actually suggesting they buy. It is a delicate balance that takes time to perfect.

A company loses credibility if every article or blog ends with some catchy sales phrase trying to convince the reader to “act now, before it’s too late.” Someone who purchases for a living will find this offensive, since they know the same offer (or a similar enticing offer) will be made whenever they are ready. If B2B lead nurturing is done right, the buyer will decide on their own when they are ready to move forward with a purchase.

Seasoned buyers are not easily persuaded, but that is what makes lead nurturing so effective on them. They are looking for established and helpful companies that are focused on creating mutually beneficial relationships. The foundation of lead nurturing is developing mutually beneficial relationships which is why nurturing leads can convert even the toughest customer.

So, if you are interested in Lead Liaison to help increase your company’s revenue act now, before it’s too late! Just kidding!

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Five Components in Every Effective Lead Nurturing Campaign

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Five Components in Every Effective Lead Nurturing CampaignThere are certain necessary components to an effective lead nurturing campaign that every business should consider. Neglecting to first segment leads, rushing the relationship with obvious sales pitches, or offending customers by sending them irrelevant content will have a noticeably negative impact on results. Fortunately there are proven methods to improve the chances of converting a qualified lead into a sale.

Here are the top five components in every effective lead nurturing campaign.

Qualified and Segmented Leads

The first step in any lead nurturing campaign is to qualify and segment each lead. Lead nurturing is based on providing relevant content to each lead and it is too difficult to personalize the content for every individual lead. If each lead is divided into groups based on their demographics, online profile, and personal interests, campaigns can be created for each group instead of each person.

An Intent on Building a Lasting Relationship

Lead nurturing is not supposed to be used as a gimmick to quickly convert leads into sales. All lead nurturing efforts must be focused on building a long-term relationship based on trust. By establishing a business as an expert in their respective field, the potential consumer will be more likely to buy from them in the future, when they are ready. If the sales pitch is too strong or obvious, it could rush the decision and lose the customer in the process.

A Strategic Timeline

The frequency of lead nurturing attempts is also crucial to success. Most leads do not want to receive a new article or tutorial from the same business every day. Their inbox’s are already filled with messages from work, family, and friends. If lead nurturing is done too often, the lead could become annoyed and opt out of future messages. The same negative result can happen if the content is not sent often enough, since a lead will pay very little attention to a message they receive from some random company every few months. Depending on the business, 2-4 times per month seems to hold a lead’s interest without overwhelming them.

Interesting and Informative Content

The material that is being sent out to each lead needs to offer value to their lives or their business.  It has to capture their attention and make them want to continue reading. Use the information gathered through the lead segmentation process to determine what the lead is interested in learning. Focus on general information that highlights the benefits of specific products or services without making it sound like a pushy sales ploy.

Method for Measuring Each Campaign`s Effectiveness

Every lead nurturing campaign will bring different results and it is essential that there is a way to analysis the results and their effectiveness. Certain content will draw a greater response and it is important to recognize which lead nurturing campaigns have the greatest conversion rate. Analyze results monthly to determine which nurturing campaigns are working and which need revision. Use a CRM to attribute revenue back to your nurture marketing campaign to measure ROI. Feed your prospects nurture campaigns that produce the highest ROI.

Lead nurturing has been proven time and time again to effectively convert leads into sales, but it has to be done right. Leads need to be qualified and segmented first and then a lasting relationship needs to be built using useful content over a strategic timeline, which will later be measured for effectiveness. Failure to consider any of these five components could negatively impact the effectiveness of a lead nurturing campaign.