Lead Distribution and Maximizing ROI

As mentioned above, all leads do not have the same value, and should be treated differently depending on that individual value. One company might decide to route all high value leads directly to Sales, medium value to their outbound Call Center and send the lower value leads back to Marketing to be added to one of their outbound email campaigns. Another may opt to route all leads to outbound Call Centers to gather more information before scoring.

One of the key value drivers for a lead is the purchase timeline. Marketing communication timelines are measured in months; sales timelines tend to work on much shorter timeframes. Studies in the B-to-B world have shown that roughly 50 percent of web respondents who eventually purchase will do so within a year. Of those, 10-15 percent will buy within three months, 15-20 within six months, 25 percent between seven to twelve months, and the remaining occur one year or more after initial contact.

What the Sales Force doesn’t want (and can’t use) are leads that lack immediate interest or lack the authority to purchase. Best practices for Lead Management call for scoring leads and distributing them to the department that can most efficiently advance the sales and marketing processes. The following example illustrates a basic framework that drives leads to different departments based on their score:

• Hot —leads that score well, particularly for timing, are routed to Sales for immediate follow-up;
• High Potential —leads that score well in most categories are routed to outbound Call Centers for follow-up by a less expensive channel;
• Need Information —leads requiring more info could be routed to outbound Call Centers to obtain missing critical information and then re-scored;
• Low Potential —leads with low potential could be directed to web purchasing;
• Partner Opportunity —leads that are a better fit for a partner are routed to that partner’s database;
• Need Nurturing—leads that lack urgency are routed to automated dialog marketing campaigns for value-added opt-in emails.

Exhibit 1 presents a possible lead distribution strategy. A key component of any Lead Management strategy should enable the nurturing of leads through the evolutionary process from prospect to customer. It will assign ownership, determine rules for hand-offs to new owners, and create communication policies.

thoughtfully integrated into the sales process. That way, the highest value leads are sent to the channel with greatest likelihood for success albeit at the highest cost. The lowest value leads are sent to the lowest cost channel (e.g., dialog marketing), but yet that low-cost process over time can effectively nurture many low-value leads into high value leads. The payoff is obvious: the highest ROI is achieved when matching high value leads with Sales, the highest cost response mechanism, and low value leads with the lowest cost response mechanism, such as automated marketing campaigns (Exhibit 2).

thoughtfully integrated into the sales process. That way, the highest value leads are sent to the channel with greatest likelihood for success albeit at the highest cost. The lowest value leads are sent to the lowest cost channel (e.g., dialog marketing), but yet that low-cost process over time can effectively nurture many low-value leads into high value leads. The payoff is obvious: the highest ROI is achieved when matching high value leads with Sales, the highest cost response mechanism, and low value leads with the lowest cost response mechanism, such as automated marketing campaigns (Exhibit 2).

Author

David Bartenwerfer is the founder and principal of Quantum Consulting and Technology. QuantumCT helps product and marketing organizations get smarter and prove, predict and optimize impact and ROI with economic and financial modeling that employs customizable algorithms and technology leading to fast and lasting insight and action. Mr. Bartenwerfer has over twenty years’ experience in the High Tech, Internet, Telecom, Media, Financial Services and Retail industries and holds a B.S. in Systems Engineering with minors in applied mathematics and economics from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. For further information, contact the author at davidbartenwerfer@quantumct.com.