Why It Takes 7-13+ Touches to Generate a

Qualified B2B Sales Lead Today

Workshop and content originally presented at the DMA worldwide

conference, October 2013

Laurie Beasley, President

Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc.

Tom Judge, VP Strategy

Direct Marketing Partners, Inc.

Your Presenters

Laurie Beasley – President Beasley Direct Marketing

President DMA Northern California www.dmanc.org

Instructor UC Berkeley Extension www.extension.berkeley.edu

Instructor Online Marketing Institute www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org

Tom Judge – VP Strategy Direct Marketing Partners (DMP)

Vice President DMA Northern California

Contributor Sales Lead Management Association

www.salesleadmgmtassoc.org

Program Chair NorCal BMA Sales Lead Roundtable www.norcalbma.org

Stacy Escobar– Web Creative Manager Anritsu Company

www.anritsu.com

.

Part 1:

Why So Many Touches?

Why So Many Touches?

Its not easy generating the “sales-ready” leads

The Goal of Demand Generation is Sales!

However there are some bumps in the road…

The CSO Insights annual survey uncovered problems

The average number of reps making quota was 63% for 2012

Only 42% of firms met or exceeded their 2012 revenue goals

CSO Insights indicated that 92% of firms are raising their

revenue goals this year

Over 40% of firms indicate the increases are 15% or more!

Source: CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study, 2013 Key

Trend Analysis.

.

B2B Marketing

Challenges

Top 2 = our focus

Challenge: Quality Over Quantity

.

Marketing Sherpa’s 2012 B2B Benchmark report

explored what marketers are actually doing

Problem Uncovered:

73% of the leads distributed to sales ARE NOT Sales-Ready!

Solution Case Cited:

In the same report; Marketing Sherpa cited a case of a

firm that moved to higher quality “sales-ready” scored

leads (A B2B HR solutions company)

The lead volume dropped by 52%

While revenues increased 41%

8

1. Marketing generates a lead with basic interest, not ready to engage a sales rep

2. Sales teams reject unqualified leads, feels disconnected, requests “sales-ready” leads

3. Few actually convert and the numbers are unsustainable

Current marketing focus Current sales focus The B2B lead development gap

Issue 1: Marketing hands off Leads too early. Unqualified

Leads waste sales’ time.

Issue 2: Sales cherry picks leads, letting longer-time-frame leads leak out. Issue 3: Marketing spends

More $ to replace lost leads.

Reach Interest Desire Convert Enrich Retain

Warm leads leak out

Gap in The Middle of the Funnel is Costing Time & $ Money

Source: Forrester October 2006, Best Practices “Improving B2B Lead Mgmt”

Forrester: Low Quality Sales Leads Create

Sales Problems

Symptoms: Few conversions into customers

The increased reliance on higher sales lead quality from

the sales teams has changed the game for demand gen

marketers

You as a marketer are now on the hook to deliver

This is the new norm

Tension Between Sales & Marketing

Challenge: How Can We Improve Our

Lead-To-Sales Results?

Here are some best practices and multi-touch cases

that improve lead quality

Example of a 7-13+ Touch Sequence?

1: Initial email campaign

2: Initial direct mail campaign

3: Call, prospect not there, leave a message

4: Send email follow up

5: Call, prospect is not involved in any way, referred to correct contact

6: Start over, transfer the call into person you’re referred to, leave VM

7: Send email follow up: first email

8: Call, prospect not able to talk then, but did schedule another time

9: Send email follow up confirming call appt. day/time

10: Call held, prospect interested, however wants more information

before all the qualification questions on script are completed

11: Send personalized email follow up with relevant info.

12: Prospect now ready to talk about needs, access to budget,

purchase authority, level of urgency and timeframe= Qualified!

13: Email to confirm appt. scheduled with field sales rep, CC rep.

Value of Nurture Process

Contact # 1

Contact # 2

Contact # 3

Contact # 4

Contact # 5

Contact # 6

Contact # 7

Contact # 8

Contact # 9

Contact # 10

Contact # 11

Contact # 12

Prospect

Customer

50% of sales people have given up

65% of sales people have given up

89% of sales people have given up

Just now you are becoming a factor in your

prospect’s mind

Nurturing slowly, your prospect

gets to know you

You are probably the only

person to make 8 contacts

with this person

79% of sales people have given up You harvest

low hanging

fruit

You are

earning top of

mind

awareness

At this point when you

prospect is ready to

buy, you have a 90%

chance of being called

*Microsoft study

Reality: Wow, 13+ Touches is A LOT!

How do we shorten it?

We'll outline 12 ways to shorten the process and improve

results.

Then we'll share 2 use cases and their results.

Start with the end in mind: • Review historic sales data

• Segment by customer types

• Review profitability data

• Know the buying process

• Build buyer Personas & relevant messaging

for each

Assess your TAM:

• Review the resources it will take to acquire

1. Plan - Start With the End in Mind

Create a “Perfect Prospect Profile”

Digital/Online data points: • Digital profile, Segment

• Web content activity

• Trigger events

• Scoring & its limits

Non-Digital/Peer-to-peer data points AND relationship: • Needs, Plans & Business pains

• Role in the buying process

• Access to funding

• Size of opportunity

• Time frame and sense of urgency

• Willingness to move forward and engage with sale rep?

2. Clearly define the “Sales-Ready Qualified Lead” (which can blossom into your perfect customer)

Advanced Lead Rating & Scoring Criteria

16

Tip: Combine digital and BANT Plus

data points into your scoring

Sample of “BANT+ Sales-Ready” Lead Data

Detailed background information on the prospect and the selling opportunity helps drive more productive sales results

Multi-Touch Process Dispelling the Marketing Automation

“Solves it All” Myth

Sirius Decisions has now inserted Tele-qualification into this model to increase

the sales qualification information gathered to boost lead quality & conversions

Common Problems We See

With Overdependence on Marketing Automation

Marketing automation is dependent on lead forms

submissions

Lead form submit rates are declining

Difficult if not IMPOSSIBLE to get BANT+ criteria from

lead forms (even when using progressive profiling)

Result: “Sticky funnel conundrum”. Lots of unqualified leads

rattling around in the system

99% of your true prospects haven’t filled out a form or

come to your website. Many responders do not fit your

perfect prospect profile. You must monitor the profiles.

Action: You need to proactively outbound target the key account

contacts in your sweet spot with your value propositions

3. Quantify Your “Sales-Ready” Lead Quota

Sample Lead Requirements Calculator

Scenario Requirements

ANNUAL SALES REVENUE GOALS: $13,000,000

Sales Revenue Goals/Quarter $3,250,000

Revenue per sale $115,000

# Closed Sales Required/QTR 28.3 Or 9.3 Closes/mo.

Estimated Closed Rate on Pipeline Proposal Opportunities 25%

# Qual Leads That Must Convert to Pipeline Proposals/QTR 113

Est. forward conversion rate from sales-ready lead into Pipeline 40%

# Qualified Sales -Ready Leads Required per

Quarter (Prospects meeting sales-ready criteria) 283

# Qualified Sales-Ready Leads Required per

Month (Prospects meeting sales-ready criteria) 94

Tom Judge, All Rights Reserved, Copyright Protected

Gain agreements with

• Marketing’s lead quality and quantities

• Sales team follow up actions on each qualified lead

• Gain senior management agreement

Tip: Obtain sales or channel rep SLA sign offs that they will

engage sales-ready prospects and track in CRM

4. Align sales – marketing – and Management with

Your Plan

Sample of a basic

agreement between

sales and marketing

• Marketing agrees to

quality of leads

delivered

• Sales agrees to follow

up steps and CRM

tracking

5. Target Prospect Data

Tip: Create a process to improve prospect data

Forrester reports that 37% of firms indicate this is a

significant marketing problem at their firm

Action item: Fix and standardize the prospect database

Hint: This is a never ending task

6. Segment Your Target Markets

Tip: Segment your target markets into smaller

more manageable target sub segments.

Don’t boil the ocean

Action item: Compare campaign performance by segment to

identify better performing markets to focus resources better

Common Segmentation for B2B

Single Product Segmentation Example - Business services with multiple decision

makers/influencers

Customers

Prospects

Financial

Automotive

Non Profit

Non Profit

Small, Medium, Large

VP

Marketing

VP

Production CFO CEO

2x 3x 3x 4x = 72 Segments

Business Universe

Financial

Automotive

7. Story Tell With Your Content

Tip: Sync up relevant content with personalized

messaging to tell your compelling story, differentiate

and establish your brand as one they want to put on

their short list

Action item: Review and revise your content and messaging to help

you “earn the right” to ask the tough qualification questions you need

gathered to qualify prospects

8. Offers DO Matter

Tip: Use a compelling offer with staying power.

Content can be your best offer

Action item: ALWAYS OFFER something of perceived value

Business to Business Offers & Content

Offer Responsivenes

s (1-5) Qualified(1-5)

Optimum

Offers

ROI calculators 3 5 15

Whitepapers/ Guides 3 4 12

Case studies 4 3 12

“Relevant” giveaways 4 3 12

Video clips or demo 4 3 12

Webinars 2 5 10

Live events 1 5 5

Free giveaways 5 1 5

Tradeshows 2 2 4

9. Think B2B Relationships:

People Buy From People

Tip: To accelerate b2b prospect lead development,

include tele-qualification in the touch process

Action item: We suggest running a three-month A/B test using

email + tele-prospecting in the lead nurturing and qualification

process and measure the lift and ROI.

10. Warm Prospects First by Sending

an Email or Direct Mail Before Calling

You CAN do cold calling alone without sending a

campaign in advance. Lots of people do it. However,

their productivity may not be optimal.

We have found sending out an email and/or direct mail

before a campaign can make it 30-40% more productive,

and save in tele-prospecting expenses.

Why? Several reasons:

You can triangulate from an email or direct mail to draw the

prospect into the conversation.

If they’ve read the email or direct mail before you call, they’re

much more informed and can more clearly define their needs

You appear to have a more comprehensive offering

You allow more channels for prospects to communicate through

11. Track All Touch Metrics

Tip: Analyze KPI metrics in light of the original touch

plan & make refinements during campaigns

Action item: Analyze results metrics from end to end. Adjust

tactics to improve each metric along the way to a better outcome.

12. Put in Place Comprehensive Lead

Management Resources

Tip: Implement a lead mgmt. system & team that gives

you end-to-end visibility into all of your campaigns

Action item: Have the right talent and executive dashboard reporting

tools to manage your lead funnels and make revisions. Mgmt. wants this!

.

Part 2

Multi-Touch Case Study Stacy Escobar

Web Creative Marketing Manager

On behalf of

Katherine Van Diepen

Director of Marcom

Anritsu Company

Anritsu Case Study

Multi-Touch Multi-Channel Lead Gen Case study summary:

Vector Network Analyzer (VNA)

VectorStar®

VNA overview- VNA’s are used to test a variety of chips, components and

subsystems designs used in telecommunication applications

Campaign goals- 23 closed opportunities per month- $2.3M Rev/mo.

Challenges- Long sales cycle, high price point at $100K+, Competitor’s

installed base.

Competitive landscape-

Agilent (~$7B annual sales)

Rhode & Schwartz (~$1.2B annual sales)

Anritsu Case Study

VectorStar®

Vector Network Analyzer (VNA)

Target Customer- Electrical Design Engineers

Target Markets/Applications-

Defense Electronics- Radar , RF and MW Design

Communications - Components Design

Communications - Chip Design and Verification

Value proposition & messaging-Get Better Measurement confidence, in

both R & D and Mfg. Environments

Creative- E-Mail, Direct Mail (3D)

Offers- Complimentary VNA Book or $100.00 Back Pack

Anritsu Case Study

Multi touch strategy and

sequencing:

First touch: Direct Mail

Second touch: Email

Third touch: Tele-prospecting

Fourth - XX Touches: Tele follow

up; emails , appointment setting

Anritsu Case Study

Creative Strategy

A number of concepts were presented, showing various

metaphors that illustrated the key product benefits.

The chosen concept focused on the Mars Curiosity Rover,

which had made a spectacularly successful landing on Mars

about the time this project began.

We pointed out the extreme precision this required, and then

made the transition to the reader: we think of the NASA Jet

Propulsion Lab engineers as heroes, but you are required to

make equally exacting measurements every day. That’s why

you deserve an instrument like the VectorStar.

Anritsu Case Study

VectorStar® Vector Network Analyzer (VNA)

“A” Lead Qualification criteria

Industry identified or verified

Role identified

Contact title identified

Test Range identified:

Between 70 KHz to >110 GHz

Application devices being tested identified:

ie Components, Chips or IC’s, Radar, Signal integrity, etc.

Budget status identified:

Budget Decision Maker, Budget available now or wants a quote

Technical consultation appointment scheduled:

Meeting timeline range of 2 weeks to 3 months

Anritsu qualification information

VNA Clear Tube 3D Mailer

Metric: Mailed to 4,150 then emailed

Anritsu Case Study

Poster insert

Anritsu Case Study

Email

Landing Page

Landing Page continued

About Beasley Direct Marketing

Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. provides copywriting, design, programming, and consulting services for the following direct marketing channels:

Search (PPC and SEO) Email Creative, Design, Deliverability Audits, and Broadcast Direct mail (with and without PURLs) Landing Page Design (with and without PURLs) Mobile Video Social Website Design Catalog/eCommerce Brochure, White Paper, and Guide copy and design List Building and CRM Database Management Telemarketing Translation for all of the above Executive Dashboard Tracking, Reporting, and Lead

Assignment

About Direct Marketing Partners (DMP)

DMP is a lead management and lead funnel qualification

services provider for B2B selling firms

DMP provides customized lead-to-sales service bundles.

DMP teams are an extension of our clients’ demand gen teams.

Clients receive dedicated trained teams to execute multi-touch email,

direct mail and peer to peer tele-prospecting campaigns with marketing

automation and funnel metrics to optimize lead to sale conversions.

Thank YOU!

Laurie Beasley lbeasley@beasleydirect.com

Direct: 408-782-0046 x21

www.beasleydirect.com

@BeasleyDirect

Blog: www.BeasleyDirect-blog.com

Tom Judge tjudge@dirmkt.com

Direct: 510-368-7527

www.directmarketingpartners.com

Blog: http://www.directmarketingpartners.com/blog.html