Tweet

Lead Generation Today - The State of Business with Jim Dickie

Guest post by: Jeff Ogden

Article Overview: (This is mostly updated with current data, but overall, not much has changed.) Jim Dickie, Managing Partner of CSO Insights sat down with the Fearless Competitor to share insights and takeaways from their recent Lead Generation Optimization study in which they surveyed 525 companies. The data was shocking. Let me summarize it for you here.

Lead Generation Today - The State of Business with Jim Dickie

B2B Lead Generation | The State of Lead Generation Today CSO Insights has been doing studies for 17 years, so they have great historical information. What's going on?

Just a bit more than 1 out of 2 salespeople achieved quota in 2008 -- down from 61% in 2007, (6 out of 10 made quota in 2010) but 86% of companies are raising quotas in 2009. (95% of companies raised quotas in 2011.) If almost half of salespeople failed to make their numbers last year, how will a higher quota help? It's clear that business as usual no longer works. Sales turns to marketing for help.

Sales leaders told CSO Insights their most important objective is Optimizing Lead Generation.

Marketing leaders told CSO Insights their top priority was New Customer Acquisition.

(Two terms for the same thing.)

The next question CSO Insights asked is "How well is Marketing equipped to do new customer acquisition?"

1. How well do you do web based marketing programs? -- 2 out of 3 said "Needs Improvement"
2. How well do you do direct marketing? -- 3 out of 5 said "Needs improvement"
3. How well do you leverage media? -- Better than 1 out 2 % said "Needs Improvement."
4. How well do you do telemarketing? -- 2 out of 3 % said "Needs Improvement"

"How does your marketing budget compare to last year?" 2 out of 3 said same as last year or lower.

"With fewer dollars, how well can you leverage that limited budget?"

Marketing data quality was a massive problem. Only just over 1 out 3 companies said customer data was 90% accurate or better. (9 out of ten customer records) And only 1 of 10 companies said prospect data was 90% accurate or better.

We need to build trust, but we don't do a good job of talking to them and we don't even know them very well. Lead scoring also separates the successful and less successful organizations. 7 of 10 companies have no lead scoring or just an informal process.

Lead nurturing -- keeping in touch with those not yet ready to buy:

• 42% said Sales does it.
• 21% said Marketing has an informal process
• 20% said Marketing has a formal process
• 10% no one does it

Bottom line: Only 20% - 1 out of 5 companies - does lead nurturing the right way - with a formal process. 8 out of 10 do it wrong. Companies that take a scientific approach to lead scoring and nuturing are vastly more successful.

Jim said "Companies are missing a huge opportunity. Companies that do this right enjoy a much higher return on marketing investment."

Jim also said that companies need to invest in technology -- both for marketing and sales. Good lead generation andmanagementsoftware out there today. But great content and process are needed too.

The Fearless Competitor asked Jim about customer buying processes and matching content. Jim agreed and said customer buying processes are very poorly understood.

He emphasized that we live in a self-service world today. The buying process starts long before they talk to a salesperson.

If a salesperson talks about products or features -- the customer says "Yes, I know." The conversation needs to evolve into a problem/solution discussion. This is why fixing the website is so important -- it must focus on giving the prospect the information he or she needs.

"What should people do, Jim?"

Marketing and sales should sit down and agree on what is a lead. Get answers to questions:

• Who are our best customers? (And find more like that.)
• Where is the customer coming from?
• What is having the biggest impact?

Track progress and get feedback.

Related Articles
  Thirteen Proven Lead Generation Tools For Service Businesses From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Consultative Selling Won't Fill Your Pipeline
  Lead Generation & Marketing Automation How-To Guide
  The Lead Generation Assessment
  Sales Training Courses that Bring Lead Generations to Life
  Effective Lead Generation Tactics From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Why you will never see an ad for Find New Customers
  2012 Revenue – Making It Happen vs. Hoping It Happens
  Producing MLM Leads: Call a Buddy!
  Marketing and Advertising Making Use of B2B: Getting the Winning Attitude
  The Advantages of Lead Generation for your Business
  Overview of Find New Customers
  Demand Generation Training | $99 via email
  The Pathetic State of B2B Demand Generation
  Businesses for Generating Sales Leads
  Top 3 Network Marketing Lead Generation Methods When Marketing On A Budget! ~GUARANTEED SUCCESS
  Focus Expert Series on Demand Generation
  Lead Generating
  Effective Lead Generation Techniques
  MLM Lead Generation Draining the Bank? Get Your Leads For Free!

Article Tags: b2b demand generation, b2b lead generation, btob demand generation, btob lead generation, demand gen, demand generation, demand generation companies, demand generation company, find new customers, lead gen, lead generation, lead generation companies, lead generation company, sales lead generation



Related Forum Posts
Re: Google Places Review | How to Get a Review on Google Places? - Hi Evan, Yes, I am planning more. I have multiple videos coming out this year on: Social media marketing Email marketing Lead Generation Organic search marketing Conversion rate optimization Analytics Content marketing Paid search marketing I am looking for SEO / Internet Marketing questions people have. I enjoy producing videos answer tuff SEO questions. Let me know if you are any of your members have any they want answered. Jeff
Re: Did you reach your goal this year? - Turns out there's 5 meeting locations for Toastmasters International in State College alone... only 30 minutes from my town. Most likely due to Penn State University, but surprising nonetheless that I have never heard of the organization before. I'll have to look more into it as it sounds like something I could benefit from.
Do I require Business License? - I'm in the business of a "web 2.0" development. The main revenue will be from advertisements. Do I require to obtain a State Business License? or something else more nationwide (if there is such a thing) since I will not only be providing business for Nevada advertisers but all over the US?
Re: Did you reach your goal this year? - [quote="Alan Mater":35bhlot8]Turns out there's 5 meeting locations for Toastmasters International in State College alone... only 30 minutes from my town. Most likely due to Penn State University, but surprising nonetheless that I have never heard of the organization before. I'll have to look more into it as it sounds like something I could benefit from.[/quote:35bhlot8] There are lot of things we never heard of before until someone tells us. This is why I like this forum, the information we get here are priceless
Do I require Business License? - I went ahead already and formed a (C) Corp. and will attempt to form an (S) Corp for tax purposes. Thanks for the input guys but i wasn't very clear on the question itself. I was a little confused about obtaining my business lic. Because since my revenue is all Internet advertising based, there will be companies located outside of Nevada to conduct businesses with us. Now will a State Business Lic. Be sufficient or is there some kind of nationwide business lic perhaps I don’t know about. Thanks in advance


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

LEARNING TO HAVE FUN – EVERYDAY!

Life, Conflict and Work

Is the Media to blame for losses in super?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.