Leads 360°: Using Lead Management for a Total View of Marketing & Sales
Lead management software is a great way to get a complete view of your entire marketing and sales process. From the moment you generate or buy a lead all the way through to closing a deal lead management lets you see marketing strategies and sales processes that should be quickly scaled and ones that should be immediately cut. Good lead management software gives you a 360 degree view of your leads.
Lead Generation
Whether you are generating your own leads or buying from a lead provider it is important to monitor what is working and what isn't. This means tracking every lead as it enters into your lead management software and monitoring its performance throughout its life cycle.
Typically, this means a system of capturing the source of the lead, tracking identifiers, and some means of annotating lead actions and statuses as it moves through the sales process. Combining this data architecture with lead reporting will give you simple insight into the performance of all of your lead sources.
Lead Management
Your lead management software is your command center for both your marketing and sales processes. The key to leveraging this type of unique software is its:
- Seamless integration to lead generation sources
- Simplicity of use for sales agents
- Robust lead tracking mechanisms
- Standardized reporting of lead life cycles
A lead management system is an integrated blend of marketing automation, sales CRM or contact management, and business intelligence software. Your lead management process should leverage these concepts and package them into a simple package that helps you increase lead conversion.
Lead Reporting
Of course, getting your marketing and sales processes right can only happen if you can see the good from the bad. These opportunities for optimization are captured in the lead reporting.
Your lead reporting is where you are alerted to opportunities and concerns. Looking for slowing and heaping in your lead management system is your goal. Metrics that show leads slowing down in various statuses or queues can point out weak sales processes or agent performance issues. Likewise, heaping points out specific bottlenecks and capacity issues. Meanwhile, smooth flows and alignment with benchmarks can highlight process points you have perfected.
Getting A 360 Degree View
Everyone wants to see and react to changes and opportunities within their marketing and sales. Lead management can give you that opportunity. Focus on simplicity and standardization and your lead management software can be that competitive advantage.