Alignment With Lead Nurturing

1. Alignment With Lead Nurturing ALIGNMENT WITH LEAD NURTURING HOW-TO GUIDE

2. 2 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide Alignment with Lead Nurturing The sales team complains that the tradeshow, web, or other leads they get are junk. The marketing department says the sales team doesn’t even call the quality leads they produce. Does this sound familiar? The basis for this common rift is a poor lead generation, qualification, scoring, and nurturing program. This How-To Guide will outline the following: Lead nurturing is about building solid relationships through consistent and meaningful conversation with the right people, regardless of their timing to buy. The intent is to raise a the company’s profile, making it more likely that a prospect will select your product/service over your competitor’s when it is time to buy. The technology used in lead nurturing encourages organizational alignment because it facilitates the pre-qualification of early stage leads before they are handed over to the sales team. If you already have a deep understanding of lean nurturing, this guide isn’t for you. Instead, we recommendthatyouconductabenchmarkingexercisesothatyoucancreateagameplanforimproving your lead nurturing capabilities. To learn more, read our Revenue Marketing Transformation Guide. What is Lead Nurturing? HOW-TO GUIDE What is lead nurturing? What are the benefits of lead nurturing? Action plan for getting started 2 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide Alignment with Lead Nurturing The sales team complains that the tradeshow, web, or other leads they get are junk. The marketing department says the sales team doesn’t even call the quality leads they produce. Does this sound familiar? The basis for this common rift is a poor lead generation, qualification, scoring, and nurturing program. This How-To Guide will outline the following: Lead nurturing is about building solid relationships through consistent and meaningful conversation with the right people, regardless of their timing to buy. The intent is to raise a the company’s profile, making it more likely that a prospect will select your product/service over your competitor’s when it is time to buy. The technology used in lead nurturing encourages organizational alignment because it facilitates the pre-qualification of early stage leads before they are handed over to the sales team. If you already have a deep understanding of lean nurturing, this guide isn’t for you. Instead, we recommendthatyouconductabenchmarkingexercisesothatyoucancreateagameplanforimproving your lead nurturing capabilities. To learn more, read our Revenue Marketing Transformation Guide. What is Lead Nurturing? HOW-TO GUIDE What is lead nurturing? What are the benefits of lead nurturing? Action plan for getting started

3. 3 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide Alignment with Lead Nurturing What are the Benefits of Lead Nurturing? Reduction of Missed Opportunities — Although many sales reps give up on an opportunity after one unsuccessful sales attempt, the stats show that people who take a vendor demo usually end up buying inside of 18 months. Better Allocation of Resources — By plugging your longer-term opportunities into a lead nurturing program, you can automate a ‘drip-style’ email marketing campaign that provides useful informa- tion, webcasts, or other valuable material that will help your prospect make a decision. This is more cost effective than having a sales rep call every 2 months to ‘check-in’. Sales and Marketing Alignment — Working together to establish a lead scoring and nurturing system will better qualify opportunities, set proper expectations, and avoid the syndrome of fighting about how ineffective the other side is being. Assess the level of alignment between both functions by using our Sales & Marketing Alignment Tool. HOW-TO GUIDE Avoid the common rift between sales and marketing by taking a collaborative approach to lead nurturing. Bottom Line 3 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide Alignment with Lead Nurturing What are the Benefits of Lead Nurturing? Reduction of Missed Opportunities — Although many sales reps give up on an opportunity after one unsuccessful sales attempt, the stats show that people who take a vendor demo usually end up buying inside of 18 months. Better Allocation of Resources — By plugging your longer-term opportunities into a lead nurturing program, you can automate a ‘drip-style’ email marketing campaign that provides useful informa- tion, webcasts, or other valuable material that will help your prospect make a decision. This is more cost effective than having a sales rep call every 2 months to ‘check-in’. Sales and Marketing Alignment — Working together to establish a lead scoring and nurturing system will better qualify opportunities, set proper expectations, and avoid the syndrome of fighting about how ineffective the other side is being. Assess the level of alignment between both functions by using our Sales & Marketing Alignment Tool. HOW-TO GUIDE Avoid the common rift between sales and marketing by taking a collaborative approach to lead nurturing. Bottom Line

4. 4 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide 1 2 3 4 Start Scoring Leads Evaluate Nurturing Tools Create a Drip Campaign Measure the Results Use Demand Metric’s Lead Scoring Template to help you analyze leads and identify strong prospects. The best possible score for a lead is 100, which is based on 6 criteria for evaluating explicit and implicit need for your product or service. Be sure to engage a leader in the sales department for this alignment- building project, and also consider using our Qualified Lead Definition Tool. V I E W R E S O U R C E Action Plan STEP 1 - Start Scoring Leads Score Leads and Identify Your Best Prospects Lead Scoring Template 4 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide 1 2 3 4 Start Scoring Leads Evaluate Nurturing Tools Create a Drip Campaign Measure the Results Use Demand Metric’s Lead Scoring Template to help you analyze leads and identify strong prospects. The best possible score for a lead is 100, which is based on 6 criteria for evaluating explicit and implicit need for your product or service. Be sure to engage a leader in the sales department for this alignment- building project, and also consider using our Qualified Lead Definition Tool. V I E W R E S O U R C E Action Plan STEP 1 - Start Scoring Leads Score Leads and Identify Your Best Prospects Lead Scoring Template

5. 5 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide 1 2 3 4 Start Scoring Leads Evaluate Nurturing Tools Create a Drip Campaign Measure the Results Action Plan STEP 2 - Evaluate Nurturing Tools Build Your Marketing Automation System A few popular templates from this section include: Use Demand Metric’s Marketing Automation Solutions Study content area for help selecting and implementing a marketing automation system, and to figure out how you can create leads for your sales team. V I E W R E S O U R C E Marketing Automation Vendors Matrix Marketing Automation Business Case Marketing Automation ROI Calculator Marketing Automation Vendor Evaluation Marketing Automation Solutions Study 5 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide 1 2 3 4 Start Scoring Leads Evaluate Nurturing Tools Create a Drip Campaign Measure the Results Action Plan STEP 2 - Evaluate Nurturing Tools Build Your Marketing Automation System A few popular templates from this section include: Use Demand Metric’s Marketing Automation Solutions Study content area for help selecting and implementing a marketing automation system, and to figure out how you can create leads for your sales team. V I E W R E S O U R C E Marketing Automation Vendors Matrix Marketing Automation Business Case Marketing Automation ROI Calculator Marketing Automation Vendor Evaluation Marketing Automation Solutions Study

6. 6 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide 1 2 3 4 Create a Drip Campaign Measure the Results Action Plan STEP 3 - Create a Drip Campaign Start Scoring Leads Evaluate Nurturing Tools Use Demand Metric’s Lead Acquisition Model to outline and communicate your lead generation and nurturing process. Create your first drip campaign by writing a series of emails that will be sent to prospects on an on-going basis. V I E W R E S O U R C E Connect to Your Prospects with Drip Campaigns Lead Acquisition Model 6 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide 1 2 3 4 Create a Drip Campaign Measure the Results Action Plan STEP 3 - Create a Drip Campaign Start Scoring Leads Evaluate Nurturing Tools Use Demand Metric’s Lead Acquisition Model to outline and communicate your lead generation and nurturing process. Create your first drip campaign by writing a series of emails that will be sent to prospects on an on-going basis. V I E W R E S O U R C E Connect to Your Prospects with Drip Campaigns Lead Acquisition Model

7. 7 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide 1 2 3 4 Create a Drip Campaign Measure the Results Action Plan STEP 4 - Measure the Results Start Scoring Leads Evaluate Nurturing Tools Measure the results of your first drip campaign and adjust your strategy accordingly. The goal is to create a sophisticated lead nurturing program that includes multiple tracks for different buyer personas and buying stages. For more information, read our Demand Generation Metric Dashboard. V I E W R E S O U R C E Develop A Lead Nurturing and Tracking Program Demand Generation Metric Dashboard 7 Alignment with Lead Nurturing How-to Guide 1 2 3 4 Create a Drip Campaign Measure the Results Action Plan STEP 4 - Measure the Results Start Scoring Leads Evaluate Nurturing Tools Measure the results of your first drip campaign and adjust your strategy accordingly. The goal is to create a sophisticated lead nurturing program that includes multiple tracks for different buyer personas and buying stages. For more information, read our Demand Generation Metric Dashboard. V I E W R E S O U R C E Develop A Lead Nurturing and Tracking Program Demand Generation Metric Dashboard

8. Demand Metric is a marketing research and advisory firm serving a membership community of over 100,000 marketing professionals and consultants in 75 countries. Offering consulting playbooks, advisory services, and 500+ premium marketing tools and templates, Demand Metric resources and expertise help the marketing community plan more efficiently and effectively, answer the difficult questions about their work with authority and conviction, and complete marketing projects more quickly and with greater confidence — thus boosting the respect of the marketing team and making it easier to justify resources the team needs to succeed. To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit www.demandmetric.com About Demand Metric Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Join Linkedin Group © Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Demand Metric is a marketing research and advisory firm serving a membership community of over 100,000 marketing professionals and consultants in 75 countries. Offering consulting playbooks, advisory services, and 500+ premium marketing tools and templates, Demand Metric resources and expertise help the marketing community plan more efficiently and effectively, answer the difficult questions about their work with authority and conviction, and complete marketing projects more quickly and with greater confidence — thus boosting the respect of the marketing team and making it easier to justify resources the team needs to succeed. To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit www.demandmetric.com About Demand Metric Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Join Linkedin Group © Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.