Doubling Down on Sales Outsourcing
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Mon, Jul 26, 2010
I was in Las Vegas last week and one of the first things I thought about was "How can I improve my odds through sales planning and lead management?"
OK, I can read your mind, sales planning and lead management is boring. I would never think about that in Vegas. Anyway, we have vendors that care of lead management. They have it under control. As for sales planning, that's just a normal part of our sales process. Well my bet is that your company has a patchwork quilt of lead sources and no one is managing them. And the odds are in my favor!
Several recent studies found that about 75% of companies do not have an effective process for managing, dispersing and tracking leads. And over 90% of companies do not integrate lead management into their sales planning process. Yes, I can see you nodding off. But hang on for just a minute. There is a payoff!
Most companies outsource lead generation and let their lead management efforts operate on autopilot. There is rarely any effort to make sure that the vendors know about changes in the marketing program, new product development plans or changes in sales strategy. Once leads are received, there is rarely an effective process for managing, dispersing and tracking leads. And it is almost impossible to find any companies that effectively plan the lead generation program as part of the sales planning process.
Every now and then a "sure bet" really does comes along. In this case our sure bet is a sales strategy that incorporates all aspects of the sales and marketing process into a coherent plan.
- Aligning sales with lead generation. The first step in that process is to take at look at your lead generation efforts and integrate them into your sales planning. Are you getting leads and new customers from emerging markets? Are there underserved markets with weak competition that offer you new growth opportunities? Then look at your capabilities. Is your sales team able to keep up with the marketplace? If not, what can you do to make sure that you can expand capabilities rapidly?
- Accelerating the sales process. The competitive gap in sales planning and lead management provides a great opportunity to the few companies who rethink their lead generation programs. This gap has also given rise to a new generation of Integrated Sales Management outsourcing firms – agile, sophisticated companies that have moved beyond generating qualified lead lists to offering a full range of integrated sales planning, lead management and strategic marketing services. Companies who have invested in the latest sales automation technology. Companies who can efficiently manage turnkey new client acquisition programs that really reduce the cost to acquire a new customer. Bringing in this kind of capability can rapidly improve sales and allow you to exploit new markets quickly.
Look at your current lead management capabilities. Think about integrating them with external teams that incorporate planning, management and lead generation. Sales outsourcing provides a low-risk, high reward way to improve your odds of achieving success. But don't miss this opportunity. You can bet that an opportunity like this won't happen very often.
Photo credit: Roadsidepictures