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11.23.05
Getting Your Sales
Channel To Follow-up On Leads
 By
Brian Carroll
B2B marketers know getting field sales people to follow-up on sales leads is tough
but getting channel partners (VARs, resellers and distributors) to follow-up and
close-the-loop seems down right impossible.
If you supporting multiple sales channels with lead generation, you'll probably
like this case study by MarketingSherpa.
It explains how GE Access Distribution got their channel to close the loop on
95% of leads delivered. The best part was that their solution was not buying CRM
software instead, they focused on developing collaboration and teamwork.
I agree with all of the suggestions in the case study. Teamwork between the sales
and marketing is essential to get the maximum ROI from marketing and lead generation
programs. I paraphrased a few of key points from the case study below:
• Evaluate
lead sources by quality (not quantity)
• Develop
and use a universal
lead definition to qualify all leads
• Make sure
the lead
distribution is simple and understood by all stakeholders
• Pick
up the phone - don't rely on email to do the heavy lifting
• Marketing
treats the sales
channel as their customer I've talked to a number of companies that are now
requiring close-loop-feedback in their contracts with their channel partners.
What gets measured gets done and what gets paid for gets done.
Have any tips work how to the channel to follow-up on sales leads? Share your
comments.
MarketingSherpa.com:
How GE Access Distribution Got Resellers to Follow-Up With 58% More Leads
About the Author:
Brian Carroll is the CEO
of InTouch Inc. InTouch is a 50-person
company focused on delivering effective lead generation solutions for "the complex
sale."
Brian authors the very interesting B2B
Lead Generation Blog which focuses on B2B lead generation, sales leads, and
marketing for the complex sale. |
