We’ve preached a lot about the importance of sales and marketing alignment and having a well defined lead-to-sales handoff process. We’ve offered lots of assistance and have published our best practices. However, let’s get real…Not every company, marketing manager or sales manager has the time, energy, or bandwidth to ensure a comprehensive process and communication flow is in place. Life happens and sometimes the details get ignored. If you can relate, this blog is for you. We’ve bottom-lined the three things you must communicate to your sales representatives if they’re receiving Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) from TeleNet or another (gasp!) tele vendor.
- Always read the lead summary. Each MQL is unique and is based on an actual phone conversation between the prospect and a TeleNet lead development representative (LDR). The written lead summary provides important details, including the “why” behind the purchase plans and expectations for next steps.
- Don’t expect an immediate purchase order. Anticipating a quick “slam dunk” will likely set you up for disappointment. Each MQL has a defined purchase need and has agreed to receive a phone call from you in the short-term. However, approximately 40-50% of the MQLs have a purchase timeframe of 6-12 months. Having an incubation mindset and an effective strategy to engage early in the sales cycle will set you up for long-term success.
- Connect the dots for your prospect. TeleNet’s LDRs represent themselves as “calling on behalf of____” (fill in your company name). Therefore, you can effectively link your follow-up call by referencing their previous conversation. Here’s an example… “You spoke with one of my colleagues on our marketing team on April 25th (insert date) and I understand that you have an interest in _____” (fill in with details from the lead summary). This simple approach connects the dots for the prospect and will help for a smooth transition and greater success.
There you go – you’ve now read the three “musts” which will help to create a successful MQL initiative. If you want to take this deeper, we have a slew of best practices to create a very tight lead-to-sales handoff. Contact us and we’ll help you create a custom process and communication flow that works for your organization.