Best_Lead_Practices

www.globalspec.com GlobalSpec White Paper Best Practices for Managing and Increasing Leads How to Gain the Most Value from Your Marketing Efforts Revised December 2006 www.globalspec.com Introduction As a marketer you know that leads are only as good as your company’s ability to respond appropriately and track them through the sales process. If you are experiencing any challenges in managing leads or are looking to increase your number of leads, this paper will be of particular interest to you. It reviews a number of best practices for responding to leads and managing leads through the sales cycle. It also explains how to make the most of your GlobalSpec marketing options. This information can help you increase the number of leads you receive, the number of leads you convert to sales and the return you gain from marketing in general and on GlobalSpec in particular. Five Steps to Help Manage and Increase Leads Companies achieving a high rate of conversion of leads into sales have a number of characteristics in common. Invariably, their sales and marketing organizations work closely together and communicate well with each other. Marketing knows what type of leads best support sales efforts, how to respond to leads and how to hand off leads to sales. Sales knows the importance of following up on the leads generated by marketing and tracking these leads through the sales cycle. In short, marketing and sales are on the same page. GlobalSpec has identified five steps to help your sales and marketing organizations work more closely together, improve lead management processes and increase the number of highly qualified leads you receive: • • • • • Assign a person, or team of people, responsibility for managing and tracking leads. Access, evaluate and respond to leads on a timely basis. Distribute leads appropriately to sales people, resellers, distributors, etc. Track the status and whereabouts of every lead throughout the sales cycle. Understand and use your GlobalSpec marketing options to reach more potential customers and achieve greater ROI on your GlobalSpec marketing program. Step 1: Assign Responsibility to Ensure Success If a person or team of people are not responsible for managing leads, it’s not uncommon for many leads to “fall through the cracks,” leading to lost sales and wasted resources. Managing and tracking leads can be the responsibility of either the marketing or sales department, depending on your organizational structure, or it may reside in an integrated marketing and sales position. Responsibilities under lead management may include: • Ensure leads are responded to in a timely manner. Leads are like fresh produce: they spoil quickly. Leads left to wither will cost you revenue. In a recent GlobalSpec Engineering Trends Survey, 40 percent of respondents stated they typically wait between 3–7 days to receive information requested by e-mail from suppliers. Clearly, you cannot achieve sales unless you respond to leads effectively. Ensure leads are responded to appropriately. There are two aspects to this: knowing how a lead prefers to engage with you and evaluating the type of lead and its importance. For example, you need to be able to recognize a hot lead that is ready to buy versus a lead that needs to be educated over time  • g lo b a l s p e c w H I T e pa p e R : besT pRacTIces foR managIng and IncReasIng leads and does not want to be pressured. Otherwise, you might be too aggressive and scare off the latter, while the former, feeling ignored, buys from a competitor. You’ll likely lose both as potential customers! With GlobalSpec leads you know how to respond as you gain contact information and intelligence on what the prospects were looking at. • In the case of marketing on GlobalSpec, be familiar with and use the GlobalSpec MemberLink interface for accessing and downloading leads (see Figure 1). Your MemberLink area allows you to instantly download and forward GlobalSpec leads, track your brand exposure activity and review your account quickly and easily. • Know how to get leads into your contact management system (i.e. ACT, Goldmine, Access, customer relationship management (CRM)) or download them into a spreadsheet such as Excel. If this doesn’t happen, your ability to distribute and track leads is severely impacted. All processes become manual, leads get lost, no one knows the status of a lead and fingers get pointed. Getting leads into a spreadsheet and tracking them doesn’t have to be complicated if you plan ahead and gain agreement with your sales force to report leads that turn into sales. This can be done on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis using a simple report. figure 1: You can begin your lead management processes once you log into your MemberLink area of GlobalSpec. Here you can view and download leads and track the results of your marketing program. • Know who is responsible for qualifying and distributing leads. In some organizations all leads go directly to sales people or distributors; in others, marketers qualify leads first. You should also have a back-up plan to prevent leads from getting stale when the primary individual responsible for qualifying and distributing leads is not available. Know who should get any given lead: an individual sales person, territory manager, reseller, distributor, etc; and how to pass a lead to that person. You need to look at your GlobalSpec leads carefully and develop a plan with the sales arm of your business for distributing leads. For instance, long-term prospects might be handled internally, hot leads might go to larger distributors and smaller distributors may receive leads on a geographic basis. Assign accountability for tracking leads through the sales cycle and knowing the status of any lead at any given time. This is critical as it is the only way you accurately measure the quality of leads, effectiveness of marketing programs and the ROI you achieve. • • Step 2: Access, Evaluate and Respond to Leads Checking new leads on a daily basis is an important habit to cultivate. A hot lead can turn into a sale that same day — or can be lost to a competitor. Studies have shown that speed of response is the single most important element in converting a lead to a sale when the prospect is actively engaged in the buying process. Speed also reflects positively on your organization: clearly you have your act together.1  1 “How to Qualify B2B Leads,” John Coe, Direct Marketing Associates, www.b2bmarketing.com www.globalspec.com However, not all leads are ready to buy at that moment and responding quickly does not mean you should respond aggressively. Understanding the type of lead and how you got it can help you craft an appropriate response. Understanding and Responding to GlobalSpec Leads GlobalSpec leads are highly filtered and contactable. These people have gone through a search, discovery and thought process to find you. Lead information from GlobalSpec can be accessed 24/7 from your MemberLink area, downloaded into a text delimited file and easily imported into most contact management programs (e.g. ACT, Goldmine, Access) or downloaded directly into Excel. It is important to understand that all leads generated through GlobalSpec originate at www.globalspec.com. That means your prospects are on Internet time and expecting a quick response to their inquiry. However, it doesn’t mean you should always immediately pick up the phone and call the lead to ask for an order. Sometimes the appropriate response is more subtle. For instance, a buyer-initiated request for quotation (RFQ) requires an immediate and specific response including pricing and terms to help you close a sale. On the other hand, a lead from someone who has printed your technical specifications may still be in the information-gathering phase. This person, although very much a qualified lead, may require a period of nurturing to determine their needs, budget and time frame for making a purchase decision. One advantage GlobalSpec offers is that for all contactable leads you receive, you know the path they have taken to initiate contact with you. This information can help you determine the appropriate response — one that will more likely lead to a sale. GlobalSpec’s contactable leads are categorized by how the user initiates contact, according to the following ways: • RFQ (Request for Quotation) — This is the most comprehensive sales lead and it comes to you in realtime. It shows exactly what product(s) and service(s) a user is interested in as well as how many, their buying time frame and how they prefer to be contacted. This should be considered a highly qualified lead that is narrowing down their decision (see Figure 2). You get detailed information — even the competitors the prospect has looked at — to help you better respond to this lead and turn it into a sale. Respond within 48 hours with a written quotation that addresses the details of the lead. Also be sure to respond using their preferred method of contact as indicated on the RFQ. E-mail — The GlobalSpec e-mail link allows a prospect to contact you directly, in real-time, using a link appearing on your Company Profile and Product Announcements pages. To reach this point, they have taken a number of steps and proactively reached out to you for additional information. They should be considered a serious lead. Also, your prospect is showing you their preferred way to communicate: e-mail. The best way to respond is through a prompt return e-mail in which you reference the interest they expressed on GlobalSpec. Additionally, you may want to provide relevant company or product information such as quality standards, design expertise, ISO certifications and customer service capabilities. Take the time to write a well-crafted response that includes your company address, phone, fax, Web address and contact information for the person responding. If responding with an e-mail, use the same level of attention as you would when writing a letter on company letterhead.  • g lo b a l s p e c w H I T e pa p e R : besT pRacTIces foR managIng and IncReasIng leads • CAD — Indicates a GlobalSpec user linked directly to CAD information on your Web site following a search on GlobalSpec. If a prospect downloads your CAD files, you have a very qualified lead that is often using the CAD file in their actual design. Research indicates as much as 80–85 percent of downloaded CAD files result in actual sales.2 You may want to respond by sending application notes and asking if pricing and availability are required at this time. You may also want to find out the project time frame so you can contact them when the product design cycle is nearing production phase. Someone using your CAD file may need a sample product for an initial prototype. Web — Shows who clicked to your Web site or PDF after conducting a search and finding you on GlobalSpec. A prospect drilling down to this level is probably on the path to making a decision. As figure : RFQ leads are highly-qualified and provide comprethey have not specifically asked to be contacted or hensive information. inquired about a particular product or service, at this point it may be more appropriate to send an e-mail asking if you can help them, rather than making a phone call looking to close a sale. Your e-mail could include references, links, additional PDF files or other relevant information. PrintSpecs — Indicates a GlobalSpec user has printed your product specification for review. This information is often gathered for purchasing agents’ review or to compare a number of product specifications from different companies. This type of lead may turn into a sale if you are able to answer any questions they have about specifications and show them exactly how your product fits their needs. Be prepared to discuss or present applications for the product or other details about the product’s specifications. Phone — Indicates a user has clicked on your contact information to get your phone number. This prospect has performed a search and likely found a match with your products and services. The prospect may be researching a number of companies whose products meet their needs. The company following up appropriately is putting itself in position to win the business. Although GlobalSpec provides contact information, this lead has not specifically requested to be contacted (as they have in e-mail and RFQs). You might respond with an e-mail simply asking how you might help them in their interest in your products or services. Product Leads — Product leads are from those users who have viewed your specifications, images or product data. The lead you receive specifies which product they are interested in. An appropriate response would be to initiate marketing contact to see if they would like additional product information such as applications or availability. Supplier Leads —Supplier leads are from those users who have discovered more information about your company by visiting your Supplier Info page or catalog or have viewed one of your articles in the 2 • • • • •  Nook Industries, Inc. www.globalspec.com Technical Library. This lead is attempting to learn more about your company. An appropriate response would be to initiate marketing contact to see if they would like additional information about your products, services or company’s capabilities. • Visitor Leads — Visitor leads provide contactable information at the company level. A Visitor lead is generated whenever someone views your company or product information on GlobalSpec. This type of lead helps you measure the exposure of your brand and determine the types of companies interested in your products. It is especially useful for creating highly qualified lists and planning additional direct marketing efforts targeted at specific organizations. Following Up with Leads: Best Practices Depending on the nature of the lead, there are a number of best practices you can follow to increase the likelihood that you will realize a sale from a GlobalSpec lead. Particularly in the case of CAD, RFQ and e-mail requests, you can further qualify the prospect by asking questions such as: • • • • What is the time frame of the project? What stage of the project are you in (early design phase, nearing production, etc.)? What is the application for this product? How will it be used? Where will the product be shipped to? Here are some recommendations for using e-mail when responding to leads in cases where the prospect hasn’t proactively reached out to you regarding a specific product: • • • • • • Don’t think of e-mail as a quick and informal note. An e-mail represents your company’s brand and image and it may be the first impression a prospect has of you. Make sure your response is tailored to the inquiry. You might develop several pre-formatted e-mail templates to respond to different types of inquiries. Treat an e-mail like a typed letter on company letterhead: use correct spelling, write professionally, be brief, be sure to proofread. The subject line of your e-mail is important. Make sure it identifies who you are and is relevant. Keep the subject line to 5–7 words. Add all of your company contact information as well as the name and contact information of the individual responding. Provide links in the e-mail allowing the prospect to find additional information on your Web site or in your online product catalog. Filtering Leads by State or Country Leads from other states or countries can be an excellent source of revenue for you. The worldwide reach and broad exposure for your company’s products in international markets is one of the many advantages of marketing on GlobalSpec. However, in some cases you may want to filter leads by geography. GlobalSpec provides you with a mechanism to filter leads by state or country, allowing you to reduce the number coming from geographic regions that are not currently priority areas for your business.  g lo b a l s p e c w H I T e pa p e R : besT pRacTIces foR managIng and IncReasIng leads Step 3: Distribute Leads to the Right People for Proper Follow-up Lead distribution is an internal process requiring close communication and integration between sales and marketing people and systems. You need to access, review, prioritize and determine where a lead should go — to a particular sales person, territory manager, reseller or other person — and then get it there, often via a networked contact management system or e-mailed spreadsheet. When distributing leads, it’s important to engage the sales reps/distributors by sharing everything you know about a lead such as when and where it came from, how qualified it is and buying time frame. You should also set expectations for follow-up. Does this lead need to be contacted today? What is the optimal way to initiate contact? The answer often depends on the source of the lead and its quality. In addition, you need back-up processes in place in case the sales rep assigned to the lead is unavailable and the lead requires immediate action to help close a sale. The better you can audit your lead distribution processes, the better you can manage leads through the sales cycle and achieve a greater ROI on lead generation programs. In the case of your GlobalSpec leads, the GlobalSpec e-mail forwarding feature is a fast and convenient way to distribute a lead to anyone in your organization no matter where they are located (see Figure 3). E-mail forwarding allows you to send a lead report and add comments of your own, based on your knowledge of the prospect’s needs. If it’s a hot lead, you’ll want the sales rep, manufacturing rep or distributor to know immediately. figure : GlobalSpec’s e-mail forwarding feature lets you quickly and easily add comments and pass a lead to anyone in your organization. Step 4: Track Leads Through the Sales Cycle In some organizations, leads get handed off to someone in the sales arm and marketing never hears about it again. How do you know if the leads you generated turned into sales? Or consider this: what if you decide a marketing program isn’t working because leads do not turn into sales after three months — while the typical sales cycle for your organization is six months? Lack of understanding and tracking leads through your sales cycle may lead you to mistakenly abandon your best marketing programs! The most comprehensive way to track leads is to have a central database or spreadsheet of leads where anyone who has contact with a lead — a marketer, sales person, technical support, customer service, or telemarketer — can update the lead record with new information, enabling those with access rights to see it, understand the status of the lead and take appropriate action, whether it be contacting the lead, sending additional information or setting an appointment to close the sale. Tracking does not have to be complicated. You can list the leads in Excel and show who received them and when. You can add a few columns to track lead status, sales orders and other pertinent information. Tracking leads through the sales cycle helps you catch leads that might fall through the cracks and enables you to calculate ROI for your marketing programs. You’ll know how many leads are converted to sales and, if your tracking is thorough, you’ll know the reason why a lead didn’t convert: whether it was a competitive product, a change in prospect’s needs or even an internal breakdown managing the lead.  www.globalspec.com Step 5: Understand and Use GlobalSpec Marketing Options Your GlobalSpec marketing program includes many features and value-added services designed to increase your brand exposure, number of leads and overall value of your marketing program. A good place to begin analyzing the effectiveness of your message and program is by looking at your “Summary of Lead/Brand Exposure Activity” report (see Figure 4). This report can be accessed from your MemberLink page. It shows your lead activity and also the exposure your brand receives, much like the number of impressions you get when you place a print ad in a magazine. But unlike print media which has a short shelf life, GlobalSpec offers ongoing exposure for your products and brand. Plus, on GlobalSpec there are multiple places where prospects are exposed to information about your company and products: your Company Profile page, Product pages, Product Announcements, Banner Advertisements, Technical Library and more. • figure : You can easily access comprehensive information on your lead and brand activity. The key information on the “Summary of Lead/Brand Exposure Activity” report includes: Page Views — A measure of brand activity, page views show the number of times your product or company information pages were presented to users on www.globalspec.com. Page views represent the total number of pages viewed by engineering, technical and industrial professionals connecting with your product, service, brand and/or company name. Visitor Leads — Identify the companies that were presented your products and/or company information during a search. By clicking on the number of visitor leads, you’ll see those companies and, when provided, the company mailing address. From this report you can find out exactly which companies are interested in your products, giving you increased intelligence about your market and the appeal of your products. Full Contact Leads — Identify users who have actively searched for your products or services and provided their full contact information. Full contact leads are the highest quality leads, with the users having expressed a strong interest in your company, products and/or services. The following GlobalSpec lead types are full contact leads: RFQ, E-mail, Web, PrintSpecs, Phone, CAD, Product Leads and Supplier Leads. Total Leads — Shows the total number of visitor and full contact leads reported to you during a given month. • • •  g lo b a l s p e c w H I T e pa p e R : besT pRacTIces foR managIng and IncReasIng leads Maximize Your Current Program GlobalSpec’s marketing program is one of the most comprehensive and effective programs available anywhere for suppliers needing to reach a technical audience. It includes many standard features. Check to see you are using these features to their fullest advantage: • Company Profile Page — This page is as important as any advertisement you might place as it’s broadly viewed by prospects. GlobalSpec creates a Company Profile page to get you started. You can tailor it to your most important points of differentiation. Treat this page like an advertisement with a headline, high-quality images and body copy promoting your company’s current messaging, unique capabilities, certifications and/or the products you want to emphasize. Think of your Company Profile page as an ongoing selling vehicle putting the best face of your business in front of your most interested prospects. Product Announcements — This is a great way to showcase your products. Depending on your GlobalSpec program, you can publish up to 25 Product Announcements for your company on GlobalSpec. We suggest you use them all, change them often using the self-publishing tools provided with your GlobalSpec program and keep any links that return to your Web site updated. Product Announcements are a great way to draw attention to new or hot products and you can provide links to data sheets, PDFs and other information important to your audience. Banner Advertisements — Your online banner appears on the product search page (category) of your choice. These ads are important as they are prominent on the very pages where your audience is looking for and specifying products and services like yours. Banner ads are an excellent opportunity to test the effectiveness of different creative approaches, messages and products as well as to create top-ofmind focus on your company at the exact time your prospects are searching for the products you make or your company capabilities. Technical Library — By including electronic versions of your technical articles, application notes, tutorials and design guidelines on your GlobalSpec Marketing Hub, you can further promote your capabilities, sell your expertise and position your company as a knowledgeable resource in your industry. We encourage you to contribute, as this resource is widely used by engineering, technical and industrial professionals seeking highly technical information. Links to your articles appear on your Technical Articles page, offering you yet another opportunity to reach prospects and make your brand more visible. Customer Care — GlobalSpec has a knowledgeable and responsive Customer Care team. We can help answer questions you might have about using your Product Announcements page and the self-management tools in the MemberLink area of GlobalSpec where you download, process and forward leads. Call us toll-free at 800.261.2052 or at 518.880.0200 with any questions. • • • •  www.globalspec.com Choose Value-Added Marketing Options GlobalSpec also offers value-added marketing options designed to help you increase your brand exposure, target more prospects and increase leads. Many GlobalSpec clients have achieved significant benefits in terms of increased leads and sales by taking full advantage of these options: • e-Newsletter Sponsorships — A GlobalSpec e-newsletter sponsorship is a proven marketing strategy that puts your company, products and services in front of a targeted audience of engineering, industrial and technical professionals – the people you are looking to reach. Because most GlobalSpec e-newsletter readers are power users, a sponsorship can have a powerful impact. It’s a great way to promote a new product, draw attention to a specific product line or promote your appearance at an industry trade show or conference. Sponsorships in more than 55 e-newsletters are available, reaching a combined audience of over 2.5 million subscribers. Visit www.globalspec.com/mediakit/Marketing_Newsletters.cfm for more information on sponsorships. Product Announcement Billboards – If you’re seeking the right audience for a particular product or service, Product Announcement Billboards are a powerful way to get a prospect’s attention while they are searching, giving you qualified results. Product Announcement Billboards allow you to reach your target audience with a relevant message during their search, while they are in design mode and looking for technical specifications. Product Announcement Billboards appear on targeted pages throughout the site in the product or service category of your choice. They are displayed on the side of the relevant pages with a linked image and headline, helping you significantly increase your exposure to engineering, technical and industrial professionals on GlobalSpec. • figure : Product Announcement Billboards appear prominently on targeted pages while users are searching for products and services like yours. • Additional Banner Ads — You can increase your presence and exposure on GlobalSpec with additional banner ads. Banner ads link engineering, technical and industrial professionals directly to your Web site or to product information in your searchable online catalog on GlobalSpec. You can precisely target your audience by choosing where to place your banner: on main product category pages, specific product pages or search results pages. Visit here for more information on banners: http://www.globalspec.com/MediaKit/Marketing_Banners.cfm. Featured Supplier Listing — Extend your reach to tens of thousands of additional engineers and technical professionals by becoming a Featured Supplier in one of GlobalSpec’s publication partner Web sites, including CMP Media/EE Times, Machine Design, World Pumps, PennWell publications, Putman publications, Desktop Engineering and ISA. • 10 g lo b a l s p e c w H I T e pa p e R : besT pRacTIces foR managIng and IncReasIng leads • AdEngine (Cost Per Click Program) — AdEngine is a “pay per click” advertising service exclusively for GlobalSpec customers. Your highly targeted text ads will appear prominently on relevant search results pages on GlobalSpec and our extensive network of partner sites targeted the engineering, technical and business communities. CAD Link — If you have CAD drawings on your Web site, you can link to them from your online catalog on GlobalSpec. CAD links generate highly qualified leads since it’s likely the user is downloading the CAD drawing into a product prototype. While we have the capability to link to any CAD file, GlobalSpec has active partnerships with a number of leaders in the CAD industry including SolidWorks, PARTSolutions, Autodesk and think3. These partnerships give users direct access to SpecSearch enabling them to easily search GlobalSpec’s database and find detailed product information from suppliers and download the component model directly into their design. • Conclusion GlobalSpec is committed to helping you achieve the greatest possible return from your marketing efforts. Our comprehensive marketing programs are designed to help you maximize your company’s brand exposure and the number of highly qualified leads you receive. Sound lead management practices combined with a strong portfolio of GlobalSpec marketing options can help you increase the success of your GlobalSpec marketing program. On GlobalSpec, you reach the right audience at the right time: engineers and technical buyers actively searching for products, services and companies on the Internet that meet their specific needs. For more information on maximizing your marketing results on GlobalSpec, please contact your account executive. For assistance downloading and managing leads, please contact GlobalSpec Customer Care. Call toll free 800.261.2052 or 518.880.0200. 11