Leads, prospects, suspects, targets, contacts. Regardless the label your sales organization applies to the individuals working for your target companies, Sales Leaders need to have quality data for any Above the Funnel demand generation program to be effective. We point this out not because any CSO or CMO will disagree, but rather to alert us all as to how quickly our lead databases are degrading.
Like many of you I just received a cool update from Linkedin informing me that 23% of my contacts changed jobs last year! Assuming that same general percentage of job mobility across all working executives illustrates how much lead data changes.
The implications of those job changes on a demand generation program built on today’s best practices (i.e. automation, segmentation, scoring, nurturing) are significant.
Therefore, a CIO, working at an A level prospect account, in a highly targeted industry receives higher scoring, different nurturing messages and faster lead promotion than a manager level lead in B account whose company is outside a targeted sector.
Here are your two takeaways!
First, maintain a close watch on the quality of your sales lead database. Refresh and update it frequently.
Second, if you have not deployed a demand generation program incorporating the requisite B2B lead creation best practices such as segmentation, automation and scoring, get it going right away.*
We are always interested in different points of view. Have one? Start the discussion!
*”Not implementing a marketing automation solution may be the ultimate career limiting move for today’s marketers. Digital marketing has exploded in scope and complexity making it practically impossible to efficiently and effectively reach your target audience without a fully realized marketing automation infrastructure.”
Marketing Automation Keys to Success, December 22, 2010, Gerald Murray, CMO Advisory Service, IDC