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Q?
Terminology
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A.
Like most business disciplines, sales lead management involves a lexicon all its own. Here are some common terms — and their meanings.
Sales Lead Management (SLM) Lead management is the process of tracking and managing prospective customers. Sometimes referred to as customer acquisition management or contact management, it generally encompasses: lead generation; customer inquiry and capture; filtering, grading, distribution and contact; and lead nurturing.
Lead Generation Businesses create consumer interest and inquiry into products or services through a range of marketing tactics. These often include blog posts, advertisements, white papers, social media, events, and PR campaigns.
Customer Inquiry and Capture Consumers of marketing respond with interest and their data is recorded. This creates a sales lead.
Filtering, Grading, Distribution, and Contact Leads are sorted by the validity of the request, prioritized based on likelihood of becoming a customer, and then dispersed to sales reps to be contacted. Depending on the size of your marketing program, a lot of work can go into defining how to accurately categorize and sort individual leads.
Lead Nurturing Leads are sorted by contacted or uncontacted and scheduled for follow-up processes. They may be put into drip-marketing campaigns, or followed-up with on the phone by a company rep. [technologyadvice.com/blog/sales/what-is-lead-management/]
Sales Lead Management Association The professional association of sales lead management organizations and consultants, and repository for sales lead management white papers, research and industry data. Sales Lead Management Ratio Sometimes called “Sales Leads-to-Close ratio,” “Closing Rate,” or “Conversion Rate” These are rates or ratios that are used to understand how many prospects convert to customers. These are often used in goal setting and sales staff measurement against anticipated results and/or goals.
Sales Cycle The course of time between the initial contact being make with a prospect or lead, the identification of services or goods to be procured, the acceptance of the intended purchase, and the transaction that completes the sale. It is a measure of the efficiency of a sales department within an organization when compared with industry standards. [www.businessdictionary.com/definition/sales-cycle.html] Sales cycles vary greatly among industries. All things equal, sales cycles are longer for products or services that are higher tech, higher priced, or less easily understood than their counterparts.
Prospect, Lead, Customer A "prospect" is someone identified in your target market. A "lead" is someone interested in your products or services. A "customer" has purchased your product or service.
Lead Generation The initiation of consumer interest or inquiry into products or services of a business. Leads can be created for purposes such as list building, e-newsletter list acquisition or for sales leads. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_generation]
LeadsToRevenue VineaGroup's proprietary model illustrating the process for building a structured engagement process that builds and nurtures a critical mass of qualified prospects toward sales.
Roadmap VineaGroup's preliminary consulting outline for new customers. The "roadmap" outlines the specific activities during program support.
Program Support VineaGroup's monthly management and support of clients during engagements.
SmartTracks / SmartCall VineaGroup's proprietary software that aids clients in creating and managing engagement methods with their prospects and leads with the purpose of nurturing those relationships toward sales.
Customer Engagement Specialist (CES) Individual(s) located at client sites engaged in the tactical deployment of SmartTracks/SmartCall systems.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Term that refers to practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth. CRM systems are designed to compile information on customers across different channels -- or points of contact between the customer and the company -- which could include the company's website, telephone, live chat, direct mail, marketing materials and social media. CRM systems can also give customer-facing staff detailed information on customers' personal information, purchase history, buying preferences and concerns. [searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/CRM]
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Q?
Why Should I Choose VineaGroup?
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A.
Good question. There are many good sales lead management organizations.
First, we were among the founders of this industry. We developed the methodology, the systems and the software to turn sales lead management concepts into reality.
Second, we are recognized as one of the preeminent firms in sales lead management. Our principal, Laura McGuire, is an innovator and a nationally-recognized sales lead management expert with many industry and client citations to her credit.
McGuire holds the earliest and most cited patents in the Crowdsourcing/CloudLabor arena and has been applying remote labor options since technology made it possible two decades ago. She was recently named, for the third year in a row, as one of the industry's "Most Influential" by the Sales Lead Management Association.
Third, value. We bring you extensive understanding of sales lead management, affordably. We're large enough to understand the nuances of the industry. But small enough to give you our full attention.
Fourth, just ask our clients. They'll tell you how we helped them identify thousands of qualified prospects, focused their sales efforts, integrated their marketing and sales functions, and increased sales dramatically. More profoundly, we helped them change their thinking.
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What is “Sales Lead Management?”
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Sales lead management is just that: managing one's sales leads.
Too often, companies and their salespeople become hyperfocused on creating leads...regardless of the likelihood of turning those leads into sales.
Our discipline helps companies identify their best customers and then, through a methodical, proven approach, cultivate those prospects toward sales.
One might say that it's a targeted approach versus a shotgun approach.
