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Sales leads play a big role in B2B marketing and sales alignment
A comment from someone who attended one of my workshops got me thinking about the role of sales leads in marketing and sales alignment from a business-to-business perspective.
Three critical factors came to mind:
- The definition of a qualified lead. This requires agreement between the marketing team and the sales team on the criteria that will be used to determine that a sales lead is qualified or “sales-ready.”
- The number of sales leads needed is determined by the company’s sales revenue goals. Here’s the question: If X percent of leads qualify, and Y percent of those qualified leads close at an average sale value of $Z, how many leads need to be generated? My Sales Lead Calculator™ will help you determine your numbers.
- Lead generation activities must be planned with the length of the sales/buying cycle in mind. If your average sales/buying cycle time is six months from lead to purchase, you can’t generate a new lead today and expect it will affect this month’s sales.
Share your thoughts about the role of sales leads in the alignment of B2B marketing and sales with a comment below.
