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PLAYBOOKPLAYBOOK
Tips for building the team, selecting your systems,
and calling the right plays to drive leads to revenue.
THE ULTIMATE LEAD MANAGEMENT
2The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Contents
Introduction	3
The Goal	4
Outlining Your Goals for Lead Management	5
The Team	6
Building a Winner	7
The Coach: Strong Leadership	8
Building The Team: Marketing Roles	9
Building The Team: Sales Roles	10
The Equipment	11
Systems for Success	11
Marketing Automation	12
CRM Software	13
Integrated Website	14
Scouting: Know your targets	15
Know your Market	16
Find the Pain	17
Know the Data	18
Uncover Your Prospects’ Buy Cycle Behavior	19
Build the Playbook	20
Set–Up: Establish the Playbook Terminology	21
Play 1: Set Up a Shared Meeting Cadence	22
Play 2: Create an Overall Content Plan	23
Play 3: Create & Communicate Content Distribution Calendar	24
Play 4: Create & Communicate a Lead Scoring Matrix	25
Play 5: Create & Document Lead Flow	26
Play 6: Create & Operationalize Feedback Loops	27
Play 7: Create & Document Nurture Tracks	28
Play 8: Regular Database Maintenance	29
Game Time	30
Execute	31
Continue to Practice	32
Keep an Eye on the Scoreboard!	33
Thanks	34
1The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
In sports, the goal is simple: TO WIN.
In sales and marketing it’s not very different. We want to
drive leads in order to increase sales and reach a winning
number.
Neither a Final Four win nor an inked contract come to
fruition without a lot of small victories along the way. For
those victories to happen with consistency, you need:
1. The goal
2. The right team
3. The right equipment
4. Great scouting
5. A prepared play book
6. Consistent execution
7. A scoreboard
Execution in each area wins not only in sports, but can help you drive leads to revenue consistently.
IMPROVE
communication
on your team
SPUR
better
lead flow
LEARN
key lead
management
IMPLEMENT
better
planning
INCREASE
your
revenue
Introduction
WHY READ THIS PLAYBOOK?
2
1
3
4
5
6
7
2The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
The Goal
“I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus
on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.”
—Venus Williams
3The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Outlining Your Goals for
Lead Management
A good lead management playbook can accomplish a lot of
different things.
At the outset, it is important to outline your key goals so you can
measure the success of the plays.
At a high level, this ties in directly with your overall goals for
content marketing.
QUESTIONS TO ASK TO DETERMINE THIS
GOAL FORMULATION INCLUDE:
•	 What are the objectives in implementing a
	 lead management strategy?
•	 How many leads does my team need to hit
	 revenue goals?
•	 What are my two to three key metrics I will
	 use to measure success?
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
Some Resources:
This is how you come up with
marketing goals
(Entrepreneur.com)
5 Business Goals of Content 	
	 Marketing
Hint: Leads Generated, Opportunities Creat-
ed, and Revenue are three great metrics! Try
measuring total volumes and conversion rates
at each lead stage.
These goals will drive how you run
your plays, and the scale at which
you need to implement lead
management solutions.
4The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
The Team
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and
intelligence wins championships.”
—Michael Jordan
5The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Building a Winner
Finding and managing the right leads requires a coordinated
effort—a team.
At its heart, building a winning team requires a shift from sales
and marketing as opposing forces, to sales and marketing as a
cohesive unit.
This requires systems, discipline and leadership.
To drive leads to revenue, leadership must embrace this team
concept, and bring together players to win.
THE WINNING TEAM HAS...
Strong leadership
Great players at
every position
Well–defined
roles
The ability to come together to execute
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
Some Helpful Articles:
6 Strategies to help you unify 	
	 sales and marketing teams
Sales & Marketing Alignment 	
	 vs. Integration—Part 1
Sales & Marketing Alignment 	
	 vs. Integration—Part 2
“I am a member of the team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the
team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.”
—Mia Hamm
6The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
The Coach: Strong Leadership
Lead management and the delivery of quality leads to sales
starts at the top—the CEO, Head Coach, Chief Revenue Officer,
etc. It’s the result of the decision to integrate people and
systems effectively to drive revenue.
FOR MOST LEADERS, THIS IS A DECISION
TO CHANGE.
It is a decision that requires outlining a vision, and roles and
responsibilities on the team, to execute that vision.
SO HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE YOUR
PERSONNEL TO WIN?
This will vary depending on the size of your organization and the
resources you have available. The following pages will look at
the key functions leaders need to assign, and roles to fill.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
“A leader’s job is not to do the work for others, it’s to help others figure out how to do it themselves,
to get things done, and to succeed beyond what they thought possible.”
—Simon Sinek
“To make this integration
happen, it has to be
viewed like a true change
management exercise.
Of course it’s all rooted
in understanding your
customers, and understanding
how the dynamics play out
with your particular type
of sale, how many buying
influences, and really rooting
your decisions around
what’s happening with how
your ideal customer—your
sweet spot customer—makes
decisions.”
—Bill Golder, principal and
CEO of Slingshot Growth
Partners
7The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Building the Team:
Marketing Roles
Whether you have a one–person marketing department, an
in–house team, or a collection of contractors, you need to
have the right skill sets and roles to drive leads to revenue.
BELOW ARE SPECIFIC ROLES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES THAT A TEAM NEEDS TO
EFFECTIVELY MANAGE LEADS:
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
Some other thoughts
on marketing team
skills & roles:
12 Roles Essential to the 		
Future of Content Marketing 	
(Content Marketing Institute)
5 Skills needed to succeed 		
in digital marcomms in 2015 		
(Marketing Interactive)STRATEGIST
It all starts with strategy. Savvy marketing teams
can outline and communicate strategy effectively.
ANALYST
Marketers need to be able to analyze the results
of their executed strategies, and recommend
game–time audibles effectively.
WRITER
Writing skills are more critical than ever to today’s
marketer. The ability to produce content that
appeals to potential buyers is a key component of
most lead generation programs.
CREATIVE
With so much content marketing out there today,
you need to get creative (especially with images
and video) to blast through the clutter.
WEB DEVELOPER
Digital marketing needs people that can translate
the creative vision into bits and bytes.
SEO/PPC EXPERT
Search engine results are a key factor in ensuring
that potential leads come into contact with your
carefully crafted messaging.
SOCIAL BUTTERFLY
An understanding of the social media landscape
is needed for a marketing team to be optimized
for social influence.
SYSTEMS EXPERT
The team needs to know not only how to
maximize use of their current systems, but how to
add new systems to the mix.
DATA SCIENTIST
The level of data marketers have access to has
increased dramatically. You need to know how to
make sense of it.
COLLABORATOR
Marketing plans need to include more than the
marketing team these days. Collaboration across
the organization is critical for success.
8The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Building the Team: Sales Roles
Multiple roles are needed to build a scalable sales team. The following are a sampling of them:
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
POSITION RESPONSIBILITY
New Business
Development/
Lead Qualification
Work at the top of the sales pipeline,
reaching out to make contact and drive
leads to the next stage.
Opportunity Manager
Understand the needs of leads in order
to overcome obstacles and close deals.
Account Manager
Generate referral leads, expand and
renew existing deals, branch out
horizontally within existing accounts.
Sales Manager
Understand sales systems intimately
and translate the big picture to improve
the team.
Sales Operations
Drive collaboration between sales and
marketing and ensure proper structure
and use of systems by the
sales team.
9The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Sales Skills
To succeed in lead management, a salesperson must possess
a variety of skills; traditional sales skills, and brand new skills
required by new technology. Skilled salespeople will actively
contribute to the lead management process, drive innovation,
and qualify and close the leads delivered.
SKILLS NEEDED INCLUDE:
COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONAL SKILLS
A salesperson must be able to relate well to prospects and
communicate effectively in a written and verbal manner.
DISCOVERY
Sales is about the prospect, not about the product. A good
salesperson must be able to uncover the prospect’s needs from
all angles.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
For lead management to work, a salesperson must have
high attention to detail. Calls must be logged, data elements
populated, and follow–up tasks completed on schedule.
OBJECTIVITY
A salesperson must be able to objectively evaluate and qualify
a lead, not based on the salesperson’s need to meet quota, but
based on the lead’s needs, and ability and propensity to buy.
SYSTEMS INSIGHT
The ability to understand systems and work within the CRM and
marketing automationplatformsfor strong lead management
is vital. The sales rep should have the ability to analyze data
and understand their territory and their lead flow, and how this
relates to hitting their quota.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
For more thoughts
on sales skills, and
how to find good
salespeople, check
out these resources:
Finding and Hiring Great
Salespeople
The 5 Characteristics of
Extraordinary Salespeople
(Entrepreneur)
10The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
The Equipment
“You have to feel comfortable with your car.
You have to go into turn one, every lap, with
confidence. You have to be sure of yourself
and your equipment.”
—Danica Patrick
11The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Systems for Success
In a 2013 NFL game, Philadelphia Eagles player LeSean
McCoy set a franchise record by rushing for 217 yards. His
secret? In a snowy environment, he chose to wear shoes
with ¾” cleats (instead of his usual ½”). One quarter of
an inch may not seem like a big deal, but McCoy’s savvy
equipment choice allowed him to (literally) run circles
around would–be defenders.
Everyone had cleats. Everyone had talent. McCoy just
tweaked his equipment properly so he could maximize
his talent, while others were left flailing in the snow.
In a highly competitive environment, maximizing and tuning your equipment (systems) is one of
the most important decisions you will make.
FOR DIGITAL LEAD MANAGEMENT, THREE CORE CRUCIAL
PIECES OF EQUIPMENT MATTER...A LOT.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
A well–managed CRM
A strong integrated
web presence
The right marketing
automation platform
12The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Marketing Automation
Marketing automation systems are critical for digital lead
generation. To some extent, the term ”marketing automation” is
a misnomer; ”marketing enablement systems” might be a more
accurate label. However you characterize it, such a system
allows teams to execute on complex plays and strategies for
best results.
DATA NOW DRIVES MARKETING.
We have more data than ever before on our prospects, and
more capabilities to personalize effective campaigns.
Marketing automation software connects a suite of powerful
tools to your database, allowing you to categorize your leads
into meaningful market segments.
As your software collects data and tracks your leads’ activity,
you build a cohesive picture of your funnel. From there,
automation software lets you reach out with dynamic content
designed to impact leads at each stage of the buying journey.
The alternative to a marketing automation system is
spreadsheet purgatory—a place no marketer wants to go.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
If you haven’t invested
in a marketing
automation tool, here
are some resources to
help you get started:
Important Considerations
Before You Invest in
Marketing Automation
The Business Case for
Marketing Automation
Changing the Game with
Marketing Automation
Email marketing
Seamless CRM
integration
Campaign segmentation
Visual analytics
THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A MARKETING AUTOMATION PLATFORM
Intuitive ROI
tracking
13The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
CRM Software
While it’s possible to manage data in spreadsheets and use your marketing automation software
to help organize it, the best way to effectively ensure your lead data is managed well is to employ
a CRM.
By tracking every touch with your leads, CRM software works with marketing automation software
to help you understand which contacts need more information, which leads have gone cold,
and who is ready to buy. It also provides feedback on your touches, helping visualize your lead
management “scoreboard.”
It presents your data as actionable insights on a lead–by–lead basis, so that your sales
professionals know which points are relevant for each call.
Ultimately, CRM software improves pipeline velocity by empowering your sales team to have
efficient, relevant, and convincing conversations.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
Insights for sales
performance
management
Extensive customization
options
Marketing
automation software
integration
THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN CRM SOFTWARE
14The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Integrated Website
Kentucky has the iconic blue jerseys, Ohio State has the block “O”, Arizona has Wilbur Wildcat—
and your business has your website.
A strong website is a huge player in the lead management process. It’s your face to the world, and
the image you want to portray. It should help you generate leads, and drive conversions.
It also needs to be tied to your other systems for strong lead management. An integrated site
includes tracking code connected to your database. Your website then becomes aware of who is
doing what, so that it can tell you whether the people accessing your content are new contacts
or existing leads. And it can tell you which pages they spend their time on, which is a window into
their concerns.
This allows your website to help build your database. New lead profiles are automatically
created for inbound contacts, lead behavior is tracked on your site directly within your marketing
automation system (and CRM), and you gain insights you’ve never had before into buying
behavior.
This sends the signals directly to your sales team, and allows them to discuss relevant items with
individuals at each stage of the buy cycle.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
KEY QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SITE
Attractive,
responsive
design
Intuitive
navigability
Good SEO
Performance
Dynamic
content
appealing
to leads at
different
stages of the
buy cycle
Tracking code
that integrates
with Marketing
Automation
Software
15The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Scouting:
Know Your Targets
“You hit home runs not by chance but by
preparation.”
—Roger Maris
16The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Know Your Market
You’ve got the team, you’ve got the equipment, but unless you
scout the targets it’s tough to put together a successful game
plan. Strategy starts with understanding the market—by industry,
by geography, by company, by department and by title.
Familiarity with the 80–20 rule (also known as the Pareto
Principle or the Law of the Vital Few) is crucial at this stage.
Simply put, this rule states that 80% of sales come from 20% of a
company’s clients.
Find out everything you can about this golden 20%. They will
become the prototype persona as you build your database of
leads and prospects.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
Scout to Understand:
•	 The key vertical markets 		
	 and industries you want to 	
	 pursue.
•	 The geographical reach of 	
	 your campaign.
•	 Ideal companies within 		
	 each vertical market?
	– Size of organization?
		 • Revenue
		 • Employees
	– Other technologies 		
		used?
•	 The department most
	 likely to influence a 		
	 decision to buy.
•	 The titles most likely to 		
	 influence a decision to buy
•	 The titles most likely to be 	
	 the final decision maker.
WHAT ABOUT MY
STARTUP?
With young businesses, identifying your
most profitable clients may be impossible—
they might not exist yet!
An alternative strategy involves creating your
“Dream 100.” Identify the 100 ideal clients
for your business—those who could benefit
most from the solutions you provide.
Check out this startup focused
eBook
17The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Find the Pain
It is one thing to know who you want to go after. It is another
thing entirely to know the message that will make them sit
up and pay attention.
You will need to dig deeper than company and title; you
must understand the people who answer to the names in
your database.
MAKE EVERY ATTEMPT TO GET A FULL
UNDERSTANDING OF THE FOLLOWING:
•	 Your target prospects’ business priorities: personal and
organizational
•	 Your target prospects’ challenges: personal and
organizational
•	 The real benefit and value of your solution
– What operational outcomes and personal benefits does the
customer expect to achieve? Stated another way: from a customer’s
point of view, what are the key reasons to purchase your product
or solution? [Personal and organizational. e.g., will purchasing your
solution enhance that person’s status in the company because they
are the one that solved the problem?]
•	 The trigger or circumstances that often cause prospects
to champion your product/service or purchase it to solve
their pain
•	 Potential concerns and roadblocks – what are the
concerns (real or perceived) that need to be addressed
before the prospect will be comfortable buying?
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
Tips to “Find the Pain”
•	 Read industry publications
•	 Join industry–specific
	 LinkedIn groups and
	forums
•	 Interview key market 		
	players
•	 Conduct market surveys
18The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Know the Data
Billy Beane, the general manager for the Oakland Athletics, became famous for sabermetrics in
baseball. (Then he became more famous when Brad Pitt played him in MoneyBall.)
Beane creates winning teams on a low budget by understanding the data on why teams win and
which players can perform in what way, and by scouting and targeting based on this data.
For proper lead management, it’s not enough to have the market and pain scouting report. You
need to know the data.
Do this in advance, and you will increase your chances of success exponentially by increasing
your ability to analyze your results effectively.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
SEGMENT YOUR
DATABASE WELL
Market
segment
Company
department
Level of
individual
Lead
source
Data
source
Expected online
behavior
19The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Uncover Your Prospects’ Buy
Cycle Behavior
One of the most important parts of scouting the market is to understand the buyer’s journey that
your prospects prefer to go through. You can know a market cold, understand the buyer’s needs,
and have all the data in the world on who they are, but if you don’t know how they buy, your
chances of success
are poor.
Even if you haven’t done this analysis before, chances are you have the data somewhere. It’s
in the heads of your current sales team, it’s buried in your CRM data, it’s right in front of you as
revealed with your current customers’ experience.
Don’t confuse this buy cycle with your internally defined sales cycle metrics.
RATHER, BUY CYCLE RESEARCH SHOULD INFORM THOSE
METRICS. IT MUST POINT OUT:
•	 How do my prospects like to and actually buy?
•	 What information do my leads need to buy?
•	 Where do my prospects look for information?
•	 Are there visible, trackable inflection points
	 that indicate sales–readiness?
•	 When, where, and why are most deals lost?
•	 Where do my prospects live online?
Answer these questions explicitly. It will
help you run the plays in the playbook
effectively.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
20The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Build the
Playbook
“Systems win! Believe in your system, then sell it to your players.”
—Billy Donavan, University of Florida Head Basketball Coach
You know your goals • You know your team
You have the right equipment • You have a great scouting report
Create, communicate, and execute the plays to win at lead management!
21The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Set–Up: Establish the
Playbook Terminology
It’s unlikely that all of the players on your team share the same definitions of current marketing
terminology. Make sure you establish and embed this common language so you can build your
plays.
YOUR TERMS WILL BE SPECIFIC TO YOUR COMPANY. HERE’S
AN EXAMPLE OF HOW ONE COMPANY USES LANGUAGE TO
CLASSIFY ITS LEADS:
MARKETING QUALIFIED LEAD (MQL)
A lead that marketing has deemed worthy of handoff to sales. Characteristics may or may not
include attributes such as demographics or activity and/or an assessment of the viability of the
prospect as an opportunity. The main categories looked at are fit, based on explicit criteria such
as title, industry, and revenue; and engagement, based on activities such as webinar attendance
and white paper downloads. It’s important that marketing and sales agree on the criteria and
definition.
SALES–ACCEPTED LEAD (SAL)
This is a lead that marketing sends to sales which sales agrees is qualified, and agrees to follow
up with. In some organizations, there are teams of sales development reps who specialize in
qualifying leads further by getting potential customers to take some pre–defined next step(s).
Marketing may support this step with nurturing programs for leads that are sales–worthy but not
sales–ready.
SALES–QUALIFIED LEAD (SQL)
This is a lead that has passed the Sales–Accepted Lead stage with some degree of engagement
that allows sales to believe this lead is both qualified and likely to buy within a certain amount
of time. Marketing may support this step with bottom–of–funnel materials and other specialized
collateral.
OPPORTUNITY
This is a SQL that has taken some form of action (such as watching a live one–on–one demo) that
has added vital energy and momentum to the engagement. This may also be a stage in a CRM
system tracking.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
22The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Play 1: Set Up a Shared
Meeting Cadence
TEAM MEMBERS: All
The fact that we need to meet and talk regularly to discuss lead management seems like a
no brainer. But, as about a million people have been quoted as saying, “common sense is not
common practice.”
Set up a shared meeting cadence to discuss your plans, your successes, your mistakes, and to
continually re–evaluate your playbook.
THEN, KEEP THAT CADENCE: PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE, CLOSE
YOUR LAPTOPS, AND GET TOGETHER TO DISCUSS RESULTS.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
23The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Play 2: Create an Overall
Content Plan Cadence
TEAM MEMBERS TO RUN THE PLAY:
Content Strategist, Sales Manager, Sales
Operations, Creatives, Social
Bring together your team members, understand your scouting
report, and create a content plan that will touch prospects and
customers where they are in the buy cycle.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
BUY CYCLE CONTENT GOAL CONTENT STRATEGY
EFFECTIVE TYPES OF
CONTENT
ATTRACT
Generate brand and
product awareness
Link your brand to challenges
or pain points
Blogs, social media,
infographics, guides, case
studies, videos, white papers,
checklists, advertising
CAPTURE
Increase level of
interest in solving
problem and in
your brand
Educate about the features
and benefits of your product
or service; educate about
how solving this problem will
make their life better
Blogs, social media,
infographics, guides, case
studies, FAQs, demos, videos,
webinars, analyst reports
NURTURE
Overcome hesitation
to purchase
Address concerns or
roadblocks, highlight the
advantages of your solution
as compared to others; show
what it’s like to work with you
Case studies, FAQs, product
comparisons, datasheets,
ROI calculators, demos,
references, checklists, free
trials
CONVERT
Finalize purchase and
onboard. Make them
feel safe and
looked–after
Validate their decision,
educate them on how to use
your product/service, give
them the confidence to use it
Drip onboarding programs;
user guides, videos, FAQs,
knowledge base, training
materials, webinars
EXPAND
Support loyalty and
advocacy; upsell
Illustrate value of continued/
upgraded service, encourage
referrals, add value with
helpful content
Webinars, tips and tricks,
newsletters, communities,
reward programs, social
media
*Note: Make sure to host a mix of content on your site, so that potential customers who find you by inbound means
can self–select the type of content most relevant to their needs.
Additional Resource:
A 4–Step Guide for Building
Your Content Plan
24The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Play 3: Create a Content
Distribution Calendar
TEAM MEMBERS TO RUN THE PLAY:
Content Strategist, Content Creators,
Sales and Marketing Operations, Social
Media Managers
You have the plan, now turn it into tactics. With a shared calendar,
the whole team should know what is going out and when.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
Additional Resource:
How to Build an Editorial
Calendar
MARCH APRIL MAY
CONTENT Whitepaper Case Study Infographic
BUY CYCLE TARGET Attract Nurture Attract, Nurture
TARGETED LEVEL Managers Decision Makers All levels
DISTRIBUTION Email, Social
Direct Email,
Webinar
Blog, Website,
Social
25The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Play 4: Create a Lead
Scoring Matrix
TEAM MEMBERS TO RUN THE PLAY:
Content Strategist, Content Creators,
Sales and Marketing Operations, Sales
Manager, Salespeople
Map the buy–side behaviors and lead attributes to a lead
scoring matrix, to make sure leads are scored accurately and
brought to the sales team effectively. Engage the sales and
marketing teams together to decide which buying behaviors
should be scored, and with what positive or negative values.
Establish a “Marketing Qualified Lead” score that bubbles up a
lead directly to your sales team.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
Additional Resource:
A 5–Step Guide for Creating a
Lead Scoring Program
Marketing Qualified Lead = 25 points
DESIRED BEHAVIORS
Fill out a “contact me”
request form = +20
Download an eGuide = +5
Click an email = +1
Visit our “Buy Now”
webpage = +10
PROFILE ATTRIBUTES
C–Level = +5
Intern = –2
5,000 or more
employees = +3
$10m in revenue or
more = +3
26The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Play 5: Create and
Document Lead Flow
TEAM MEMBERS: Marketing Strategist, Sales and Marketing
Ops, Sales Managers
It’s imperative that teams understand how leads flow through the system for good lead
management. Make this visible.
ASK THE TEAM TO CREATE A LEAD FLOW DIAGRAM, AND MAP THIS TO:
•	 Fields in the marketing automation
system and CRM
•	 Behaviors taken by the sales team
receiving them
This exercise should ferret out any gaps in
understanding between the team members.
Once it’s finalized, the team should be on
the same page in terms of how MQL’s are
generated and move through the system.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
NAME: LeBron James
COMPANY: Cleveland Cavaliers
CAMPAIGN: NBA Campaign
LEAD SOURCE: Form Fill – Landing Page 2
SALES REP: Jeff Till
Lead
Score hits
Marketing
Qualified
Form Fill Email Generated to
Rep—Reps Lead
List Populated
Initial Call
Executed
Lead Accepted or
sent to Nurture
Article
Download
Affiliate Marketing
Lead Delivery
27The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Play 6: Create
Feedback Loops
TEAM MEMBERS: All Marketing, Sales, and Operations
Lead management takes individual and collective efforts.
A systemized feedback loop for leads should be placed in your CRM for sales executives to
execute on. Both qualitative and quantitative results must be measured.
A PRACTICAL WAY TO DO THIS IS TO REQUIRE THREE SHORT
QUESTIONS BE ANSWERED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF YOUR
CRM EVERY TIME CONTACT IS MADE WITH A MARKETING
QUALIFIED LEAD.
•	 Lead accepted by sales?
•	 Why or why not?
•	 Key topic of lead interest?
This will allow you to understand the overall quality and types of
leads you’re getting, and the impact leads are having on the sales team.
In addition, you should be
tracking lead sources
so you will know which
channels produce the
best–converting leads.
This will help you better
tune your content and
programs for success, and
help you determine return
on investment.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
28The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Play 7: Create and
Document Nurture Tracks
TEAM MEMBERS: Marketing Strategist, Sales and Marketing
Operations, Sales Manager
Effective lead nurturing is all about accelerating leads. We do that with content that helps the
buyer progress through the journey. As leads progress through the funnel, the type of content
they are interested in evolves.
Set up nurture tracks for leads that are not immediate opportunities based on their place in the
buy cycle, their interest levels, and the input that you have from the sales team.
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
Sales Qualified Lead
—With Near Term
Opportunity
Email 1: Case Study
Email 2: Example
Customer newsletter
Email 3: New demo
Videos
Email 4: Personal
touch from sales
Email 1: Case Study
Email 2: New demo
Videos
Email 3: Infographic
Email 4: Thought
leadership white
paper: Budgeting for
this type of solution
Email 1: Interest video
Email 2: Why this topic
Email 3: Gartner report
Email 4: Webinar invite
Sales Qualified Lead
—No Near Term
Opportunity
Sales Rejected Lead
—No Interest
29The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Play 8: Regular Database
Maintenance
TEAM MEMBERS: Sales and Marketing Operations
The undertaking to clean the data in your CRM is well worth it. The Sales and Marketing
Operations team is responsible for ensuring duplicate leads are not delivered, placed into
different nurture tracks, etc.
•	 It is critical to undertake a process to ensure your data is as clean as possible, as frequently
as possible.
•	 Duplicate data causes wasted sales hours, skew your reporting and statistics, and in general
kills the productivity of a campaign.
•	 Messy data also impedes email deliverability, and can severely
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
30The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Game Time
Your strategy is set, and your team is familiar with the playbook. It’s
time to take the field. As in sports, the recipe for success is no secret.
Teams that win are teams that develop talent, plan well, teams that are
passionate, and teams that run their game plan effectively.
During the 2015 Super Bowl, Seattle’s Marshawn
Lynch was averaging an impressive 4.25 yards per
carry. The Seattle game plan (give Lynch the ball) was
producing results. With seconds remaining, Seattle
needed to move the ball only one yard to win. Instead
of handing the ball to Lynch, Seattle went with a pass
play—and lost.
When the game is on the line, have faith in your
plan. The development of your strategy has set
the foundation for success: results are a matter of
following through and adjusting to the right data.
31The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Execute
Just having the playbook in place doesn’t guarantee a win.
YOU NEED TO EXECUTE…WELL.
1. Ensure the content you create is of the highest standards.
	•	Relevant
	 •	 Beautiful
	 •	 Simple
2. Deliver to the market via all targeted distribution channels.
	•	Email
	 •	 Web
	 •	 Social
	 •	 Advertising
3. Measure everything.
4. Capture and manage leads to revenue!
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
“Great execution. That’s what
you have to do when you’re
playing great teams.”
—Tracy McGrady
Additional Resource:
Content Marketing: Seven
Steps to Create Content Like
a Publisher (Act–On)
1
2
3
4
32The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Continue to Practice
Reggie Jackson (“Mr. October”) is a 14–time All–Star and
five–time World Series champion baseball player. He also
struck out 2,597 times. If you’re going to play, sometimes
you’re going to lose. Strong lead management requires an
acceptance that it’s not one–and–done; some campaigns
and programs are going to fail from time to time. That’s part
of your continual process
of improvement.
Your process has a lot of moving parts—multiple players,
multiple plays, and multiple systems. There is room in that
system for failure.
THIS MEANS PRACTICE MUST BE DONE
CONTINUALLY. SO…TAKE A TIP FROM
GREAT WINNERS:
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
“Most people get excited
about games, but I’ve got to
be excited about practice,
because that’s my classroom.”
—Pat Summitt
Additional Resource:
6 Strategies to Help you Unify
Sales and Marketing Teams
Get the team
together
Attend new
trainings, learn
new plays
Continually
discuss new
techniques and
optimize plays
Optimize your
current
systems
Assess your
failures
Practice,
practice….
practice.
33The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Keep an Eye on the
Scoreboard!
Every part of the lead management process should have a
scorecard, and you should check on it continually.
Make sure you have weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports
that focus on your key performance indicators and goals.
READ THESE, ADJUST YOUR PLAYBOOK
ACCORDINGLY, AND WIN IN THE GAME
OF LEAD MANAGEMENT!
The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
Know key goals for your
scoreboard!
•	 Leading Indicators
	 – # of MQLs per rep or 		
		territory
	 – # of Conversions per rep 		
	 or territory
	 – # Interested Conversations
	 – Pipeline revenue 			
	 generated
•	 Results
	 – # Customers Generated
	 – Net new revenue
	 – Revenue from existing 		
		customers
	 – Percentage of sales
		 and revenue driven by
		marketing
•	 Analysis
	 – Campaign ROI
	 – Campaign Influence
	 – Customer acquisition 		
		 cost (CAC)
	 – Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
	 – Ratio of LTV:CAC
Additional Resources:
5 Metrics to Apply to Sales &
Marketing (Forbes)
15 Essential Metrics for Perpetual
Revenue Group;
(Act–On)
34The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
Thanks!
Thank you for reading this. We hope you found it useful, and that it will help drive your lead
management—and your business growth—to new heights.
In researching this eBook, we came across dozens of great quotes for sports and life. . . They
didn’t all fit into this playbook, but we thought we’d share a few of them with you here.
“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self–satisfaction in
knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you
are capable.”
—John Wooden
“If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a
heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to
have something special.”
—Jim Valvano
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost
300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning
shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my
life. And that is why I succeed.”
—Michael Jordan
“But now, being a parent, I go home and see my son and
I forget about any mistake I ever made or the reason
I’m upset. I get home and my son is smiling or he comes
running to me. It has just made me grow as an individual
and grow as a man.”
—LeBron James
“Losses have propelled me to even bigger places, so I understand the importance of losing. You can never
get complacent because a loss is always around the corner. It’s in any game that you’re in—a business
game or whatever—you can’t get complacent.”
—Venus Williams
“Champions keep
playing until they get
it right.”
—Billie Jean King
“The price of success is hard work,
dedication to the job at hand, and the
determination that whether we win
or lose, we have applied the best of
ourselves to the task at hand.”
—Vince Lombardi
“I follow three rules: Do the right
thing, do the best you can, and
always show people you care.”
—Lou Holtz
“I am building a fire, and
everyday I train, I add more fuel.
At just the right moment, I light
the match.”
—Mia Hamm
35The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook |
©2015 Act–On Software, Inc. Trademarks belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved.
www.act–on.com | @ActOnSoftware | #ActOnSW
Act–On Software delivers cloud–based integrated marketing automation software. Marketers can manage all their
online marketing efforts from a single dashboard that can be seamlessly integrated with CRM, giving sales access into
various marketing functions. Act–On’s fresh approach to marketing automation gives its users full functionality without
the complexity other systems impose, and makes campaign creation and program execution easier and faster.
ABOUTACT–ONSOFTWARE
See all of Act–On’s
awards and accolades
Connect with us to learn moreAcclaim for Act–On

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ActOnEBook_LeadManagementPlaybook

  • 1. PLAYBOOKPLAYBOOK Tips for building the team, selecting your systems, and calling the right plays to drive leads to revenue. THE ULTIMATE LEAD MANAGEMENT
  • 2. 2The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Contents Introduction 3 The Goal 4 Outlining Your Goals for Lead Management 5 The Team 6 Building a Winner 7 The Coach: Strong Leadership 8 Building The Team: Marketing Roles 9 Building The Team: Sales Roles 10 The Equipment 11 Systems for Success 11 Marketing Automation 12 CRM Software 13 Integrated Website 14 Scouting: Know your targets 15 Know your Market 16 Find the Pain 17 Know the Data 18 Uncover Your Prospects’ Buy Cycle Behavior 19 Build the Playbook 20 Set–Up: Establish the Playbook Terminology 21 Play 1: Set Up a Shared Meeting Cadence 22 Play 2: Create an Overall Content Plan 23 Play 3: Create & Communicate Content Distribution Calendar 24 Play 4: Create & Communicate a Lead Scoring Matrix 25 Play 5: Create & Document Lead Flow 26 Play 6: Create & Operationalize Feedback Loops 27 Play 7: Create & Document Nurture Tracks 28 Play 8: Regular Database Maintenance 29 Game Time 30 Execute 31 Continue to Practice 32 Keep an Eye on the Scoreboard! 33 Thanks 34
  • 3. 1The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | In sports, the goal is simple: TO WIN. In sales and marketing it’s not very different. We want to drive leads in order to increase sales and reach a winning number. Neither a Final Four win nor an inked contract come to fruition without a lot of small victories along the way. For those victories to happen with consistency, you need: 1. The goal 2. The right team 3. The right equipment 4. Great scouting 5. A prepared play book 6. Consistent execution 7. A scoreboard Execution in each area wins not only in sports, but can help you drive leads to revenue consistently. IMPROVE communication on your team SPUR better lead flow LEARN key lead management IMPLEMENT better planning INCREASE your revenue Introduction WHY READ THIS PLAYBOOK? 2 1 3 4 5 6 7
  • 4. 2The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | The Goal “I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.” —Venus Williams
  • 5. 3The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Outlining Your Goals for Lead Management A good lead management playbook can accomplish a lot of different things. At the outset, it is important to outline your key goals so you can measure the success of the plays. At a high level, this ties in directly with your overall goals for content marketing. QUESTIONS TO ASK TO DETERMINE THIS GOAL FORMULATION INCLUDE: • What are the objectives in implementing a lead management strategy? • How many leads does my team need to hit revenue goals? • What are my two to three key metrics I will use to measure success? The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time Some Resources: This is how you come up with marketing goals (Entrepreneur.com) 5 Business Goals of Content Marketing Hint: Leads Generated, Opportunities Creat- ed, and Revenue are three great metrics! Try measuring total volumes and conversion rates at each lead stage. These goals will drive how you run your plays, and the scale at which you need to implement lead management solutions.
  • 6. 4The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | The Team “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” —Michael Jordan
  • 7. 5The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Building a Winner Finding and managing the right leads requires a coordinated effort—a team. At its heart, building a winning team requires a shift from sales and marketing as opposing forces, to sales and marketing as a cohesive unit. This requires systems, discipline and leadership. To drive leads to revenue, leadership must embrace this team concept, and bring together players to win. THE WINNING TEAM HAS... Strong leadership Great players at every position Well–defined roles The ability to come together to execute The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time Some Helpful Articles: 6 Strategies to help you unify sales and marketing teams Sales & Marketing Alignment vs. Integration—Part 1 Sales & Marketing Alignment vs. Integration—Part 2 “I am a member of the team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” —Mia Hamm
  • 8. 6The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | The Coach: Strong Leadership Lead management and the delivery of quality leads to sales starts at the top—the CEO, Head Coach, Chief Revenue Officer, etc. It’s the result of the decision to integrate people and systems effectively to drive revenue. FOR MOST LEADERS, THIS IS A DECISION TO CHANGE. It is a decision that requires outlining a vision, and roles and responsibilities on the team, to execute that vision. SO HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE YOUR PERSONNEL TO WIN? This will vary depending on the size of your organization and the resources you have available. The following pages will look at the key functions leaders need to assign, and roles to fill. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time “A leader’s job is not to do the work for others, it’s to help others figure out how to do it themselves, to get things done, and to succeed beyond what they thought possible.” —Simon Sinek “To make this integration happen, it has to be viewed like a true change management exercise. Of course it’s all rooted in understanding your customers, and understanding how the dynamics play out with your particular type of sale, how many buying influences, and really rooting your decisions around what’s happening with how your ideal customer—your sweet spot customer—makes decisions.” —Bill Golder, principal and CEO of Slingshot Growth Partners
  • 9. 7The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Building the Team: Marketing Roles Whether you have a one–person marketing department, an in–house team, or a collection of contractors, you need to have the right skill sets and roles to drive leads to revenue. BELOW ARE SPECIFIC ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES THAT A TEAM NEEDS TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE LEADS: The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time Some other thoughts on marketing team skills & roles: 12 Roles Essential to the Future of Content Marketing (Content Marketing Institute) 5 Skills needed to succeed in digital marcomms in 2015 (Marketing Interactive)STRATEGIST It all starts with strategy. Savvy marketing teams can outline and communicate strategy effectively. ANALYST Marketers need to be able to analyze the results of their executed strategies, and recommend game–time audibles effectively. WRITER Writing skills are more critical than ever to today’s marketer. The ability to produce content that appeals to potential buyers is a key component of most lead generation programs. CREATIVE With so much content marketing out there today, you need to get creative (especially with images and video) to blast through the clutter. WEB DEVELOPER Digital marketing needs people that can translate the creative vision into bits and bytes. SEO/PPC EXPERT Search engine results are a key factor in ensuring that potential leads come into contact with your carefully crafted messaging. SOCIAL BUTTERFLY An understanding of the social media landscape is needed for a marketing team to be optimized for social influence. SYSTEMS EXPERT The team needs to know not only how to maximize use of their current systems, but how to add new systems to the mix. DATA SCIENTIST The level of data marketers have access to has increased dramatically. You need to know how to make sense of it. COLLABORATOR Marketing plans need to include more than the marketing team these days. Collaboration across the organization is critical for success.
  • 10. 8The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Building the Team: Sales Roles Multiple roles are needed to build a scalable sales team. The following are a sampling of them: The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time POSITION RESPONSIBILITY New Business Development/ Lead Qualification Work at the top of the sales pipeline, reaching out to make contact and drive leads to the next stage. Opportunity Manager Understand the needs of leads in order to overcome obstacles and close deals. Account Manager Generate referral leads, expand and renew existing deals, branch out horizontally within existing accounts. Sales Manager Understand sales systems intimately and translate the big picture to improve the team. Sales Operations Drive collaboration between sales and marketing and ensure proper structure and use of systems by the sales team.
  • 11. 9The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Sales Skills To succeed in lead management, a salesperson must possess a variety of skills; traditional sales skills, and brand new skills required by new technology. Skilled salespeople will actively contribute to the lead management process, drive innovation, and qualify and close the leads delivered. SKILLS NEEDED INCLUDE: COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONAL SKILLS A salesperson must be able to relate well to prospects and communicate effectively in a written and verbal manner. DISCOVERY Sales is about the prospect, not about the product. A good salesperson must be able to uncover the prospect’s needs from all angles. ATTENTION TO DETAIL For lead management to work, a salesperson must have high attention to detail. Calls must be logged, data elements populated, and follow–up tasks completed on schedule. OBJECTIVITY A salesperson must be able to objectively evaluate and qualify a lead, not based on the salesperson’s need to meet quota, but based on the lead’s needs, and ability and propensity to buy. SYSTEMS INSIGHT The ability to understand systems and work within the CRM and marketing automationplatformsfor strong lead management is vital. The sales rep should have the ability to analyze data and understand their territory and their lead flow, and how this relates to hitting their quota. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time For more thoughts on sales skills, and how to find good salespeople, check out these resources: Finding and Hiring Great Salespeople The 5 Characteristics of Extraordinary Salespeople (Entrepreneur)
  • 12. 10The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | The Equipment “You have to feel comfortable with your car. You have to go into turn one, every lap, with confidence. You have to be sure of yourself and your equipment.” —Danica Patrick
  • 13. 11The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Systems for Success In a 2013 NFL game, Philadelphia Eagles player LeSean McCoy set a franchise record by rushing for 217 yards. His secret? In a snowy environment, he chose to wear shoes with ¾” cleats (instead of his usual ½”). One quarter of an inch may not seem like a big deal, but McCoy’s savvy equipment choice allowed him to (literally) run circles around would–be defenders. Everyone had cleats. Everyone had talent. McCoy just tweaked his equipment properly so he could maximize his talent, while others were left flailing in the snow. In a highly competitive environment, maximizing and tuning your equipment (systems) is one of the most important decisions you will make. FOR DIGITAL LEAD MANAGEMENT, THREE CORE CRUCIAL PIECES OF EQUIPMENT MATTER...A LOT. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time A well–managed CRM A strong integrated web presence The right marketing automation platform
  • 14. 12The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Marketing Automation Marketing automation systems are critical for digital lead generation. To some extent, the term ”marketing automation” is a misnomer; ”marketing enablement systems” might be a more accurate label. However you characterize it, such a system allows teams to execute on complex plays and strategies for best results. DATA NOW DRIVES MARKETING. We have more data than ever before on our prospects, and more capabilities to personalize effective campaigns. Marketing automation software connects a suite of powerful tools to your database, allowing you to categorize your leads into meaningful market segments. As your software collects data and tracks your leads’ activity, you build a cohesive picture of your funnel. From there, automation software lets you reach out with dynamic content designed to impact leads at each stage of the buying journey. The alternative to a marketing automation system is spreadsheet purgatory—a place no marketer wants to go. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time If you haven’t invested in a marketing automation tool, here are some resources to help you get started: Important Considerations Before You Invest in Marketing Automation The Business Case for Marketing Automation Changing the Game with Marketing Automation Email marketing Seamless CRM integration Campaign segmentation Visual analytics THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A MARKETING AUTOMATION PLATFORM Intuitive ROI tracking
  • 15. 13The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | CRM Software While it’s possible to manage data in spreadsheets and use your marketing automation software to help organize it, the best way to effectively ensure your lead data is managed well is to employ a CRM. By tracking every touch with your leads, CRM software works with marketing automation software to help you understand which contacts need more information, which leads have gone cold, and who is ready to buy. It also provides feedback on your touches, helping visualize your lead management “scoreboard.” It presents your data as actionable insights on a lead–by–lead basis, so that your sales professionals know which points are relevant for each call. Ultimately, CRM software improves pipeline velocity by empowering your sales team to have efficient, relevant, and convincing conversations. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time Insights for sales performance management Extensive customization options Marketing automation software integration THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN CRM SOFTWARE
  • 16. 14The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Integrated Website Kentucky has the iconic blue jerseys, Ohio State has the block “O”, Arizona has Wilbur Wildcat— and your business has your website. A strong website is a huge player in the lead management process. It’s your face to the world, and the image you want to portray. It should help you generate leads, and drive conversions. It also needs to be tied to your other systems for strong lead management. An integrated site includes tracking code connected to your database. Your website then becomes aware of who is doing what, so that it can tell you whether the people accessing your content are new contacts or existing leads. And it can tell you which pages they spend their time on, which is a window into their concerns. This allows your website to help build your database. New lead profiles are automatically created for inbound contacts, lead behavior is tracked on your site directly within your marketing automation system (and CRM), and you gain insights you’ve never had before into buying behavior. This sends the signals directly to your sales team, and allows them to discuss relevant items with individuals at each stage of the buy cycle. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time KEY QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SITE Attractive, responsive design Intuitive navigability Good SEO Performance Dynamic content appealing to leads at different stages of the buy cycle Tracking code that integrates with Marketing Automation Software
  • 17. 15The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Scouting: Know Your Targets “You hit home runs not by chance but by preparation.” —Roger Maris
  • 18. 16The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Know Your Market You’ve got the team, you’ve got the equipment, but unless you scout the targets it’s tough to put together a successful game plan. Strategy starts with understanding the market—by industry, by geography, by company, by department and by title. Familiarity with the 80–20 rule (also known as the Pareto Principle or the Law of the Vital Few) is crucial at this stage. Simply put, this rule states that 80% of sales come from 20% of a company’s clients. Find out everything you can about this golden 20%. They will become the prototype persona as you build your database of leads and prospects. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time Scout to Understand: • The key vertical markets and industries you want to pursue. • The geographical reach of your campaign. • Ideal companies within each vertical market? – Size of organization? • Revenue • Employees – Other technologies used? • The department most likely to influence a decision to buy. • The titles most likely to influence a decision to buy • The titles most likely to be the final decision maker. WHAT ABOUT MY STARTUP? With young businesses, identifying your most profitable clients may be impossible— they might not exist yet! An alternative strategy involves creating your “Dream 100.” Identify the 100 ideal clients for your business—those who could benefit most from the solutions you provide. Check out this startup focused eBook
  • 19. 17The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Find the Pain It is one thing to know who you want to go after. It is another thing entirely to know the message that will make them sit up and pay attention. You will need to dig deeper than company and title; you must understand the people who answer to the names in your database. MAKE EVERY ATTEMPT TO GET A FULL UNDERSTANDING OF THE FOLLOWING: • Your target prospects’ business priorities: personal and organizational • Your target prospects’ challenges: personal and organizational • The real benefit and value of your solution – What operational outcomes and personal benefits does the customer expect to achieve? Stated another way: from a customer’s point of view, what are the key reasons to purchase your product or solution? [Personal and organizational. e.g., will purchasing your solution enhance that person’s status in the company because they are the one that solved the problem?] • The trigger or circumstances that often cause prospects to champion your product/service or purchase it to solve their pain • Potential concerns and roadblocks – what are the concerns (real or perceived) that need to be addressed before the prospect will be comfortable buying? The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time Tips to “Find the Pain” • Read industry publications • Join industry–specific LinkedIn groups and forums • Interview key market players • Conduct market surveys
  • 20. 18The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Know the Data Billy Beane, the general manager for the Oakland Athletics, became famous for sabermetrics in baseball. (Then he became more famous when Brad Pitt played him in MoneyBall.) Beane creates winning teams on a low budget by understanding the data on why teams win and which players can perform in what way, and by scouting and targeting based on this data. For proper lead management, it’s not enough to have the market and pain scouting report. You need to know the data. Do this in advance, and you will increase your chances of success exponentially by increasing your ability to analyze your results effectively. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time SEGMENT YOUR DATABASE WELL Market segment Company department Level of individual Lead source Data source Expected online behavior
  • 21. 19The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Uncover Your Prospects’ Buy Cycle Behavior One of the most important parts of scouting the market is to understand the buyer’s journey that your prospects prefer to go through. You can know a market cold, understand the buyer’s needs, and have all the data in the world on who they are, but if you don’t know how they buy, your chances of success are poor. Even if you haven’t done this analysis before, chances are you have the data somewhere. It’s in the heads of your current sales team, it’s buried in your CRM data, it’s right in front of you as revealed with your current customers’ experience. Don’t confuse this buy cycle with your internally defined sales cycle metrics. RATHER, BUY CYCLE RESEARCH SHOULD INFORM THOSE METRICS. IT MUST POINT OUT: • How do my prospects like to and actually buy? • What information do my leads need to buy? • Where do my prospects look for information? • Are there visible, trackable inflection points that indicate sales–readiness? • When, where, and why are most deals lost? • Where do my prospects live online? Answer these questions explicitly. It will help you run the plays in the playbook effectively. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
  • 22. 20The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Build the Playbook “Systems win! Believe in your system, then sell it to your players.” —Billy Donavan, University of Florida Head Basketball Coach You know your goals • You know your team You have the right equipment • You have a great scouting report Create, communicate, and execute the plays to win at lead management!
  • 23. 21The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Set–Up: Establish the Playbook Terminology It’s unlikely that all of the players on your team share the same definitions of current marketing terminology. Make sure you establish and embed this common language so you can build your plays. YOUR TERMS WILL BE SPECIFIC TO YOUR COMPANY. HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW ONE COMPANY USES LANGUAGE TO CLASSIFY ITS LEADS: MARKETING QUALIFIED LEAD (MQL) A lead that marketing has deemed worthy of handoff to sales. Characteristics may or may not include attributes such as demographics or activity and/or an assessment of the viability of the prospect as an opportunity. The main categories looked at are fit, based on explicit criteria such as title, industry, and revenue; and engagement, based on activities such as webinar attendance and white paper downloads. It’s important that marketing and sales agree on the criteria and definition. SALES–ACCEPTED LEAD (SAL) This is a lead that marketing sends to sales which sales agrees is qualified, and agrees to follow up with. In some organizations, there are teams of sales development reps who specialize in qualifying leads further by getting potential customers to take some pre–defined next step(s). Marketing may support this step with nurturing programs for leads that are sales–worthy but not sales–ready. SALES–QUALIFIED LEAD (SQL) This is a lead that has passed the Sales–Accepted Lead stage with some degree of engagement that allows sales to believe this lead is both qualified and likely to buy within a certain amount of time. Marketing may support this step with bottom–of–funnel materials and other specialized collateral. OPPORTUNITY This is a SQL that has taken some form of action (such as watching a live one–on–one demo) that has added vital energy and momentum to the engagement. This may also be a stage in a CRM system tracking. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
  • 24. 22The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Play 1: Set Up a Shared Meeting Cadence TEAM MEMBERS: All The fact that we need to meet and talk regularly to discuss lead management seems like a no brainer. But, as about a million people have been quoted as saying, “common sense is not common practice.” Set up a shared meeting cadence to discuss your plans, your successes, your mistakes, and to continually re–evaluate your playbook. THEN, KEEP THAT CADENCE: PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE, CLOSE YOUR LAPTOPS, AND GET TOGETHER TO DISCUSS RESULTS. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
  • 25. 23The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Play 2: Create an Overall Content Plan Cadence TEAM MEMBERS TO RUN THE PLAY: Content Strategist, Sales Manager, Sales Operations, Creatives, Social Bring together your team members, understand your scouting report, and create a content plan that will touch prospects and customers where they are in the buy cycle. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time BUY CYCLE CONTENT GOAL CONTENT STRATEGY EFFECTIVE TYPES OF CONTENT ATTRACT Generate brand and product awareness Link your brand to challenges or pain points Blogs, social media, infographics, guides, case studies, videos, white papers, checklists, advertising CAPTURE Increase level of interest in solving problem and in your brand Educate about the features and benefits of your product or service; educate about how solving this problem will make their life better Blogs, social media, infographics, guides, case studies, FAQs, demos, videos, webinars, analyst reports NURTURE Overcome hesitation to purchase Address concerns or roadblocks, highlight the advantages of your solution as compared to others; show what it’s like to work with you Case studies, FAQs, product comparisons, datasheets, ROI calculators, demos, references, checklists, free trials CONVERT Finalize purchase and onboard. Make them feel safe and looked–after Validate their decision, educate them on how to use your product/service, give them the confidence to use it Drip onboarding programs; user guides, videos, FAQs, knowledge base, training materials, webinars EXPAND Support loyalty and advocacy; upsell Illustrate value of continued/ upgraded service, encourage referrals, add value with helpful content Webinars, tips and tricks, newsletters, communities, reward programs, social media *Note: Make sure to host a mix of content on your site, so that potential customers who find you by inbound means can self–select the type of content most relevant to their needs. Additional Resource: A 4–Step Guide for Building Your Content Plan
  • 26. 24The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Play 3: Create a Content Distribution Calendar TEAM MEMBERS TO RUN THE PLAY: Content Strategist, Content Creators, Sales and Marketing Operations, Social Media Managers You have the plan, now turn it into tactics. With a shared calendar, the whole team should know what is going out and when. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time Additional Resource: How to Build an Editorial Calendar MARCH APRIL MAY CONTENT Whitepaper Case Study Infographic BUY CYCLE TARGET Attract Nurture Attract, Nurture TARGETED LEVEL Managers Decision Makers All levels DISTRIBUTION Email, Social Direct Email, Webinar Blog, Website, Social
  • 27. 25The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Play 4: Create a Lead Scoring Matrix TEAM MEMBERS TO RUN THE PLAY: Content Strategist, Content Creators, Sales and Marketing Operations, Sales Manager, Salespeople Map the buy–side behaviors and lead attributes to a lead scoring matrix, to make sure leads are scored accurately and brought to the sales team effectively. Engage the sales and marketing teams together to decide which buying behaviors should be scored, and with what positive or negative values. Establish a “Marketing Qualified Lead” score that bubbles up a lead directly to your sales team. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time Additional Resource: A 5–Step Guide for Creating a Lead Scoring Program Marketing Qualified Lead = 25 points DESIRED BEHAVIORS Fill out a “contact me” request form = +20 Download an eGuide = +5 Click an email = +1 Visit our “Buy Now” webpage = +10 PROFILE ATTRIBUTES C–Level = +5 Intern = –2 5,000 or more employees = +3 $10m in revenue or more = +3
  • 28. 26The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Play 5: Create and Document Lead Flow TEAM MEMBERS: Marketing Strategist, Sales and Marketing Ops, Sales Managers It’s imperative that teams understand how leads flow through the system for good lead management. Make this visible. ASK THE TEAM TO CREATE A LEAD FLOW DIAGRAM, AND MAP THIS TO: • Fields in the marketing automation system and CRM • Behaviors taken by the sales team receiving them This exercise should ferret out any gaps in understanding between the team members. Once it’s finalized, the team should be on the same page in terms of how MQL’s are generated and move through the system. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time NAME: LeBron James COMPANY: Cleveland Cavaliers CAMPAIGN: NBA Campaign LEAD SOURCE: Form Fill – Landing Page 2 SALES REP: Jeff Till Lead Score hits Marketing Qualified Form Fill Email Generated to Rep—Reps Lead List Populated Initial Call Executed Lead Accepted or sent to Nurture Article Download Affiliate Marketing Lead Delivery
  • 29. 27The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Play 6: Create Feedback Loops TEAM MEMBERS: All Marketing, Sales, and Operations Lead management takes individual and collective efforts. A systemized feedback loop for leads should be placed in your CRM for sales executives to execute on. Both qualitative and quantitative results must be measured. A PRACTICAL WAY TO DO THIS IS TO REQUIRE THREE SHORT QUESTIONS BE ANSWERED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF YOUR CRM EVERY TIME CONTACT IS MADE WITH A MARKETING QUALIFIED LEAD. • Lead accepted by sales? • Why or why not? • Key topic of lead interest? This will allow you to understand the overall quality and types of leads you’re getting, and the impact leads are having on the sales team. In addition, you should be tracking lead sources so you will know which channels produce the best–converting leads. This will help you better tune your content and programs for success, and help you determine return on investment. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
  • 30. 28The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Play 7: Create and Document Nurture Tracks TEAM MEMBERS: Marketing Strategist, Sales and Marketing Operations, Sales Manager Effective lead nurturing is all about accelerating leads. We do that with content that helps the buyer progress through the journey. As leads progress through the funnel, the type of content they are interested in evolves. Set up nurture tracks for leads that are not immediate opportunities based on their place in the buy cycle, their interest levels, and the input that you have from the sales team. The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time Sales Qualified Lead —With Near Term Opportunity Email 1: Case Study Email 2: Example Customer newsletter Email 3: New demo Videos Email 4: Personal touch from sales Email 1: Case Study Email 2: New demo Videos Email 3: Infographic Email 4: Thought leadership white paper: Budgeting for this type of solution Email 1: Interest video Email 2: Why this topic Email 3: Gartner report Email 4: Webinar invite Sales Qualified Lead —No Near Term Opportunity Sales Rejected Lead —No Interest
  • 31. 29The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Play 8: Regular Database Maintenance TEAM MEMBERS: Sales and Marketing Operations The undertaking to clean the data in your CRM is well worth it. The Sales and Marketing Operations team is responsible for ensuring duplicate leads are not delivered, placed into different nurture tracks, etc. • It is critical to undertake a process to ensure your data is as clean as possible, as frequently as possible. • Duplicate data causes wasted sales hours, skew your reporting and statistics, and in general kills the productivity of a campaign. • Messy data also impedes email deliverability, and can severely The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time
  • 32. 30The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Game Time Your strategy is set, and your team is familiar with the playbook. It’s time to take the field. As in sports, the recipe for success is no secret. Teams that win are teams that develop talent, plan well, teams that are passionate, and teams that run their game plan effectively. During the 2015 Super Bowl, Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch was averaging an impressive 4.25 yards per carry. The Seattle game plan (give Lynch the ball) was producing results. With seconds remaining, Seattle needed to move the ball only one yard to win. Instead of handing the ball to Lynch, Seattle went with a pass play—and lost. When the game is on the line, have faith in your plan. The development of your strategy has set the foundation for success: results are a matter of following through and adjusting to the right data.
  • 33. 31The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Execute Just having the playbook in place doesn’t guarantee a win. YOU NEED TO EXECUTE…WELL. 1. Ensure the content you create is of the highest standards. • Relevant • Beautiful • Simple 2. Deliver to the market via all targeted distribution channels. • Email • Web • Social • Advertising 3. Measure everything. 4. Capture and manage leads to revenue! The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time “Great execution. That’s what you have to do when you’re playing great teams.” —Tracy McGrady Additional Resource: Content Marketing: Seven Steps to Create Content Like a Publisher (Act–On) 1 2 3 4
  • 34. 32The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Continue to Practice Reggie Jackson (“Mr. October”) is a 14–time All–Star and five–time World Series champion baseball player. He also struck out 2,597 times. If you’re going to play, sometimes you’re going to lose. Strong lead management requires an acceptance that it’s not one–and–done; some campaigns and programs are going to fail from time to time. That’s part of your continual process of improvement. Your process has a lot of moving parts—multiple players, multiple plays, and multiple systems. There is room in that system for failure. THIS MEANS PRACTICE MUST BE DONE CONTINUALLY. SO…TAKE A TIP FROM GREAT WINNERS: The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time “Most people get excited about games, but I’ve got to be excited about practice, because that’s my classroom.” —Pat Summitt Additional Resource: 6 Strategies to Help you Unify Sales and Marketing Teams Get the team together Attend new trainings, learn new plays Continually discuss new techniques and optimize plays Optimize your current systems Assess your failures Practice, practice…. practice.
  • 35. 33The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Keep an Eye on the Scoreboard! Every part of the lead management process should have a scorecard, and you should check on it continually. Make sure you have weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports that focus on your key performance indicators and goals. READ THESE, ADJUST YOUR PLAYBOOK ACCORDINGLY, AND WIN IN THE GAME OF LEAD MANAGEMENT! The Goal The Team The Equipment Scouting Build the Playbook Game Time Know key goals for your scoreboard! • Leading Indicators – # of MQLs per rep or territory – # of Conversions per rep or territory – # Interested Conversations – Pipeline revenue generated • Results – # Customers Generated – Net new revenue – Revenue from existing customers – Percentage of sales and revenue driven by marketing • Analysis – Campaign ROI – Campaign Influence – Customer acquisition cost (CAC) – Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) – Ratio of LTV:CAC Additional Resources: 5 Metrics to Apply to Sales & Marketing (Forbes) 15 Essential Metrics for Perpetual Revenue Group; (Act–On)
  • 36. 34The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | Thanks! Thank you for reading this. We hope you found it useful, and that it will help drive your lead management—and your business growth—to new heights. In researching this eBook, we came across dozens of great quotes for sports and life. . . They didn’t all fit into this playbook, but we thought we’d share a few of them with you here. “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self–satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.” —John Wooden “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” —Jim Valvano “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” —Michael Jordan “But now, being a parent, I go home and see my son and I forget about any mistake I ever made or the reason I’m upset. I get home and my son is smiling or he comes running to me. It has just made me grow as an individual and grow as a man.” —LeBron James “Losses have propelled me to even bigger places, so I understand the importance of losing. You can never get complacent because a loss is always around the corner. It’s in any game that you’re in—a business game or whatever—you can’t get complacent.” —Venus Williams “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” —Billie Jean King “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” —Vince Lombardi “I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.” —Lou Holtz “I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.” —Mia Hamm
  • 37. 35The Ultimate Lead Management Playbook | ©2015 Act–On Software, Inc. Trademarks belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved. www.act–on.com | @ActOnSoftware | #ActOnSW Act–On Software delivers cloud–based integrated marketing automation software. Marketers can manage all their online marketing efforts from a single dashboard that can be seamlessly integrated with CRM, giving sales access into various marketing functions. Act–On’s fresh approach to marketing automation gives its users full functionality without the complexity other systems impose, and makes campaign creation and program execution easier and faster. ABOUTACT–ONSOFTWARE See all of Act–On’s awards and accolades Connect with us to learn moreAcclaim for Act–On