Best Lead Generation Methods For Creating Pipeline
Xant Team
What sales lead management methods do you apply? Learn how to maximize the tools marketing teams can use to improve their prospecting system and sales cycle.
RELATED: Aligning Lead Management And Sales Management
In this article:
- Challenges Sales and Marketing Pros Face
- Sales vs Marketing: Fight
- Best Lead Generation Methods to Drive Revenue
- The Role of Brand Awareness in Developing Leads
- The Value of Events in Lead Development
- Sales Development Representatives
Effective Sales Lead Management Methods You Should Know
Challenges Sales and Marketing Pros Face
The primary challenge 49% of sales and marketing pros face is not having enough leads to contact. Surprisingly, filtering qualified leads, lead response rates, and conversion rates only come in after.
So how are top performers tackling this problem? XANT field marketing and sales experts discussed what the best lead generation tools and methods are that Marketing and Sales departments can both agree on when creating a prospect pipeline.
Gabe Larsen, director of XANT Labs, Justin Hiatt, Senior Director of Business Development, and Jeff Fowler, VP of Revenue Generation at XANT talked about this hot topic in an online webinar.
Watch the webinar to find what sales lead management system is best for developing leads, creating pipeline, and increasing brand awareness.
Sales vs Marketing: Fight
While anecdotal evidence is that Sales and Marketing don’t always get along, hard research shows that they are trying to solve common pain points, such as coming up with lead-generating marketing campaigns.
XANT conducted a study involving 678 business individuals in Sales and Marketing, and the results were interesting. Data shows that the number one struggle for professionals in both groups is finding a solution to generate more qualified leads.
“Once [sales and marketing] start working together, magic can happen. That’s what we wanted to accomplish with this study. We wanted marketing and sales to hug it out,” said Gabe Larsen, VP of XANT Labs.
Despite the two department’s differences, both take interest in generating and managing leads. They’d also prefer if potential leads had a higher buying potential.
Best Lead Generation Methods to Drive Revenue
Sales and marketing experts agree that many of the lead generation campaigns and methods commonly used today revolve around digital outreach efforts. Email campaigns, webinars, podcasts, display ads, website content, and even social media all have a role in growing their sales pipeline.
XANT’s sales acceleration platform also came in high on the list of tools for generating leads. Around 93% of sales and marketing leaders who currently use XANT say they will continue using it.
The Role of Brand Awareness in Developing Leads
Brand awareness is mainly a tool for the Marketing department. Meanwhile, the Sales department primarily uses sales lead management application programs.
In fact, the main task of the Marketing team is to generate more leads through brand awareness. Meanwhile, the Sales team is in charge of managing, nurturing, and converting these prospective customers.
However, salespeople need to understand that brand awareness will play a crucial role in growing the pipeline, lead development, and sales lead management. It will help them close deals or progress deals throughout the sales funnel.
“Someone in our chat was spot on. Think of Coca Cola. If you know their brand, you’re 80% of the way there. I couldn’t agree with this more. People spend hours researching before they contact you,” said Justin Hiatt, Senior Director of Business Development at XANT.
RELATED: XANT Reveals The Most Effective Methods For Lead Generation
The Value of Events in Lead Development
Event Marketing is also a solid lead management solution in the pipeline growth equation. The value of small executive events can be high to organizations and businesses that need a targeted captive audience to relay their message.
“Small executive events offer the ability to be very particular with a targeted audience. They give you a perfect opportunity to communicate your message,” shows Jeff Fowler.
Sales Development Representatives
When it comes to increasing the opportunities for growth on an investors’ return on investment (ROI), sales development functions will have the most to offer, says Justin Hiatt.
Return on Investment Definition: The ratio between the cost of an investment and the net profit you drive from that specific asset. A higher ROI percentage means your business is doing well.
“I think most companies will see the most life or demand generation out of the sales development of the business development team. That is their sole job every single day—to come in and create or spark that demand,” he adds.
If you’re looking to learn more about the most common methods for developing leads, creating a pipeline, using sales lead management software programs, and driving brand awareness, watch our webinar below. You’ll get more insights and answers to questions like:
- What are some common concerns for Marketing/Sales reps and leaders
- What are the methods that both Sales and Marketing use to solve pipeline challenges and manage sales leads?
- Why it’s important to align Marketing and Sales activities to create a coherent and persuasive brand message.
Rather than fighting, the Marketing and Sales departments should come together to improve their prospecting system and sales lead management methods. The key is to simply understand the importance of each other’s roles, and this alone can already increase the company’s revenues significantly.
Combine AI prospecting tools and paid/free sales lead management software programs to nurture leads and convert them into prospects. Remember: the key to any successful business is a strong foundation among its employees and executives.
What would you like to know more about sales lead management? Let us know your questions in the comments section down below!
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on August 10, 2017, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.