Process
High Tech Lead Generation… A Complex Process
Traditional customer acquisition strategies rely upon marketing to generate interest and awareness, and sales to close leads. In practice, however, leaks occur because many leads sent to sales are insufficiently developed. The sales force spends valuable time working with prospects that aren't ready to purchase, while other qualified opportunities fall through the cracks.
Channel Source Direct understands that developing high quality leads for the high tech industry is a complex process. We know that, in building lead generation campaigns, you not only must plan to penetrate multiple decision makers, but you must also have a strong understanding of your targets industry, their budget capabilities, their buying process, the length of their sales cycles, and many more criteria.
Lead management flow process:
Channel Source Direct follows a proven process in all lead generation. The first facet of the methodology includes three basic steps:
1. IDENTIFY. Using your database or ours, we confirm and update the information to ensure accuracy.
2. INTERVIEW. We develop profiles of your target customers; this provides business intelligence to understand their business process and pain points.
3. QUALIFY. Based upon your lead criteria, we work to advance the prospect in the sales cycle.
A-leads - sent to your sales force or resellers
B-leads, C-leads - entered into lead management system
Customers - noted for satisfaction survey follow-up
Dead - not a fit for your customer profile
The second phase leverages the business intelligence we gathered to educate prospects and build their understanding of how your solution can help them.
1. EDUCATE AND PROMOTE. Based upon the profile information, we make an assessment on the appropriate next step, which could include:
• Sending marketing collateral or case studies
• Invitation to a webcast or seminar
• Scheduling of a demo
2. NURTURE. We cultivate the prospect and build their understanding of your solution as it relates to their pain points.
3. ESCALATE. We escalate mature opportunities to the appropriate channel or field sales representative and update the customer database with all business intelligence.
We are successful for our clients because we follow a process that balances quality and quantity in all our demand generation programs:
- Employ talented lead management specialists: “C level” executives in the high tech industry expect to speak with agents who understand their company, their products and their industry. Channel Source Direct recruits the very best talent available to represent your company. Our lead generation specialists are trained to conduct in depth business conversations with your prospects and will become an extension of your field sales and marketing organizations. We balance quantity and quality and deliver leads that are ready for your pipeline, based upon a “scoring model” built around your company needs.
- Develop a useable prospect database: In an industry that is ever changing, “data is king”. This is so true in today’s economy where contacts and companies change at an alarming rate. Our team of database specialists will work with you to build a strong list of prospect companies which will be updated on a regular basis. At the end of each campaign engagement, Channel Source Direct will return to you a database rich with current contact information and business intelligence important for future marketing initiatives.
- Use a “Scoring Model”: All demand generation programs should have an agreed to definition for a “qualified lead”. While what constitutes a qualified lead can vary from client to client, it is imperative that this is defined and mutually agreed to prior to any campaign launch. Channel Source Direct works with clients to build a “scoring model” for all leads, and uses this devise as a tool for guaranteeing the quality of all opportunities before they are passed to our contact. If a lead meets the quality score, it moves on in the lead pass process. If a lead falls below the lead scoring criteria, it gets returned to an agent for further qualification.
- Penetrate multiple decision makers and influencers: In most companies, technology purchasing decisions are typically made by many individuals. A high quality lead generation campaign will require multiple calls to contact and interview multiple decision makers and influencers. While this can be a long process, it is important to understand that most fully qualified leads are not generated on the first call pass. It takes an understanding of a companies buying process, and the skill sets necessary to penetrate multiple layers of individuals who will impact that buying decision.
- Develop a long term nurturing strategy: While we may make the right call at the right time in a companies buying cycle, chances are that you will need any number of call passes into a contact list to generate high quality leads. Initial calls may spark an interest in our client’s products and services, but for a variety of reasons they may not be ready to meet with your sales representative. We will work with you to build a nurturing process, complete with a library of sales tools (white papers, demos, webinars, etc.) to help our lead generation specialists better educate the prospect as they move closer to a buying decision.
We understand that developing a high quality lead generation approach for the high tech industry is a complex process. For more information on how Channel Source Direct can build a model to support your sales needs, contact us at 1-800-385-5141, extension 105.
