- In 2001nearly 12 billion email messages will be sent every day Jupiter Communications


- The average number of email messages per day is 32, up 84% per year. 


- There are now as many as 170M corporate electronic mailboxes in use, growing 32% per year, with 440M mailboxes in total. 


SPAM STATISTICS

- In 1999, the average consumer received 40 pieces of spam. By 2005, Jupiter estimates, the total is likely to soar to 2000. The Standard


- America Online estimates that spam already accounts for more than 30 percent of email to its members as many as 24 million messages a day.

- 7% of ISP churn was directly attributed to spam. Gartner Group


People are simply too tired of electronic commerce. Even though it is faster and least expensive, it is still intrusive.

Solution. Work with marketing to develop a paper and a paperless campaign. Direct mail is on the rise. B2B lead generation techniques need to follow this trend. Conversion rates must increase and the alternative is to remain in contact with leads in a plethora of ways that capture attention. For maximum benefit and to achieve a better return, personalize your secondary marketing pieces. Sales and marketing might develop a cover letter that discusses previous conversations and outlines plans for future action.

Analysis not Paralysis. One client recently indicated that over 87% of their leads came through the Internet. However, when seeking additional information, we uncovered less than 10 percent of leads closed. There are a number of reasons for this from questions, to demographic data to the foppishness of sales disinterest in the lead. Some representatives have issues discerning what is a good lead and what isn't.

Solution. What is needed is not more leads. Sales and marketing need to work together to discern what constitutes a qualified lead as well how to execute the lead to the next step. Each B2B process is different; ensure success by truly understanding how your organizational process works from beginning to end. Do not over analyze try different scenarios to you identify what works well.

No Pain, No Gain. Face it selling professionals can get quite frivolous with leads and inquiries in the system. Marketing is easily blamed for poor execution. Yet this is a team effort. One does not blame the running back for poor running if the line does not block nor should selling professionals. Inquiry management is a team effort.

Solution. Provide incentives for both sales and marketing professionals. Additionally, performance reviews for selling professionals must include quality of inquiry management information. Exemplars provide full disclosure of prospective clients not simply name and address. Key individuals consistently provide information used by marketing critically analyzed and used to optimize the lead equation.

Present B2B's use services such as Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard and a cadre of services to develop, qualify and optimize the business. For many years a division existed between the worlds of sales and marketing invoking territorial behavior. In a shifting global economy, a competitive industrial environment and the knowledge explosion, it does take a village. Too many choices create confusion and lethargy amongst prospects. Rather than count the leads, we need to move them. New methods need be employed to remove the morass that clogs the pipeline.

Good Selling.

Copyright (c) 2008 Drew Stevens PhD

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