Simple Lead Management Process

Simple Lead Management Process

Building a lead management process can either be a very complex process or a simple process.  If you’re a small business, I would venture to guess that you likely have not even considered building a lead process at this point.  I’ve heard from a number of people how they have “a lot of leads” and they’re not even sure where they are supposed to start.  I recently spoke about this during a workshop and this diagram that I am sharing is the document I reviewed.

I like this document because it’s dead simple.  It’s high level but it also helps us build a foundation around how a lead management process should work.  Let’s take a look at the sample lead management process that I’ve put together.

Sample Lead Process
Sample Lead Process

This diagram is meant to be silly and straight forward.  I don’t think diagrams should be over complicated when it comes to describing how a small should define their systems.  This is a perfect example of that.  Each area has a certain focus and I’m going to describe each a bit more in detail.

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How is your competition using marketing automation?

How is your competition using marketing automation?

One of the things that I find my customers love talking about is possibilities.  The possibilities that CRM and marketing can achieve for them.

If you’re not thinking about marketing automation, you should be.  Small businesses especially need to think about this more and more.  As technology continues to evolve you need to know that your competitors are flocking to the web.  The money spent on yellow pages in the past is being shifted to new ways of marketing.

Don’t get left behind.

But the question is where do you start?  There are so many things you could do but what should be the focus.

The quick hits are going to be email marketing and social media.  I’ve heard time and time again that it takes about 10 – 15 touches to a prospect before they will be engaged with you in service.

What is a touch?

A touch is anything from a phone call, to an email to a connection on LinkedIn.  Some companies will track every touch and run metrics against these to determine how long it takes to get a lead converted into an opportunity.  I don’t advise getting too crazy with this out of the gate but it is something that you should strive for.

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Eligeo CRM in the news: One big thing Corby did to improve its sales process

Establishing selection criteria for your CRM

If you haven’t already downloaded it, make sure to download a free copy of the CRM Buyer’s Guide that I wrote.  It’s a great way to get insight on how to go about purchasing a CRM system for your organization or in some cases utilizing it to better evaluate what you already have.

In the CRM Buyer’s Guide I talk about establishing selection criteria for your CRM and the importance that it should weigh on your organization’s overall business strategy.  I like to compare the process of purchasing a home to that of finding the perfect CRM.  When you’re looking for a home you will typically sit down with a realtor.  The realtor is going to ask you a number of questions to help him/her to determine where to begin the search for homes.  Funny enough, if you’ve been looking for a CRM for awhile now you’ve probably noticed that there are a number of options out there that could probably rival the number of homes on the market at a given time in certain cities.  As a CRM consultant, we look to do the same process as a realtor would try to establish criteria for your home purchase.

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