7 Key Metrics To Boost Lead Generation Results
- Written by Demand Gen Report Team
- Published in Demanding Views
Jenny Vance, President, LeadJen
Managers of lead generation teams usually chart their success by looking at traditional metrics, such as number of attempts, number of connects and time spent on the phone. If the metrics are favorable, they probably feel pretty good about the job their team is doing.
However, these traditional metrics, while important, only justify that work is being done. They don’t show if you’re working effectively.
For example, let’s look at a company attempting to get appointments for a software product demo. In one week, three callers get a total of seven appointments. Not bad. However, one rep has double the number of conversations and double the “no interest” rate of the other callers.
This is a real scenario I faced. I quickly discovered that the problem was training. The rep stopped cold when prospects said they already had similar software. Having access to the right metrics helped me identify the issue immediately and rectify the situation before damage was done in the marketplace.
Traditional CRM systems don’t always provide the metrics that marketers need to determine if their outbound calling program is working. Good lead generation systems provide the following metrics:
- Which caller is performing best- Analyzing which reps are able to convert the most appointments with the fewest calls enables marketers to train the rest of the team to achieve similar results.
- Which messages are performing best- When testing two or more different messages, it’s important to have a structure that keeps all other elements of the program consistent, including when reps call, how often they call, etc.
- Which industries are performing best- Companies often miss opportunities by not understanding which industries convert to the most and best appointments. It’s normal to look at a large sale in a particular industry and decide this is the area to focus on. However, looking at prospects across a number of industries enables marketers to identify those with the most opportunity.
- Which call cadence performs best- It’s important to be able to identify how many call attempts deliver the best conversion rate. It’s equally important to follow appointments through the sales pipeline to identify which cadence drives the largest deal size or the highest win rate. Although conversion may be smaller, the sales opportunity is larger.
- Which day and time of the week performs best- Knowing which day and time delivers the best results for sales reps allows managers to schedule administrative items and meetings when conversions typically are low. In addition, teams can be scheduled to work early or late to take advantage of peak calling times.
- Why prospects object- If I ask my sales team why most prospects say they are not interested, I usually get the most recent objection, not the most frequent. Call notes in most CRM systems are not searchable and are not consistent, so look for a tool that makes it easy to capture and analyze this important information.
- How can we improve- Valuable boardroom-ready knowledge can be gained from every call, including information about competitors, product features, etc.
The key to these metrics is being able to categorize call information gleaned in the lead generation cycle and to access it quickly.
Jenny Vance is president of LeadJen (www.leadjen.com), a B2B lead generation company that uses unparalleled data and insight to drive prospect interactions that convert to sales. She can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @LeadJen_LLC.