Marketing teams are responsible for generating leads, nurturing and enhancing leads, and creating content to qualify marketing-qualified leads. Optimizing this process is necessary because too many or too few leads can kill sales efforts. To optimize the activity of the sales team, it is important to manage two parameters: the number of MQLs per week or month and the associated potential estimated SQL volume. With a weak MQL flow, there is a risk that the sales team will be underutilized and sales targets will be compromised. With an excess of MQLs, there is a risk that leads will be wasted or become stale if the sales team does not have enough capacity to contact all leads in a certain time.
Generating SQL is the first important activity of the sales team that processes MQLs. While the generation, maintenance and evaluation of MQLs are usually highly automated in the demand center, converting them to SQL often requires an initial detailed one-to-one interaction with the prospect.
Finally, companies need to enter into clearly defined and specific service level agreements between marketing and sales. This includes underlying KPIs and goals along the entire funnel or process. Clear service level agreements between demand center and sales ensure uniform certification of SQL and division of responsibilities. This typically requires investments in marketing and sales technology stacks such as CRM and marketing automation systems. But more importantly, definition of services and process elements.
Despite technological advances and fundamental changes in how customers buy products and services, many B2B companies still view technological change as a smoldering platform rather than a flaming platform. The combined force of these fundamental changes – the consumerization of B2B buying, the fluidity of customer relationships, and the emergence of new tools – is bringing B2B companies to a tipping point. Companies that invest in platforms like demand centers and integrate their marketing and sales functions are in a better position to optimize their marketing investments, convert leads more efficiently, and strengthen customer relationships.
When it comes to small business growth, there are a few methods that can help your business reach the next stage. The old adage that it takes guesswork to accumulate is usually the overarching theme of many of these growth strategies, but there are still some relatively low-cost solutions that can make a big difference.
Not all of these small business growth strategies will be right for your business, but we’ve tried to select broad methods that can be implemented in most industries.
Your employees, stakeholders, and even yourself may be happy with how things are going, but you won’t really know your company until you see it through your customers’ eyes.
