Your Lead Cultivation Process
I spoke with another software company yesterday that complained about their web leads. They said most just wanted to read white papers or do demos but were nowhere near buying. Thus they were a waste of time.
I simply asked him if they had a process in place for following up with these leads so that when they were ready to buy 6-9 months from now, that they would still be in solid contact with them. He said that was the problem. They didn't have a process.
So as it turns out, the problem was not the low quality of their web leads. The problem was that they lacked a good lead management/cultivation process. But unless we had this conversation, they would have continued to place the blame on their lead generation channels (such as Google, Bitpipe and Capterra).
Unfortunately, I think this is fairly common. IT marketers know that the buy cycle can last for months - even the better part of a year. So it should come as no surprise when they hear a prospect say that they are just doing some research but aren't close to buying anything. Translation: they are in the early stages of buying software so please act like a consultant and not a salesperson. Then stay in touch on a monthly basis so that when they are ready to fork over some dollars, they remember you.
In fact, I just read a great lead management piece by Robert Moreau of Rubicon. Check it out!
So why do so many software companies have a hard time with this? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please email me at ortner@capterra.com.
I simply asked him if they had a process in place for following up with these leads so that when they were ready to buy 6-9 months from now, that they would still be in solid contact with them. He said that was the problem. They didn't have a process.
So as it turns out, the problem was not the low quality of their web leads. The problem was that they lacked a good lead management/cultivation process. But unless we had this conversation, they would have continued to place the blame on their lead generation channels (such as Google, Bitpipe and Capterra).
Unfortunately, I think this is fairly common. IT marketers know that the buy cycle can last for months - even the better part of a year. So it should come as no surprise when they hear a prospect say that they are just doing some research but aren't close to buying anything. Translation: they are in the early stages of buying software so please act like a consultant and not a salesperson. Then stay in touch on a monthly basis so that when they are ready to fork over some dollars, they remember you.
In fact, I just read a great lead management piece by Robert Moreau of Rubicon. Check it out!
So why do so many software companies have a hard time with this? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please email me at ortner@capterra.com.
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