Better Content Results in Better Lead Cultivation

I just read a great piece by Jonathan Kranz that discusses not only the need to better define leads, but also the need to create better content to deliver to the leads as part of the follow-up process. Check it out!

Essentially, instead of following up with simple check-in phone calls to leads, it is much more effective to follow up with case studies, articles, or some other piece put together by marketing.

My question: does it make sense for the salesperson to do most of these follow-ups or is this activity better suited for marketing people as sort of an add-on to lead qualification? Feel free to email me at ortner@capterra.com.

- Mike

Four Reasons to Ignore Software Budget

For those of you keeping tabs, I missed my weekly blog post last week for the first time since I started in July. For good reason though - my wife gave birth to a baby girl! We're very excited to say the least...

On to this week's topic - the initial budgets that prospective software buyers will report when beginning their software research. Given the high number of buyers and vendors I have spoken with who have told me that they spent way more (and occasionally way less) than they originally thought they would, here's my list of 4 reasons to ignore these initial budget estimates:

1) Since software is supposed to either help decrease costs or increase revenue, it is difficult for the buyer to estimate how much one should be willing to spend - unlike say, buying a car, where you do actually do only have a certain amount of money to spend.

2) Many software buyers have never bought this particular type of product before and have no idea what to expect.

3) Buyers would rather not reveal how much they could spend out of fear that vendors will not pass along discounts, oversell them, etc.

4) The amount of money that buyers will save will vary from product to product.

In fact, not having a set budget is often the best case scenario for the vendors who are then positioned to educate the potential customer and remind them that buying software should be considered an investment, not yet another budget expense.

Pining For a New Years Resolution?

Two ideas for your marketing department...

1) Craft an email marketing campaign that reaches all incoming leads as soon they submit their contact details on your website. The campaign should consist of periodic emails, not just one. And if your marketers are feeling really aggressive, it could even include an occasional phone call to the lead as part of the campaign.

(If you aren't receiving many leads from your web form, then read one of my earliest posts.

2) Make your website design easier to tweak. This will allow you to test minor changes on a periodic (weekly or monthly) basis to see what works and what doesn't when it comes to converting your web visitors into leads.

Good luck in the new year!
- Mike