I love this topic, because frankly it’s one that never gets old for me. Decentralize lead distribution is the term that applies here, and it is what put ClickPoint on the map. Why does decentralized lead distribution matter? Yawn, I get it. You are bored already. Please read the next two paragraphs and I promise you won’t still want to kill me.
Big companies with lots of leads have to move leads, phone calls, and data around to lots of different solutions in order to make everything work. Most large companies that collect a lot of leads need to be able to take leads in from a variety of sources and then they need to sort it, measure it, and then get it to their sales floor as fast as possible. In the past companies would use CRM software to accomplish this task. Well, that might work for a company that has a bunch of salespeople in a couple of locations but not companies with lots of branches, franchisees, call centers, and sales teams. It used to be that you could just require everyone to login to whatever CRM you chose for them. Tada, you’re a hero.
What happens if you’re a company that has 1,000 or more franchisees, all with different software solutions they are using to manage contacts and leads?
What happens if you have call centers, internal sales, corporate branches, and franchisees? All with different software solutions and adoption of your software sounds like a root canal to them. Let’s apply the cost to convert them and make them use your shiny new CRM, never mind the backlash for making them use your chosen software. Training, downtime, arguments, frustration, and ultimately failure.
This is a pain point most corporations face and CRM for all of its great accomplishments is not built to distribute leads from the solution to other solutions. CRM software is a centralize solution with no real way to send data or leads from it and play nicely with other solutions. Many have tried to Frankenstein a CRM solution and many have failed.
So how do you accomplish this type of data distribution? You have to be able to handle large scale data and in real-time distribute it to other solutions. You have to be able to ensure all of this data reaches its end destination and it really needs to get there in a matter of seconds, not minutes, or hours.
Requirements:
If this sounds like an insane list of requirements this is what most of our corporate clients need when they come to us. Most lead distribution solutions are built to handle parts of this but very few combine everything into one solution. For a marketing executive thinking about implementing something like this seems daunting and it can be. Implementation can take a month to 6 months or more depending on the amount of integration work that needs to be done. Is it worth it? Well, think about the costs associated with running an internal system.
Pain Points:
Likely, there is a team of developers that come and go and have been building on top of the existing system for years.
If this sounds familiar it should. We encounter it with every corporate team we meet that has an internal solution. It’s not a bad idea to build internally but it’s not the core business. You built because you had no other choice. No way to compare the cost to do it internally vs. an outside provider.
Watch PowerPoint from LeadsCon 2012 – Buy vs. Building a Lead Distribution System
CPS BuyVsBuild
With SalesExec notifications system you now have the ability to turn your lead management system into a central command unit. We have built a dynamic notification system that sends push notifications for major events that occur in the lead lifecycle.
Here are some of the major notification types:
New Lead or New Pull Available
Appointments
Opened Email
With email notifications your sales agents can see how many new leads have been assigned to them and how many emails have been opened. You can build nurture campaigns and marketing campaigns around open messages and increase your closing ability by as much as 20% or more.
ClickPoint Software, a division of Steinway & Sons, has garnered recognition from two lead industry organizations. Founded in 2007, ClickPoint Software provides sales and marketing professionals with cutting-edge software to manage and nurture leads, marketing campaigns, and gain analytic insight into their sales processes.
In January, CEO Gabriel Buck hauled in a prestigious recognition from the Sales Lead Management Association as one of the top 50 influential leaders in the lead management industry. Other finalists consisted of consultants, business owners, and C-Level executives from technology companies.
Buck states: “It is an honor to be recognized, but this award is really shared by all at ClickPoint Software. We have a great team of developers and support staff that deserves all the credit. They do a great job every day proving that innovation is possible even in a crowded market.”
James Obermayer, CEO of the Sales Lead Management Association said, “These are people who have given their time and expertise in the field of lead management and are now recognized by their peers for outstanding work. They are champions of wealth generation and we thank them for their unselfish efforts.”
Last week, ClickPoint won a LEADER Award for Best Lead Distribution Platform by the LeadsCouncil. The LeadsCouncil is an independent association, whose members are companies in the online lead generation space from buyers to sellers, technology solution providers and investment professionals. This award is chosen by current members of the Leads Council and industry.
“We are very fortunate to be acknowledged by The LeadsCouncil and our industry peers.” says CEO Gabriel Buck. “ We just keep finding ways to improve upon our lead management software while providing the best support possible. Our team has a shared vision to help other companies improve the way they manage and distribute leads. We want our clients to be successful and be able to quantify ROI from lead generation activities. It’s our job to prove results from lead generation by automating lead distribution and creating easy-to-deploy and easy-to-use lead management solutions.”
Double Opt-In in LeadExec
Not only is double-opt in a way to ensure your lead sources are sending verified and accurate leads it also is now a requirement in most of Europe. Think about it, you buy a lead from a lead source not knowing really if the person has any real interest.
The double opt-in system allows you to send an automated confirmation email to verify correctness of the email address supplied as well as confirming interest.
Customized Email for Opt-In or Out
This system is also equipped with customized landing pages which provide flexibility in what information is shown to the consumer as well as how it is displayed.
Opt-In or Out Landing Page
LeadExec’s reporting and pivot grid system provides insight into the results in terms of how many emails were sent, leads confirmed, as well as opt-out responses. Leads are held in a quality control state until an opt-in confirmation is received, then they are pushed through to delivery allowing only fully qualified leads to be delivered to lead buyers and/or locations.
With double-opt in you have the power to provide the highest quality lead or prevent low quality leads from ever being sold or given to your sales team. At ClickPoint we love creating tools like this that help give you the edge to provide quality leads. Our lead management systems provide the best tools to help you with your lead generation efforts.
Dialing 6 or more times
How do sales team increase sales with pull lead distribution? This is a question we get quite often at ClickPoint Software. Additionally why does pull tend to work better than push? First of all pushing leads to agents assumes your agents are self-motivated to work leads without any oversight. We all know this doesn’t work.
If you expect that you are going to push leads to sales members and they are going to consistently work leads (call and email) the appropriate amount of times you are in for a long ride.
Fact: 90% of sales are made on the 7th contact with a lead
Fact: 80% of sales agents have given up by only the 3rd contact
Question: Given this information do you believe your sales agents are naturally calling the leads your marketing team spends time and lots of money to create?
Fact: Calling and making contact with a lead in the first 5 minutes increases your ability to convert a lead by as much 200% or more.
Question: If you push a lead to a salesperson who is engaged with a client on the phone for as long as an hour, what happens to the lead? Does your software know that the salesperson is engaged in a conversation, is out to lunch, or has called in sick?
Question: Does your CRM system inform you about the time a lead has been sitting, number of times each lead has been called, ensure leads are served to agents that can actually take the lead?
The truth of the matter is that salespeople need the right tools and the right environment in order to be successful. A pull based system operates to create the right tools and it fosters the right environment. Utilizing a lead management solution helps clients from many different industries close 20% more of their leads using proven methods.
First let’s define the methods of lead management and lead distribution:
Once you have defined these rules you must watch closely how subtle changes to these rules can make big changes to your ROI. In order to get the insight into how these changes can affect your results you need very good reporting.
Leads Contacted in 1hr or less
