By Jeff Bradford and Mike Tobias

In a perfect world your marketing and sales departments would nurture 
every possible lead as if it were a multi million-dollar deal. No potential
business would go untouched and each prospect would be a hot one.
Unfortunately, such a scenario is unlikely and unrealistic in any case. The
truth is, your sales and marketing teams simply do not have the time or
resources to follow, nurture and close each and every lead. 

Surely your company has tried traditional lead-generating campaigns, but 
that average 2% response rate isn´t exactly bringing in big business. Not to
mention when leads are generated both sales and marketing departments
are usually uncertain as to who owns the impending relationship.
Therefore, it is worthwhile for businesses, like yours, to have a mechanism
in place in which all leads are pursued, and no matter what its size or
potential may be, all hot and warm leads are fully fostered. Luckily, an
automated lead management system satisfies these needs and may be
just the thing your business needs to close more deals.

The general idea behind automated lead management is simple: it
behaves like your top sales person. Automated lead management tools
make great use of direct response vehicles. These include multimedia like
email, text messaging and even more traditional tools like direct mail 
pieces and telemarketing. Although the basic principle may seem easy
enough, there are important points to consider prior to implementing an
automated system. These critical points include but are not limited to the
following:

Know your sales cycle− Depending on your product and market, your
sales cycle will help determine how long the automated system should be in place.
Differentiate sales vs. marketing responsibilities− Clearly delineate each
department´s involvement in the automated process, however, the closing
of deals should remain in sales.
Assess lifetime value of customers− Appraising how and for how long
potential clients will benefit from your product will be helpful in customizing
a system specific to potential clients´ needs.
Estimate return rates and determine budget−This is perhaps the most
crucial piece to consider before implementation of an automated system.
Accurate forecasting of return rates and precise budget setting will
maximize results as well as revenue.

To date, many companies have already learned the benefits of automated
lead management and the importance of the sales and marketing
relationship. Take, for example, a Fortune 500 company whose marketing
team lacked credibility in the eyes of their sales colleagues. The sales
department was unsatisfied with leads and subsequently the marketing
department, keen on increasing lead and appointment volume, turned to an
automated campaign to boost their rapport with the sales team. In the
course of 45 days and througha combination of customized direct mail, e-
mail and an incentive program a high number of targets were reached and
results were nearly immediate. The company saw an impressive 47% 
response rate and nearly 128% increase in customer appointments.

Although results will vary from business to business, there are 
consistencies in automated lead management. In general, these systems
can differentiate between hot and warm leads and continue to “feed” warm
leads while sales people pursue hot opportunities. They can also increase
return rates, increase the number of closed sales and help ensure that
leads are not simply forgotten. Essentially, automated lead generation
systems act as an understudy for your sales and marketing teams,
reaching further into the market and continuing to cultivate leads for as long
as necessary.

About the Authors 

Jeff Bradford and Mike Tobias are the President and CEO of Cross Media,
a marketing implementation company founded in 1993 and based in
Dallas, Texas. The company´s 85 employees support a client roster that 
includes well-known names like Hewlett Packard, Ryland Homes, Perot
Systems, Blockbuster, American Cancer Society and Texas Instruments
− as well as an even longer list of small and mid-sized companies. Cross
Media offers a wide array of marketing services including automated 
marketing campaigns, collateral management, relevant direct marketing,
graphic design, lead tracking and promotional products. The company is
best known for leveraging technology to help small and mid-sized
companies market like the Fortune 500. For more information, visit 
http://www.crossmediamgmt.com/ or call 214.367.3600.

It’s about time that we put our mouth where our money is into our own technology platform.  We’ve been telling our clients for the last year they need to build their websites on a blog platform. Well now we’ve taken a bit of our own advice.

You will be hearing a lot more from us on this new site and we hope to share some ideas and specific examples of how we have helped our clients generate new business using the web.