As VP of marketing for BAO, I’m in a unique position – I manage my own team, campaigns and programs, but I also have the opportunity every day to work with our Clients, who represent some of the strongest sales and marketing teams in high tech. It’s one of the best parts of my job, because we’re able to share perspectives on what we’re seeing in the market, what’s working and where there are challenges.

Lately, there’s a common theme. Like BAO, our Clients are dramatically increasing their content marketing volume – and they’re driving absolutely unprecedented volumes of inbound leads. This is an exciting opportunity in marketing, because the multitude of channels allows us to tell very of-the-moment stories to our buyers. But, like anything else, there’s a downside to the high-volume game.

Our research shows that it takes 31 dials to qualify a single lead – even when they’re warm. Could your inside sales team tackle that kind of volume? Should they? In my experience, no on both counts. They have other responsibilities to focus on.

But that’s how we end up with research indicating that, due to a lack of resources, up to 40% of all inbound leads never receive any kind of follow up from sales. And that becomes a source of frustration for everyone.

31

the number of dials it takes to qualify a single lead – even when they’re warm.

40%

of all inbound leads never receive any kind of follow up from sales.

We’ve seen this scenario play out with Clients many times – and as sales and marketing pros ourselves, we understand the pain from both sides. That pain was the genesis of our Lead Qualification service.

Hands down, the best way to uncover opportunity among these leads and measure the value of these campaigns is live phone follow up – and our Lead Qualification service is designed to do that, instantly. In fact, we take that long list and hit the phones to follow up on every single lead generated. (We can even tackle your backlog.)

We go in with a custom survey developed to reveal the quality of each contact in the context of what matters for your business.

1. Your large volume of untouched leads becomes a targeted list of vetted contacts

Based on the survey results, you’ll know who has budget, where there are hot projects and what pains and challenges your prospects are up against.

2. Next steps are clear

Every lead is scored according to their survey response and then “graded.” At a glance, your team can assess which ones represent immediate opportunities, which ones have potential, which ones are worth nurturing and which ones should be de-prioritized.

3. Measuring program success (and developing future content strategy) is made easy

With this level of insight into the quality of leads being generated from specific programs, marketing gets a macro, “apples to apples” perspective on which lead sources are worth investing in again. This drives smarter, more strategic planning – as well as stronger, more impactful results.

Removing this burden from your internal teams helps you maximize your investments in content without crushing your inside team’s productivity. It’s a win-win for sales and marketing – everyone gets the results and insight they’re looking for (minus any frustration or finger-pointing).

If your team is experiencing the pain of “too many leads” (did you ever think you’d hear yourself say that?), I’d love to hear from you. And if you’d like to learn more about our Lead Qualification service, check out the service overview.

Is Killer Content Killing Your Team?