Telemarketing Lead Generation Blog

Are Your Programs Impacting Revenue and Pipeline Growth?

Posted on Sep 19, 2011 by Jason St Onge, Senior Account Executive

Recently, DemandGen Report released results from its new Marketing Analytics and Revenue Management Survey in an article titled, New Study Shows Marketing’s Role in Revenue Growing As Analytics Capabilities Increase published on DemandGen Report , an e-media publication focused on sales and marketing alignment and automation. The article highlights a number of statistics supporting two primary trends: 1) marketers are increasing their measurement capabilities and 2) marketers are increasing their impact on (and responsibility for) revenue. Based on my own experiences working with marketing clients to help them build pipelines and improve their performance, these trends are not a surprise. In fact, in the telemarketing world, these trends are business as usual. I am not completely sure if it is the inherent measurability of telemarketing programs, the direct impact qualified leads can make on a pipeline, or simply the need to justify marketing spends, but telemarketing program success and client satisfaction have always been tied to return on investment, more specifically, pipeline conversion and revenue impact. In my opinion, the measurability of telemarketing from a pipeline standpoint is one reason that program results are often analyzed (and scrutinized) more heavily than other demand generation activities (i.e. direct mail, email, content syndication, webinars, events, etc). That said, I wouldn’t have it any other way, as there is nothing more rewarding than delivering a program that contributes to real revenue.

As someone that is involved with delivering B2B telemarketing programs on a daily basis, the trends and findings in the DemandGen Report article are inspiring as it shows marketers are demanding more accountability from their programs and partners. For marketers that are about to shift or have already shifted their focus to pipeline and revenue metrics, detailed below are four tips to ensure you are set up for success:

1. Identify and Communicate Key Performance Indicators – Prior to launching any program, make sure all parties involved are clear on how the campaign will be measured. Everyone should be able to answer the question, “What are the key metrics that will determine success for this program”. While definitions will vary from organization to organization, here are a few metrics to keep in mind when measuring pipeline impact:
   • Number of Marketing Qualified Leads
   • Sales Acceptance Rates – (Total Marketing Qualified Leads – Rejected or Returned Leads) / Total Marketing Qualified Leads
   • Number of Sales Qualified Opportunities
   • Cost Per Sales Qualified Opportunity
   • Marketing Qualified Lead to Sales Opportunity Rate – Total Sales Qualified Opportunities / Total Marketing Qualified Leads
   • Number of Wins
   • Marketing Qualified Lead to Win Rate – Total Closed, Won / Total Marketing Qualified Leads
   • Estimated Marketing Qualified Lead Value or Pipeline Value – The estimated lead or pipeline value can be based on the specific products, services, solutions for which each lead include
   • Real Pipeline Value – Actual value of sales qualified opportunities
   • Return on Investment – While this metric may take several months to track, can be obtained from “won” business information
     Important Note: Make sure your evaluation metrics stay aligned with your objectives. For example, if you are focused on lead quality, yet you are managing your programs based on lead volume and cost per lead, rather than sales acceptance and sales qualified opportunities, you have a disconnect.
2. Ensure Pipeline Data is Available (i.e. Get Sales Buy In) – In order to focus reporting and analysis on pipeline metrics, it is important to ensure that key data will be available and that all involved parties understand how the data will be collected and communicated. In other words, you need sales buy in. If the sales team receiving the marketing qualified leads is not providing the updates required to generate acceptance and conversion metrics or if they are unaware of what marketing is hoping to report on, it will be difficult to track pipeline and revenue impact.
3. Create and Share an Integrated Report – Have a single report that communicates key performance indicators (i.e. pipeline stages and conversion ratios) and share it with involved parties on a consistent basis (weekly, monthly, however appropriate). Due to the time it takes to move leads through the sales process, it is quite common that reports will have detailed information for top-of-the-funnel metrics, but lack down-funnel information. Sharing this information regularly keeps the entire team updated, and also provides the opportunity to see where gaps in the data or bottlenecks may exist. For example, is there a lag in initial lead acceptance or are there delays further down the funnel (which may be expected). Visibility to this information allows for lead feedback and process optimization. If leads are not being accepted, why, and what can be done about it? If sales is having trouble connecting with leads, why, and what can be done about it? The feedback loop that used to be focused only on how to improve lead quality and volume is now expanded to include how to improve lead flow though the sales process.
4. Be Patient – Shifting your measurement focus to pipeline and revenue metrics is not a quick fix. It will take time to gather the sales information required to generate the desired metrics, particularly for organizations requiring a long sales cycle or a complex sales process.

Tagged: lead generation, telemarketing lead generation, teleprospecting, targeted lead generation, telemarketing lead generation metrics, teleprospecting measurement

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