In honor of Valentine’s Day, the Radius marketing team would like to dedicate the holiday to our sales team. Here at Radius, marketing and sales have a strong relationship, and we work hard to keep the two departments aligned. To keep the symbiotic relationship healthy, we strive to give them only our very best leads. This keeps the sales team happy because they can consistently expect high-quality prospects entering their pipeline. It also results in a more efficient sales and marketing machine. Aside from cross-team dynamics and overall efficiency, how exactly do sales teams benefit from receiving better leads?
As a marketer, one of the biggest reasons to give sales only the best prospects is that it saves them valuable time. This allows reps to focus their energy on more qualified leads with a higher likelihood of converting to customers.
This is true for every member of the sales organization, from Sales Development Representative to VP. For example, SDRs typically spend a considerable portion of their day prospecting so they can schedule calls for Account Executives. As more qualified prospects come through the pipeline, SDRs can reduce – or even eliminate – self prospecting, depending on the size of the sales team and volume of leads. Furthermore, when it comes to self-prospecting, reps are basing their decisions on their own research and intuition. If marketing can help them systematically figure out who they should spend their time on, they can focus on moving the best prospective customers through the pipeline.
Data entry is another time vortex for sales reps. As leads develop and mature under marketing’s watch, information on each gradually accrues. The more information the marketing team can programmatically gather through progressive lead capture or behavioral profiling, the more sales can focus on closing deals instead of filling the data gaps.
Delivering better leads motivates the sales team because it facilitates better calls between reps and prospects. With more qualified prospects on the phone, sales will have conversations with prospects that actually want to talk to them. This makes the overall sales process smoother, and keeps morale high among the team.
No sales rep wants to feel like they are pulling teeth when they are speaking with a prospect, and delivering better leads helps prevent this from occurring. When a rep gets on the phone with a prospect who they believe are a great fit, the energy is evident. Their message flows and their confidence increases, resulting in a higher likelihood of conversion.
Finally, quality leads generate more revenue. If you break down how sales representatives are measured, it all starts with the quality of leads coming through the pipeline. With better leads flowing, a higher percentage of prospects convert to opportunities, which means sales will convert more customers. This means better ratios and numbers at every stage of the process.
Aside from the selfless desire for the company to perform well, more revenue also means higher commission for the reps. As they close more deals, their confidence will skyrocket, perpetuating a cyclical and machine-like process. Generating more revenue will have a powerful impact overall.
So, aside from getting in the good graces of the sales team, why should marketers care if they generate better leads for sales?
Data-driven marketing is the new normal, so the marketing team has no excuse to deliver low quality leads to sales. Modern technologies, such as predictive lead scoring and segmentation software make it easier than ever to collect information on leads and nurture them until they are ready to hand over to sales.
From all of us at Radius, Happy Valentine’s Day!
