For many companies, Q4 can be a blur. The impact of the Christmas period means that it is also the “shortest” quarter of the year, particularly if you are operating in the B2B arena. This can create pressures to reach annual target revenue figures and further emphasises the importance that all sales people within an organisation need to be fully focussed on closing business. But what if you’re a company who relies on your sales team to also generate their own pipeline opportunities? It is regularly highlighted that the more time your reps can spend moving prospects through their sales funnel (rather than hunting for qualified leads) the more productive your sales organization will be.
The generation of sales qualified opportunities should be treated as a specialist function in itself and the lack of a structured inside sales process can ultimately be to the detriment of your organisation. (Check out our other article on this Diary of a sales rep: The Sales Lead Generation Effect)
Additionally for companies with a 3-month plus sales cycle, asking your sales team to generate opportunities during Q4 with a view to boosting Q4 sales is a risky exercise that can result in poor return. Companies with a developed and well thought out sales process in place tend to use the Q4 period with a view to getting the following year off to a flying start. The fact is, the last 3 months of the year should be used as a preparation period where the foundations are laid to boost sales revenues in the year ahead. So if you are implementing this style of business model, what are the key elements that need to be addressed?
It is crucially important to begin by aligning your lead generation efforts with your 2015 sales targets. When companies do not adequately project the number of suspects required to meet their sales goals, or they use very optimistic assumptions on conversion rates, the result is missed goals and high selling costs. An effective way of moving forwards towards these goals can begin by moving backwards. Move up the inverted sales funnel and take a closer look at this thought process.
* End Game – look at your annual revenue target
The starting point is your annual revenue target. Bite size pieces are far easier to digest so breaking this figure down to quarterly, monthly and even weekly targets sets realistic and achievable goals in the minds of your sales team. These digestible targets should then be fed through to your inside sales team and aligned accordingly.
* Define your Closed/Won conversion rates
Identify from your own historical data what your closed/won conversion rates are. This will inform you of the number of sales qualified opportunities you require in order to hit your closed/won numbers. Unfamiliarity with these statistics leads to guesswork and assumptions – two words that should never be used in the world of sales.
* Set clear KPI’s
A familiar and oft overused acronym, KPI’s are nonetheless crucial to implementing an effective inside sales process. Be clear on how many marketing qualified leads are needed to generate your target number of sales qualified opportunities. Align your sales lead generation activities so that they are geared around hitting, and exceeding, the required number of qualified opportunities. Align incentives for your inside sales team and field sales team so that they are all striving towards the one goal – a seamless, integrated sales function.
* Build from the top of the Funnel
Approaching the top of the inverted sales funnel lies the “suspect list”. This list should be a pre-qualified list of companies/contacts who fit the criteria of your ideal customer base – vertical, employee range, revenue range, ideal target titles, purchasing centres, assessors, influencers, decision makers. This is the list your inside sales team will be prospecting into and should be treated as gold. The importance of the quality and classification criteria used in refining this list cannot be emphasised enough. A poor list will burn time and valuable resources and will have serious implications on the effectiveness of your lead generation efforts – garbage in, garbage out!
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for many companies is a lack of understanding or clarity on some or all of the above. Embarking on a sales lead generation campaign without this core knowledge will lead to poorly structured sales processes and ineffective pre-sales activities. Take the time to assess statistics such as your lead to opportunity conversion rates and win ratios. It will save time and money in the long run.
If your company is looking ahead to Q1, then the last 3 months of the year is the period when the above metrics need to be defined and your activity plan solidified. Should in-house resources and capabilities be an inhibiting factor, there are excellent specialist sales lead generation companies (such as Maven TM!) who can assist you with implementing a suitable campaign structure, sourcing target lists, qualifying and populating your database and ultimately generating sales qualified leads to boost your sales pipeline. Plan today and reap the rewards tomorrow.
Maven TM is a specialist B2B Telemarketing and Sales Lead Generation company. With hundreds of sales lead generation campaigns completed successfully for technology companies, Maven TM consistently helps companies achieve their sales strategy and stay close to their markets. For more information, please contact Maven TM at info@maventm.com.
Written by Roger Brennan
