Stage by stage lead scoring and tracking is critical to building and forecasting business and gaining insight to optimize marketing.
Stakeholder agreement on criteria & outcome-based metrics that qualify & track entry into, activities & time within & exit from each stage is the starting point.
It’s also a critical part of knowing what it costs to generate and nurture leads and to assessing what marketing activities and materials are working and which need revision.
Metrics and analytics can segment prospects enabling more personalized nurturing. They can also be used to identify when a high-quality lead is at risk and initiate activities or outreach as appropriate. Given the dynamic nature of most B2B markets and marketing efforts, constant monitoring and modification of the lead scoring and tracking process will be required. The watchword here is to keep it simple. In today’s world, it’s easy to dial in a lot of data. The key. Focus on the few that count.
A few basics to consider: An overall score based on the activities the lead engaged in, A company score that tracks the number of active leads from each company, Product or solution score based on interest in the product, An aging score that reduces the score as the time between activities increase. Also, track use of materials and activities and capture the users feedback on their value and contribution to their decision making.
Behind all of this needs to be a really clear understanding of who the influencers and decision makers are and what their needs and goals are for each stage of their buying process. With that knowledge and content that aligns with those needs your ability to define and track the value and progress of leads will increase significantly.
I Look forward to your comments on this as a best practice and to your thoughts about other practices that create valuable metrics and analytics.
Mike Connor, Principal Spice Catalyst
David Fradin
David Fradin has trained thousands of managers throughout the world in the successful management of products.
With over 47 years of experience across major companies, 75+ products and services and 11 startups, he infuses his workshops with insights gained as an expert product leader, product manager and product marketing manager at companies like Apple and HP.
He was classically trained as an HP Product Manager and was then recruited by Apple to bring the first hard disk drive on a PC to market. As a result of his leadership and management skills, Apple promoted him first to Apple /// Group Product Manager and later Business Unit Manager at the same organizational level at that time as Steve Jobs.
He recently authored “Building Insanely Great Products: Some Products Fail, Many Succeed…This is their Story” Lessons from 47 years of experience including Hewlett-Packard, Apple, 75 products, and 11 startups later. Go to: Amazon Store
Also. "Organizing and Managing Insanely Great Products" and "Marketing Insanely Great Products."
His workshops cover the founding values, vision, product lifecycle and management employed by Apple at its start and which it subscribes to today. You can learn more about his workshops at Spice Catalyst Workshops
From Wiley and Sons, is a 796 page, university-level textbooks entitled: "Successful Product Design and Management Toolkit" covering keys to product success, product market strategy, marketing, soft skills, user experience, user interface, product engineering, and product support.
What students will learn in the workshops, online courses and books are cover what has made Apple the most valuable company in the world today. Go to David Fradin @ Youcanbook to schedule a time to talk.
David on Building Great Products, AI and Tech Shifts
By David Fradin |
Untold Stories From the Early Days of Apple Computer
By David Fradin |
Product Success Issues: Uses of Artificial Intelligence in Product Success Management
By David Fradin |
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