We are all aware that time equals money and it's important for all channel campaigns to assess new leads and decide where to allocate time and energy. The most successful channel campaigns focus on engagement, communication and sales. However, how do you process your leads and know where to focus your time? At ChannelAssist we use automated processes and segmentation which ultimately helps save time and money.

It’s easy to become frustrated after receiving numerous sales leads that don’t end up going anywhere. Time is lost and energy is wasted. By following some best practices for automating the management of your possible sales leads, you can then focus your efforts on where it really matters.

What is Automated Lead Management?

Designed to generate new potential business clientele, lead management uses particular systems, methodologies and practices to manage it, generally executed through a variety of marketing campaigns or programs. Automated lead management uses software to self-regulate these leads, manage the quality and ultimately save time compared to traditional outreach and sales.

Don’t chase unqualified leads

Many companies will pass along all leads to their sales team – regardless of if they are qualified or not. By automating the qualification process, leads are entered into software and alerts will be sent based on criteria that you specify as being important to you. A large percentage of sales reps will pursue all leads while only one third of them are qualified and sales-ready.

Generate your ideal customer profile

The sales and marketing team need to define their ideal customer profile and use these values to score the lead on the likelihood to purchase. Once these values have been inputted into the software; the system will automatically score how valuable they would be to your company. These values may include industry, size, potential lifetime value of the customer and upsell or cross-sell opportunities. Automation systems can also evaluate interactions between the customer and your company. These may include:

1. How did the customer reach your site?
2. How often have they visited?
3. Which pay-per-click ad generated the clickthrough
4. Have they engaged on the site (watched videos or downloaded reports)?
5. Is the lead a referral?

Deliver the right message at the right time

The lead qualification will help your sales team prioritize their initial response as well as determine the appropriate time to follow up with these prospects. With deep segmentation, you can increase the personalization to the potential leads. This includes personalized messaging, increase email opens, clickthrough rates, and even the likelihood that a prospect will reply to a voicemail message. The deep segmentation and automated responses allow for messaging tailored to their needs, interests and situations.

Looking for an incentives and learning partner? ChannelAssist provides your channel program with an intuitive platform that gets results.

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