B2B Marketing Guide toLead Qualification and Nurturing

Adam BlitzerCo-Founder and COO, Pardot

• SaaS Marketing Automation

• 275+ clients

• 30 team members in Atlanta; one lonely guy in Tallahassee

Who are these Pardot guys?Introduction

• Background in email marketing

• Worked/lived in Japan for four years

• Only bald member of Pardot team

Who is this Adam fellow?Introduction

• What is lead qualification?

• How does qualification increase sales?

• How can nurturing reduce spend?

Lead Qualification &Nurturing: Overview

Introduction

• The Campaign

• The Execution

• The Leads

• The Results

The Anatomy of aMarketing Campaign

A Day in the Life of a B2B Marketer

• 80% of inbound leads never have a meaningful conversation with sales

• Needle in a haystack vs. low-hanging fruit

Should All Leads Be Assigned to Sales?

The Need for Lead Qualification

• A large number of the leads who were assigned should have never crossed the into the Sales arm of the organization.

• 70% of your qualified but mishandled leads will buy from a competitor within 24 months.

The Awful Truth

The Need for Lead Qualification

• Defining a “Marketing Qualified Lead” (MQL)

• Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Aligning Sales and MarketingThe Need for Lead Qualification

Greater alignment means:

• Less Lead Loss

• Higher Opportunity Conversion Rates

Traditional Methods:

• BANT – Budget, Authority, Need and Timeline • Explicit Factors

(title, company size, etc.)

• Activity Level

• “Eyeball” Approach

What is a MQL?The Need for Lead Qualification

Implicit Factors: What they do

Explicit Factors: Who they are

Finding the right 20%: A Blended Model

The Need for Lead Qualification

Example Implicit Lead Scoring Model:

The Need for Lead Qualification

• Form or landing page conversion: +50 points• Site search query: +3 points• Link Click in an Email: +3 points• Visitor page view of Standard Pages: +1 point• Visitor page view of “Buying” Pages: +5 to +25 points• Opportunity created: +50 points• Opportunity lost: -100 points

Interest vs. IntentThe Need for Lead Qualification

Interest Research Phase

• Views 25 pages on your website

• Downloads 2 whitepapers

• Attends webinar

IntentBuying Phase

• Contact Me form

• Searches for your company by name

• Product Trial

• Most new, inbound leads should not be advanced to Sales

• Many buyers of B2B technology are taking longer to close

• 80% of the “Best In Class” companies will implement a Lead Nurturing strategy by end of 2010

Lead Nurturing 101

The Need for Lead Nurturing

Nurturing prevents leaks in the sales funnel:

• Educate non sales-ready leads

• Standardize communication

• Stay top-of-mind throughout the sales cycle

• Reconnect after a loss

What’s in it for Me?

The Need for Lead Nurturing

• Nurturing leads before a sales call is considered to be the most critical form of nurturing

• Leads have shown interest but not intent

• Content should be educational and come from Marketing – push, don’t pull

Education for Leads who are not yet a MQL

Lead Nurturing How To

• Deliver a consistent message

• Automate delivery so Sales is not responsible

• Adjust or terminate the message when the prospect responds

• Turn trial into a customer

Standardize CommunicationLead Nurturing How To

• Automate delivery of “salesy” content – push the right combination

• Inject personal notes from rep – nurture with the “human touch”

• Trigger/alert rep-driven follow up processes

Stay Top Of Mind In Sales CycleLead Nurturing How To

Lead Nurturing How To

Reconnect After a Loss

• Lost opportunities are still assets

• Send “keep in touch” content as contract expires (e.g. month 9 of 12)

Do’s and Don’tsLead Nurturing How To

• Use segmentation

• Use an introduction

• Be mindful of timing

• General to specific

• Know when to stop

• “Nurture” your entire database

• Assume that newsletters nurture

• Be creepy

Do Don’t

• Companies that excel at lead nurturing attribute as much as 50% of new deals to older leads that have been nurtured.

• Nurturing results in a lower cost per opportunity

Show Me the MoneyLead Nurturing and the Bottom Line

• Lead qualification aligns sales and marketing to reduce lead loss and streamline the funnel

• Leads that are not yet qualified should be nurtured until sales-ready

• Research shows that companies using lead qualification and nurturing are closing more deals with less resources

ConclusionIn Closing

Think Outside the Inbox:The B2B Marketing Automation Guide

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