Marketing throws leads over the fence! If that is your company, then read on. I’ve been involved in B2B marketing and sales for over 20 years in large and smaller companies, and that is a familiar refrain, even if unspoken.  Marketing would generate leads from events, and then hand over unscored leads to sales, who then proceeded to not follow them up, because the lead was not ready to talk to sales in most cases. Neither side of the fence are happy, and I’ve seen this go on for decades.

Engaging prospects who are not ready to buy is costly. Whether marketing or sales undertakes to complete qualifying by telephone, it increases the cost per lead dramatically. It also can annoy potential prospects and keep them from registering for your events.

Sales reps are happy when they can spend more time closing sales instead of wasting time qualifying leads that are not ready to buy.

Marketing is happy when they can get formal kudos from sales, saying that their marketing led directly to sales, and got ‘xx’  leads into the funnel.  Marketing should also measure their campaigns and that way spend more time and money on campaigns that work, and less (or none) on those that don’t.

Today’s B2B marketers can reduce costs and increase revenue through lead scoring, especially if they can automate it. This is explained further in this eGuide on Lead Scoring.  Download this popular guide for free, to eliminate this misalignment between marketing and sales.