The path to a successful sale is fraught with obstacles. Not a few of which are inside our own heads in the form of assumptions and erroneous beliefs.

Before we wave our fingers at the salespersons’ tendency to favor the quick close and not follow up on leads well, let’s first acknowledge that this behavior is commonplace for a reason. It makes sense. And in a world without a dedicated Lead Management Solution, it may actually be considered a best practice. What behavior am I talking about specifically? Salespersons are ‘hooked’ on the quick close. If one lead in a hundred is the one that is going to close quickly, why would you spend time on the phone with the ones that aren’t? Since the salesperson’s skill set and experience equip them to recognize when they have a lead on the line that they can close, why wouldn’t they just keep burning through calls, until they get that feeling that they have a ‘live one’ on the line? Wouldn’t you? Choosing a path other than this would mean that the ‘live one’ winds up on the line with one of the other salespeople.

Three obvious problems with basing your sales approach around the quick close are:

1. There is a margin of error. The lead may be a ‘live one’ that can be closed, but the sales agent can’t see it
2. It ignores the fact that 40-50% of leads will eventually close, even if they don’t close right away
3. Slow closing leads represent 77% of total sales

If those pieces of data are not persuasive enough, consider one even more critical fact: It’s not necessary to choose one or the other. With Lead Management Software, salesmen do not have to choose between chasing the quick close and nurturing leads. By using Lead Management Software, Salesmen can turn and burn calls, while funneling leads that are not quick closers into a nurture cycle.

A lead nurture cycle serves as an automated bidirectional reminder.

• It sends emails to the lead: “Don’t forget about this company, this sales agent, when you’re ready to buy, we’ll be here!”
• It sends reminders to the Salesman: “Don’t forget about this lead, when they’re ready to buy, you have to be there!”

Research in neuropsychology shows that one way the human brain organizes information is by retracing the steps that lead to a desired result and trying to replicate them. Your sales agents have for so long gotten positive results by working according to the old rules: Burning through calls as fast as they can to get to the one they can close. And Lead Management Software doesn’t require that sales agents ‘learn a new way to work’. Instead, it harnesses the sales agents enthusiasm for connecting to new leads while automating the more easily overlooked tasks of following up with leads that are not immediate closers.

The new lesson that salespersons are learning while using Lead Management is this: There are a lot more deals to be closed outside of that fish that just flops into the boat.

Reminder! Come see the two sessions we are participating in!

Extreme Lead Management: Tomorrow at 9:00 AM

-and-

End Of The Funnel: Tomorrow at 10:45 AM

The LeadsCon turnout is HUGE this year. See below for what people are saying…er I mean tweeting.

• Steve_Gottlieb Wifi access at Leadscon is a mess unfortunately…maybe a result of 1,800 people attending, which is amazing. #Leadscon
• RT @DanielleMorrill: Having some great conversations about how SMS fits with lead generation, impressed to see Facebook here #leadscon
• revimedia #Leadscon – very positive impressions, great people from the industry and lots of business oppertunities.
• RT @myl: User experience, high quality content, diversify mktg channels, build brand and watch out for google are early themes @leadscon
• tomfeary Investor panel best so far at #leadscon. Traffic and Brand = $$$
• alex_murphy The world is moving from intent based adv (search) to social. Much higher conversions and ROI – Mark Suster #leadscon
• johnboyle Agreed: “Social will be a major conversion driver in 2010″ -Mark Suster #leadscon
• tomfeary Great opening sessions at #leadscon. Who will be the first $1B lead gen business? Good question from leaders panel.

Our founder and SVP Jeff Solomon, wrote a great article for CRMBuyer, entitled “B2B vs. B2C CRM: What’s the Diff?” I suggest checking it out, as Jeff highlights some interesting points.

See below for an excerpt, or click here to read the full article.

“CRM solutions have a long history of helping B2B marketers achieve greater ROI from their leads. Yet for companies that sell their products and services direct to consumers, CRM solutions frequently miss the mark. A quick Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) search for CRM helps prove this: The search returns plenty of B2B products, but sifting through the results to find solutions designed specifically for the B2C sale is like finding a needle in a haystack.”

Lindsey Vonn won the Gold Medal in downhill skiing on Wednesday. While she and her competitors skied, commentators gave their analysis of each skier’s strategy, their mistakes, and how viable of a contender each skier was showing herself to be on that given run. During their analysis of Vonn’s run, they mentioned that she uses men’s skis. Men’s skis gave her a longer ‘wheel base’ that made it easier to maintain and control her momentum over what had become a fairly choppy course. This, some have suggested, is an unfair advantage. But men’s skis can be used by any competitor. In fact, Maria Riesch, also competing, tried using men’s skis in some of her training runs but did not end up competing with them. Why? Because she could not handle them.

Some competitors win because they are able to use tools that their competitors can’t handle.

Lead Management Software is the same kind of tool. It is used by those companies who have a desire to step up, right now, and perform. Lead Management Software is uniquely capable of putting the right sales agent in touch with the right prospect within minutes of the prospects inquiry. Companies whose way of doing business involves managing leads by email or with a CRM are choosing to do business more slowly. They are effectively making the choice to get in line behind their competitors who are using Lead Management Software.

Lead Management Software was built around the goals of getting the lead first, and maintaining contact with them if they are not quick closers. Companies that know how important it is to be first are recognizing Lead Management Software as an increasingly essential tool in any competitive market.

Some competitors lose because they don’t use the tools their competitors do.

Yesterday we held a great webinar entitled “Where Good CRMs Go Bad: The Missing Link to Converting Leads into Sales,” and I encourage everyone to check it out here. We felt that the LMS/CRM dynamic was an important topic to cover as the relationship can be quite confusing. Whether we are talking about Internet Leads or any other sort of business, in the age of overkill, there is something to be said about specialized solutions, and this webinar goes into great detail explaining the benefits.

Technology is supposed to make complicated problems and processes easier, but it instead most people will agree that sometimes technology replaces one complicated problem with another more expensive one. Don’t get us wrong, we don’t hate CRM’s, but  instead feel that in most cases a Lead Management System can do a better job than a CRM or significantly enhance a CRM that has already been implemented.

A CRM by virtue is exactly what the acronym stands for, a Customer Relationship Manager. Granted, a CRM does do a good job of managing relationships, but how do you get those relationships to manage in the first place? When we pose this question to CRM advocates, we usually get a few seconds of “dead airwaves” if you know what I mean… The point is, CRMs are not the best way to achieve more business, and in fact, they can actually hinder the process. For the delicate sales process, the heart of your business, you need a specialized tool designed to do one thing well. The one thing WE do well is close more business.

We have always advocated the importance of partnerships and cooperation when it comes to business, and so we want to take this opportunity to congratulate one of our most important partners, QuinStreet. Today marks an important milestone in the history of the company, as they are now trading on Nasdaq after a successful IPO. We look forward to sharing continued success well into the future and are proud to be a partner with a company like Quinstreet.

Every day we help improve ROI on leads, so we figured that we’d help you improve your ROI on poker (even if you’re not very good). That’s why we are sponsoring a jackpot to be paid randomly to one lucky participant in the 2nd Annual Leadscon Poker Tournament. Get there on time and throw your business card in for a chance to get paid. Now you can win, even when you (painfully) lose.

Hopefully we’ll see you at the poker tables and at one of the panels or sessions that we’re participating in. If not be sure to check back here and at Leadcritic.com for all the news from Leadscon.

If you have not already registered for the Leadscon poker tournament, reserve your seat today!

Details:

* Location: Mirage Poker Room

* Time: February 23rd, 9pm sharp

* Duration: 4 hours

* Entry Fee: $70.00

* 1 hour rebuy opportunities: $60.00

* Winnings: 1st 45%, 2nd 25%, 3rd 15% and 4th 10%, 5th 5%

(Details are subject to change)

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE

ABC. Always Be Closing. Alec Baldwin’s character, Blake, said it in the speech from Glengarry Glen Ross that this blog takes its title from. But what does it mean really? How can we Always Be Closing?

Taken at face value, Blake’s comment was pure braggadocio. The assumption being that his keen super powered sales mind was able to discern every action that leads to a close, and every action that does not. If, like him, you can see that, simply do that which will lead to a close, and do not that which will not. But this part of his “pep talk” was hardly any help at all. If his audience had his ability, they would have his sales record, and they would not need a pep talk.

That was a different time. And a different type of sales than most of us are engaged in. Always Be Closing takes on a less mythical meaning in the age of the internet. With strategic, relevant, and most importantly automated communication to your leads, you can Always Be Closing by keeping your name in front of customers until the moment when they are ready to buy.  Research shows that as much as 40%-50% of leads will close eventually. Those leads which don’t close right away are too often passed over by salespersons in search of a quick close. Does this make sense, when nurturing these leads will lead to a close almost half the time? Is the only thing standing between you closing these leads a lead management solution with smart email capabilities?

Always Be Closing still means close the deal you have on the phone right now. But to close as many as 50% of your leads, Always Be Nurturing might be even more profitable advice.

With Super Bowl Sunday upon us, I ask you to consider the following: A closed sale is the same thing as a completed touchdown pass.

As a salesperson, you are the quarterback and you are looking for a receiver to catch the pass. You know how to sell, you know your product. You have the ball, and you’re good. The big problem that you have suddenly discovered is that none of your buyers are running their routes.

Come to think of it, there are no routes, and there was no play called, because there was no huddle. All those prospects, running whatever direction suits them, seem to be unaware of your game. Unaware of the ball, unaware of the end zone, unaware of the quarterback. You wonder why your receivers are oblivious to you.

If you can interrupt one of them and get them on the phone, you can explain all this to them to complete the pass and close the sale. You are pretty persuasive, after all.

But suddenly there is one guy, standing in the end zone, wide open, his eyes locked on you.

Do you know who this guy is?  He’s the guy who has just requested information about your product online. Literally 60 seconds ago, he filled out a form asking for information because he wants to buy. You don’t have to explain anything to this guy, because he has worked it out on his own. He is in the right place at the right time with his mind focused on buying what you are selling.

But the right place and the right time come together for a brief window. Another couple seconds and this buyer will wander out of the end zone and get focused on something other than wanting what you are selling.

Your skills as a salesperson equip you to connect with some of these less obvious wins and guide them into the end zone. But if you are not taking advantage of the technologies that can help you instantly connect with the buyer who is looking for you, then the buyer will be standing in the end zone, wide open, wondering why the quarterback is oblivious to him.