Lead distribution- the infamous black hole of channel sales and marketing. Unfortunately for many vendors who generate leads and pass them to partners using emails and spreadsheets, it’s a daunting reality.
After investing significant time and resources creating campaigns to generate valuable leads, the last thing a vendor wants to say is, “That was a really successful campaign, hopefully my partners follow up with these leads, but I can’t be sure.” That’s not an effective channel marketing strategy to rely on- and the great news is, it doesn’t have to be.
If you’re still using spreadsheets and emails to pass leads to partners, it’s time to update your lead distribution process. Not only is the spreadsheet-email tactic a time consuming process, it also lacks visibility, stifling effective lead management and creating inefficiencies in your channel.
New, more advanced lead distribution processes do three things major things for your
channel:
- They automate the distribution of leads (streamlining processes and creating tractability)
- They intelligently match the right leads, to the right partner at the right time (increasing lead acceptance rates and partner engagement)
- They create visibility on the status of leads after they have been passed to partners (enabling optimization of lead distribution and channel strategy, increasing ROI)
Let’s take a look at how this happens.
Automated Lead Distribution
Automated lead distribution pulls leads from a vendor’s CRM system and automatically pushes them to the partners’ CRM, skipping the timely, repetitive process of exporting and emailing leads with spreadsheets. The automation of this process also creates visibility and tracking across leads distributed to partners.
Intelligently Automated Lead Distribution: StructuredWeb’s Lead Match ™
There’s a new level of automated lead distribution: Intelligent
technology can determine the right partner match for incoming leads based on available criteria deemed relevant for both partner and lead to match such as industry,
location, revenue or past performance (among others). Intelligently automated
systems, like the ones used on the StructuredWeb platform, match the right leads to the right
partner, at the right time. As leads come in to your CRM they are intelligently evaluated and matched to the right partners, then automatically distributed to partners- so they are passed when leads are hot.
By evaluating the criteria of in incoming lead, such as industry or product(s) they are interested in, StructuredWeb’s
Lead Match ™ helps to ensure that partners see relevance and value in the leads vendors are passing them. If vendors are passing leads to partners which are relevant, which they see value in and leads are being passed at the right time, lead acceptance and follow up with leads occur at significantly higher rates. Increased engagement with the right leads generates more successes for partners, further reinforcing partner engagement and driving success for both partners and vendors.
Visibility on Leads After Distribution
This includes visibility on which partners are leveraging leads you pass them, what interactions leads have with your content and at what point leads are converting. Such insight enables more effective management of lead distribution, partner relationships and content strategy.
If Partner A rarely interacts with the leads passed to them, but Partner B consistently engages with leads and has high lead conversion rates, vendors can make strategic decisions about how to distribute leads and where to invest time and resources across partner relationships. This may mean distributing more leads to the partners that are already working them and less to the partners that aren’t. Or it may involve investing some resources towards support and/or training with the partner(s) who aren’t currently following up with leads- either way, vendors can optimize their lead distribution process and channel partner relationships.
Don’t Bottleneck Your ROI
The main takeaway is that if you aren’t effectively distributing leads or lack visibility on leads after distribution to partners, you are bottlenecking the ROI of your entire
channel.
Matching leads correctly and creating visibility on the aftermath of lead distribution
enables optimization of not only lead management processes, but really your
entire channel marketing strategy.
Such practices help to ensure that the dollars vendors load in the top of their funnel to create awareness and demand are leveraged effectively to generate results- meaning leads converting to opportunities, closed orders and of course, revenue!
Want to speak with a Channel Marketing Consultant about how an intelligent lead management system can be used to accelerate channel growth in your
business? Get in touch here.