When you change your lead scoring and lead delivery using predictive analytics, don’t forget to train sales reps to think different as well. It’s well-known that salespeople don’t qualify leads, they disqualify them. The more leads provided, the faster leads seem to get disqualified and bounced back in the holding queue. Reasons could be due to lack of data (such as invalid or no phone number), bias (“can’t possibly be a large enough deal”), or simply attitudes (“the more I close out, the sooner I will find something that works”). This approach churns through leads, resulting in significant cost of acquisition and processing resources – both human and machine. If your reps’ closeout rate is 50%, your net cost is twice the initial cost! Marketers and sales leaders often respond by finding ways to deliver a greater number of qualified leads faster. Predictive models are often used to score and deliver ideal prospects from a larger universe into outbound lead gen programs. Predictive models increase productivity and the ROI of achieving specific outcomes such as getting appointments or sales, moving newly-acquired customers into repeat customers, and improving cross and upsell. But caution: predictive models may produce leads with characteristics that are …Read More