Lead generation: Driven by the numbers

One thread that ran through the sessions at AA-ISP’s inside sales conference in Chicago last week was: Dollars. Percentages. Rates. Ratios. “Batting averages,” even.

That’s right! Numbers. Metrics.

The language of numbers, thinking analytically, and driving decisions based on numbers was a shared language throughout the conference. Numbers don’t have to be complicated. Many lessons were simple but powerful for sales productivity.

Here are a few lessons we heard:

• People need to receive an average of 6-7 lead nurturing contacts by marketing before they are sales ready.
• The close ratio of “buying signal leads” versus “tire kicker leads” is 8:1. Leads who are sending “buying signals” will request pricing, demos and trials. Tire kicker leads download white papers and attend webinars.
• LinkedIn messages can return a response rate 3x more than email; LinkedIn InMail messages can return a response rate 30x more than email.
• Email stretches out sales communications and sales cycles from what could have been 5 minutes to 5 days or 5 weeks or more. Don’t hide behind email. Have conversations.
• Test different strategies for cold calls and initial conversations. One strategy may deliver 130 product demos while another strategy may deliver 390 product demos.

Implementing tests and processes that produce these numerical insights, and then using the numbers to guide sales actions, leads to increased effectiveness and productivity which are then measured with, you guessed it, obviously more numbers. 

This is at the core of what we know at Valgen, that human choices and behaviors lead to numbers that can be identified and used to decrease costs, improve the productivity of sales, and increase revenue.  

A Valgen client shared how this was proven within his inside sales environment during a breakout session at AA-ISP Chicago. Our partnership resulted in 70% fewer lead duplicates and a 40% increase in lead conversion. We gave you a sneak preview of the lead generation lessons that led to those results in a recent blog post.