Magnus Marketing Blog

So, I was thinking about the comment about my performance being less than optimal for my client. To some extent, I agreed with that statement and thought about why that was the case.

When I was operating with no targets, I was much more relaxed and freer to explore different priority companies. Meaning, I actively did research, crafted value propositions, targeted companies - particularly larger ones, and took my time. My goal was to get business, good business, from named accounts and leverage some existing relationships the company already had. I was also freer to explore some guerilla marketing tactics which yielded a lead here and there.

When I was under pressure to deliver "sign ups", my focus went to exactly that. Needing to get the "sign up", I began to cut corners. I stopped exploring and started blasting. I quit thinking, and started dialing. I came in, looked at my phone which, if blinking meant someone loved me. I quit asking strategic questions and pitched the company without differentiating. I became a telemarketer and I hated every minute of what I was doing. Gotta get my "sign ups", oh - missed this month, gotta get 3 next month - quality be damned, just get the damn "sign up".

This is why targets are useless for marketing and lead qualification and why, as a VP of Sales (former CEO of a major tech firm) told me - the pipeline is hard to manage. Putting appointment or lead targets may lead to the behavior I just exhibited, behavior leading to quantity or achievement of the goal, but not achievement of ROI or real value business. Conversely, if a salesperson is handed qualified leads, then targets shouldbe achieveable and manageable. Why? Because the value (monetary and strategic) will be assessed properly before it gets to the salesguy. If lead management is done right, the salesguy just has to show up, negotiate, and close.

With proper analysis, qualification, and understanding of realistic conversion rates, it is possible to manage the process so that overall goals are achieved. It is like Kohl's having a monthly credit goal, if everyone is aligned to achieve that end - the "get the business in, quality be damned" mentality will disappear and true marketing, lead management, sales alignment will occur.