There are a variety of reasons and excuses behind poor sales lead management because the $10 to $2000 companies spend to generate each business to business inquiry largely go to waste. I call them Barriers To Sales success. Here are six of the most common which plague businesses today.

1. SENIOR MANAGEMENT DOES NOT CARE

Paid to lead the organization in the big picture issues of market strategy, quality and customer satisfaction, senior managers are tempted to dismiss operational fundamentals and assume all is well. They are not aware of the tactical need for complete lead follow up, rapid inquiry fulfillment, accurate qualification practices or actual measurement of communications and sales performance.

2. SALES PEOPLE REMAIN UNINFORMED

Unless they understand the potential value of qualified leads, salespeople (an independent minded breed) think they do not need help. Sales managers who fail to insist on follow up imply that leads are at best an option for slow days. Marketing departments that fail to qualify leads in advance will most likely contribute to the problem, giving leads a poor reputation.

3. POOR COORDINATION HOBBLES MARKETING AND SALES

Marketing and marketing communications people frequently have little idea of the quotas salespeople must meet, the timing of their sales contests, their need for seasonal boosts in lead volume, the products needing extra lead support and the geographical balance need to apportion leads sensibly among sales territories. Meanwhile, the sales force does not understand why lead follow up reports are essential if marketing is to fine tune its advertising, mail and other promotion tools.

4. THE COMPANY MISMANAGES ITS PROSPECT LIST

Inquiries become orphans in a netherworld between marketing and sales. As a result, the company sends wrong information to inquirers, sends it late and does not tailor it to inquirers’ specific interests. Marketing collects limited and uninformative data and updates them frequently. Marketing rarely compares separate databases – one for orders and one for inquiries, for example – and even more rarely merges them into a marketing information system.

5. MANAGEMENT DOES NOT HOLD SALESPEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE

Sales management does not insist on follow up and new prospect status reporting, even though it fusses and gripes over detailed expenses and call reporting.

6. MANAGEMENT DOES NOT HOLD MARKETING PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE

Chief marketing officers do not hold subordinates accountable for lead handling performance. They do not insist on program return on investment reports, for example, evidence that inquiry generation ties in with company sales goals or analyses of inquiry source productivity.

All six barriers are the product of poor communications, inattention, lack of knowledge, human frailties and the sublime dysfunctionalities that lurk within all organizations. None is the result of weak strategies, poorly designed products, sloppy manufacturing, competitive pressures, government regulations or inadequate capital the classic management issues that pre-occupy most companies in the world today.

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