Hands up if you like to get out of your comfort zone 🙋‍♀️…just kidding, I hate getting out of my comfort zone.

But then I did and wound up being a guest on a podcast. I’m glad I did it. But as an adult, I don’t feel too far removed from the girl that used to hide behind her parents because she was so shy.

More than the podcast, I’ve been posting on LinkedIn (if you’re here you probably know that), and I’ve started this newsletter (which you also know!) So in 2024, I’ve been no stranger to starting something new.

So why am I telling you this? I know I’m not alone. I’m here to say if I can do it, so can you.

Master the lead handoff

You know the story. After a lot of hard work, marketing has MQLs to hand over to sales. Hooray!

Then a week later, you hear sales say marketing didn’t send any leads, and marketing realizes sales didn’t follow up. Ouch!

That’s the root cause of a leaky bucket! And it happens all the time.

But Shannon, isn’t the MQL dead?

Nope!

If you are a hater of MQLs, I get it. Quality, volume, and inflating marketing credit, MQLs are associated with a lot of negatives. But here’s the truth. We need an indicator of when a lead is ready to pass to sales. We need a data point to understand conversion and results and the MQL is it.

So I don’t care what you call it. I’ve often called it a “passed lead”. The point is, the MQL lives.

Six steps to a solid lead handoff

Alignment across the board is a process, and the lead handoff is no different. With these 6 steps, you can turn around lost leads.

1. Define the MQL with sales

   The MQL is what you make it. Set out clear parameters for what sales should follow up with. Using lead and/or account scores is very effective for this. You can always change the bar to test the best line for a balance of quality and quantity.

2. Train SDRs

   Document and set up training for the SDR team on the types of lead sources, an overview of the scoring model, and how they should follow up with leads. The SDRs need to know what experience the lead had before landing with them and how to best follow up.

3. Set SLAs (service level agreements)

   Again this is decided by the sales and marketing team. Speed is key when it comes to inbound requests. For other types of follow up usually nothing longer than a day is preferred.
   

4. Routing and disposition

   Have an automation to get the right lead to the right SDR. Remember that as you are passing leads to the SDR, they need to disposition those leads as well. Have a clear definition of reasons to let the SDR close or move the lead out of their name. These disposition reasons will also give you insights into lead quality. Don’t make the list to long about 5-7 status options should cover it.

5. List views

   Make it easy for SDRs to understand the lead they are following up with. For example, if you use Salesforce you can create list views that bubble up the most relevant information for an effective follow-up.

6. Don’t forget the dashboard

   Any good B2B process ends with a dashboard. Be sure to include a lead status report. It’s a great way to get a quick view of “open” leads that need follow-up. The rest depends on what’s important to your team. Review it weekly so nothing is falling through the cracks.

Leaky bucket fixed

Take it step-by-step and you can nail this process.

Booking workshops in May

I have talked with a lot of CEOs, especially in the past 6 months and I have heard the frustration and lack of clarity around demand generation. It’s inspired me to offer a workshop for startups that don’t want to waste any more time figuring out demand generation.

This is a facilitated one-day workshop geared for Seed to Series D startups check out my website to learn more.

Ask me anything…

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately, everything from how to build a database, to starting an ABM program, and how to prioritize what programs to even run.

If you have any b2b marketing questions send them my way…I’ll share the answers here, anonymously of course!

Thanks for reading. Remember, if you’ve been wanting to get out of your comfort zone, go for it! Happy Marketing and thanks for subscribing!

Shannon