Marketing is more than getting leads

catalogue collectors surprisingly include vicars 

Historically leads generated by marketing activities have then been passed straight on to the sales team. And what happened next is anyones guess.

Sometimes they sat in a pile on the sales manager's desk or in the back of his car. Sales people may also have been sceptical about the value of the leads, particularly if they hadn't been qualified in any way. The salesman is usually looking for immediate prospects that can quickly be converted into orders to meet  targets. The reality is there will probably be few 'hot' leads, most will be at different stages in the sales process from initial research into what might be available and onwards to being close to buying. When sales leads arrived in paper format - often response cards - there was usually a fair sprinkling of catalogue collectors with a surprising number of school children, students and more surprisingly - vicars. To discourage the amateur librarians response cards or forms asked more and more questions to provide information that would help weed out the 'time wasters'. And of course the forms in due course moved on to the web site. Some research indicates that the intervention of a form to qualify for information loses a high percentage of visitors. This matters, because the old weeding out process is as totally outmoded as much as the salesmen jealously guarding product information that would only get released to the most eager prospects once they had jumped through a series of hoops.

The web site brutally exposes all the product details that past generations of salesmen would drip feed to prospective customers. But it doesn't mean that having this information online makes it understandable to web site visitors and it helps to provide paths through the web site that are appropriate to prospects at different stages in the process that not only leads up to closing a sale, but continues after as they become users of the product or service. Many b-2-b enterprises do not sell online   to customers buying on impulse, but are more likely once on board have an extended relationship with the vendor. So when  a visitor reaches your web site make available the type of useful information in the form of white papers and video the type of information that sets the scene, explains the technology, provides examples of how your product benefits users. Instead of hiding this behind the old style form, offer the option to sign up for a monthly newsletter with the promise of useful and current information. By nurturing the prospect the relationship is being built and valued. When the time arrives for a purchase your company will have created a good impression and time for the sales call. It is just as important to maintain the relationship after purchase with follow up contacts, maybe even a 'users' club if relevant and of course introducing accessory products to build the value of the customer's account.