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In general, there are usually several different approaches to accomplishing a set task. In most cases we can almost always expect to see some sort of margin of error. Every poll ever taken always has the addendum of plus or minus a certain number. While this error margin can be acceptable in a poll or survey and possibly even when judging how long it will take to arrive at a given destination, there are some instances where this is more of an unacceptable loss.

I am referring to the high cost of unready leads. Again, in some instances it is not a problem. If you are a telemarketer and you make an average of about 50 calls per day and only five accept what you have to offer, you have a 10 percent efficiency rating. Unfortunately, this is not the case for every situation.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a company-wide business strategy that is specifically designed to reduce costs and increase profitability by solidifying customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.

When we refer to true CRM we are talking about circumstances that bring together information from all data sources within an organization. Sometimes it is more appropriate to get this information from outside the organization. However the information is received, it gives one, comprehensive view of each customer in real time. In turn, this allows employees who have to deal with customers in such areas as sales, customer support and marketing the ability to make quick yet very informed decisions.

According to an article published in DestinationCRM.com recently, when it comes to most organizations, what gets pushed along to the sales team is incomplete, inaccurate, outdated and often completely useless. This becomes alarmingly clear when you can answer more questions that the sales pros.

This is ill-advised, as it is something that can cost a company a lot of money, as well as being a complete waste of time. The article attempts to take a realistic look at the actual cost of unready leads. Is there a way to come up with a new strategy, something that can end the waste?

I have worked for several organizations where the sales team wanted to please the customer and offer them more than was actually doable. This is the result of a sales team that hand picks leads based solely on intuition and what their gut tells them is right. When you pair this with the marketing team, you will find that it is almost impossible for there to be any type of collaboration. If marketing is left out in the cold due to poor lead quality, the ultimate result is going to be a lack of revenue.

If this type of situation continues, the company will surely be looking at a decline in sales, which will ultimately result in a loss of revenue. If this is something that your competitors have a better understanding of than your sales teams, the bottom line result is that their leads will be ready and they can close the deal, leaving you with unready leads.

I mentioned earlier that sometimes a salesperson will offer more than can be realized. This has the calamitous goal of frustrating the customer. The same is true without an effective qualification process. Not only will the sales and marketing teams miss out on valid opportunities they may also send out the wrong message, thus leading to more frustration on the customer side and of course the end result will be a loss of revenue.

If there is one thing that you cannot do in business, it is to leave your customers with a feeling of dissatisfaction. The focus needs to be on being able to deliver better quality leads. If this is accomplished at the beginning of the process, you could be looking at a remarkable improvement in several areas, such as marketing and sales synergy and productivity, and this will ultimately lead to sales and customer satisfaction.

It is important to find the right process that can be beneficial in generating sales-ready probabilities. Destination CRM.com suggests that the first step to have a clear-cut definition of your ideal customer. This now becomes the criteria that will be used to identify similar organizations or individuals that will fall under the category of ready leads.

We live in a generation of being connected everywhere all of the time, so why not use these social media channels to see what everyone is looking for. This could lead you straight to your ideal customer. What do they follow or discuss on social media? What do they say about their challenges, solutions, and questions on industry forums? What events do they check into, attend, or discuss? This becomes useful information that again can put you on the right track to quality, ready leads.