Telemarketing Software Featured Article

Sometimes you just have to make the main thing the main thing, as Seven Habits of Highly Effective People author Stephen Covey used to say.

Lead generation is the most important sales and marketing function for 58 percent of companies according to a recent global study by 360 Leads, but the study found that only 17.3 percent of companies are meeting their sales lead generation goals despite 78.5 percent engaging in lead generation programs.

The mains reason for failure are inadequate budgets and internal company issues, the study found.

"Considering the consistent view that lead generation is fundamental to achieving topline revenue growth, it's concerning to see companies either investing too little in this area or allowing internal issues to get in the way of one of the key elements of sustained business growth," 360 Leads president and CEO, Stuart Lewis, noted in a statement.

The most successful sales lead generation channels usually are those that can offer a high degree of targeting, the study found. Outbound telemarketing, email marketing and digital marketing deliver the best results.

Companies that communicate three or more times with their sales prospects are 2.4 times more likely to meet their targets, the study noted, and there is a 62 percent chance of a company hitting its lead generation goals if the sales staff is larger than 25 people; companies with more than 100 employees are 1.5 times more likely to hit their targets than small firms, it also was discovered.

For businesses that are not meeting their lead generation goals, whether large or small, it often is a simple matter of not prioritizing properly.

With telemarketing as one of the best ways to generate leads, firms can up their conversion rates with software solutions such as VanillaSoft’s Lead Generation software. The software allows businesses to track leads from prospect to sale, automatically route and distribute leads based on unique business logic, increase speed to lead, and capture data, qualifiers, demographics, and the entire history of the lead, among other benefits.

Such software can cost as little as $25 per month in the case of the VanillaSoft offering, so generating leads is largely a case of improper prioritization.

Businesses should keep the main thing the main thing.