Telemarketing Software Featured Article

Telemarketing has taken a lot of heat lately, and not without at least some reason. Unscrupulous telemarketers led to the development of the Do Not Call list, and that in turn drove automated telemarketers and the various descendants of telemarketing like mass email and mobile offerings. For those who still use telemarketing properly, though, there's a new sign of acceptance ahead; three VanillaSoft executives recently won honors from the Sales Lead Management Association (SLMA).

The three in question—CEO David Hood, COO Genie Parker and sales vice president Guy De La Cruz—landed nomination for inclusion in the “40 Most Inspiring Leaders in Sales Lead Management” lists from the SLMA. Hood was nominated in B2B and B2C C-Level Management, while Parker was nominated in People in Software and Web Applications that Pertain to Sales Lead Management. De La Cruz, meanwhile, was nominated in B2B and B2C Marketing Management and Sales Management.

Voting continues through December 6, and is open to members of the SLMA as a whole. Those who want to join up should be aware that membership is free. Winners of the “Inspiring Leader” slots will be announced on December 15. Reports note the three are honored to be nominated and are hoping to walk away with one of the key slots.

SLMA CEO James W. Obermayer commented, “The nature of sales lead management has evolved thanks to the increased availability of data. With all the information that companies can track and measure, sales & marketing leaders can quickly become overwhelmed or rely on the wrong data. Effective sales lead management requires leaders who can handle these complexities and translate them into sales success. These nominees are doing just that.”

The best results in marketing—and telemarketing is no exception here—depend on the proper management of information, particularly when it comes to sales leads. After all, without leads, sales reps would be left with cold calling as the only real alternative. These days, cold calling is somewhere between “almost useless” and “outright illegal” depending on the circumstances, so having useful, worthwhile leads is the key to making a sales operation succeed. Few companies actually want sales operations to fail—there's too much riding on those operations—so having a proper management strategy for information and sales leads becomes important. Recognizing the best in sales lead management, in turn, helps ensure a flow of quality lead management tools and techniques into the market.

So here's to the three from VanillaSoft who landed nominations to this list; the hopes of VanillaSoft go with them into the final selection process, and with them, the validation of a company's entire philosophy and product line.