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The introduction of lead management systems can be a worrying process for the marketing function of any company. Such systems are seen as essential by many marketers, but in an era of budget restraint it is often difficult to know how to approach the issue. Ideally it makes sense for an organisation to introduce lead management in small steps, rather than go for a ‘big bang' approach where all the systems are introduced at once - a strategy that may well prove expensive and traumatic. But how is this step-led approach to be implemented?  

Lisa Cramer, the President of Leadlife Solutions, a provider of on-demand lead-management software, recently provided guidance on just this issue (http://tinyurl.com/2v7rv4u). With regards the introduction of lead management systems, she recommends a low-key approach, setting down a well-designed and realistic path of steps to start reaping incremental benefits, while also understanding how to grow your systems and processes over time 

In practice, when introducing a small step approach to lead management, you will have to:

• Set realistic goals. The first step is to define your goals in the short-, mid- and long-term. By doing this, you can measure progress as you go and see the results you've made along the way. Short-term goals can be as simple as increasing click-throughs or conversions of e-mail marketing programs, or implementing a nurturing component within existing campaigns and seeing what effect it has on quality of outbound calls.
• Get sales buy-in. How to work with sales is one of your first steps when implementing a lead-management system. Think of your mid-to-long-term goals in particular, and how to evaluate the marketing-to-sales process by defining what a sales-ready lead really is within your organization. 
  

• Identify initial campaigns and steps. It's important to evaluate where to start-namely, where you can get some immediate value without consuming the entire marketing department or missing current targets/campaigns. This primarily depends on what you are currently doing and what you can facilitate moving forward.
• Start simple, measure and adjust - a factor here is how to pass leads to the sales team. How this is done varies from organization to organization.  Some companies choose to keep their process the same, such as moving all leads to sales. Others might choose to implement basic scoring and move only those leads to sales that meet a basic set of criteria.
• Upgrade your approach to analytics - what's working and what isn't? Here, you'll want to consider ongoing behaviour and marketing effectiveness. This is where Prospectvision provides an excellent adjunct to your lead management strategy - enabling the conversion of anonymous visitors to your website into real, qualified leads. With regards analytics, you'll need to test, measure and refine.

In conclusion, it's imperative to drive value with your lead-management system, both initially and in the future, based on your company's resources, budget and needs. By doing this, and by taking the small steps outlined above, you can gain some immediate ROI as well as the visibility to increase your marketing effectiveness.