Homebuilders.com

Does this sound familiar?

Marketing: “Sales just don’t follow up on the leads we deliver and the opportunity to convert them to an appointment at the presentation center is short lived. Why provide more leads if we are just wasting money and the sales team doesn’t respond!”

Sales: “The leads from Marketing aren’t very good. We can build relationships and know how to close, but we need good leads and more of them!”

Is this unique to homebuilders? No, absolutely not. But how do you eliminate this conundrum?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Define a qualified lead. A first step is getting a consistent view and agreement from both teams on what leads are the right leads for the Sales team. For example, define what a ‘hot’ prospect or ‘A’ lead is – what are the criteria on a ready, willing and able basis? Also define a ‘B’ lead, a ‘C’ and so on.
2. Who Does What? Based on the criteria established above who does the initial follow up, what is the process for follow up and how do you ensure a smooth hand-off from Marketing to Sales (at the appropriate time)? Agreeing on a clearly defined process is critical for both responding and making a favorable professional impression on leads and, over a period of time, to determine lead quality.
3. What’s the # of qualified leads that Marketing needs to provide Sales? Quality, qualified leads usually cost more money so being clear on the number of leads that Marketing need to deliver is pretty important. Having weekly targets and expected close ratio’s all put accountability and ‘skin in the game’ for both teams. And Sales need to be accountable for creating their own leads too so what are lead expectations from the Sales team direct efforts from customer referrals, networking, and other proactive sales activities?

These suggestions may sound simplistic, but very few homebuilders actually have this process defined or shared as part their selling culture. It takes a little time, some collaboration and some testing, but it works. And there is an added bonus for both marketing and sales – this process can also help gain clarity on just who your target buyers are – which is never a bad thing.