Tracking leads to optimize business has always been one of the favored ways of channel partners to gain competitive edge over the competition. Not surprisingly, over the years, partners ask for two primary things from vendors – leads and better profit margins.
Most vendors have well-designed schemes wherein they pass on client enquiries and information to channel partners and offer better margins on closing the deals. The leads mainly concern customers’ buying behavior such as their budget, needs and the timeframe and are passed on to partners depending on their setup – geographical location, infrastructure, responsiveness and skills.
But how far has leads fructified into real business? Both vendors and partners say the closure rates are disappointing. Most channel members – solution providers and VARs – generate about 70 percent of their annual revenue from existing customer base. Of the remaining 30 percent, bulk of the revenue is from their respective sales generation. My friends in the channel say that, in the process, hardly 7-8 percent of leads materialize into concrete business.
Is there something structurally wrong in the lead generation process that results in poor outcome from leads? Most partners say that many of the lead generation programs get derailed by delays. Also, in most cases such sales end up getting closed by the vendors themselves, leaving little to their partners.
In the name of leads, many a times the partners only get plain enquiries about a server or a security solution and so try to put their own mechanism in place. Several VARs I keep interacting with are going independent of vendor support system for market development – lead generation and management, precisely. They have put in place respective customer relationship and opportunity management solutions to track prospective deals to the finish.
For example, Uttam Mazumdar of Lucuz, Hyderabad has a dedicated team keeping track solely on the ‘domain knowledge’ of the existing customers. This helps him in quickly updating the customer’s security apparatus once there is a trace of impending threat.
A few others have placed their team to collect more information from event participation to validate the leads.
Still, the channel ought to take a more serious view of the lead management affairs. One could qualify a certain deal by asking questions like when the customer wants to buy, the solution he would prefer, the budget, and for enterprise customers who is the decision-maker.
From this end, a few tips to convert opportunity into good leads would include a checklist like: a) always follow up the queries with further specific queries through tele calls, email, presentation of documents and return queries within two-three days; b) training sales staff in skills like effective telephone etiquette, apart from product knowledge and technology; and (c) understanding a key lesson that sales may take longer than expected, especially if the business is on software solution, and one should keep going at it.
There also exist gaps in terms of communication, which needs to be fine tuned.
Finally, having recorded a few tips for the channel, it also ought to be stated that even vendors’ efforts have been found wanting.
A Bangalore-based partner did not hesitate to term vendor lead management programs as a mere eyewash. Some even complained that partners are often charged for advertising support they get.
Vendors therefore also need to improve upon their schemes, so that they go on to benefit both themselves and their channel partners. It’s only together that you can win.