OK... I didn't vote for him, BUT...

...YOU certainly can't disagree with part of Obama's speech where he said...

"Our workers (YOU and ME) are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds (YOURS and MINE) are no less inventive, our goods and services (OURS) no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished, but our (YOUR) time of standing pat, protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

To put this into marketer's and seller's perspective... it's time to get off you asses and STOP blaming each other.

Marketing blames sales for poor lead follow-up, and sales blames marketing for poor quality leads.

Sound familiar? If so... DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT... even if it's wrong. That way, at least you will have learned something from which to improve upon.

It's time to STOP waiting for someone else to fix the problem, when the fix is up to YOU.

If you know how to fix the problem, and can do it YOURself... then by all means don't ever call me.

But if you don't know how to fix the probelm, and want to learn what other companies JUST LIKE YOURS do to convert their leads to sales... call 630-642-6500. and ask for Rich

Shhhhhhhhhhh... Kaaaaaa BOOM!

Did you ever hear a sales person say "I can hear a pin drop in my territory" (meaning they know everything that's going on and where all the sales opportunities are) when in fact they couldn't hear an explosion today?

Why do you think sales people say that? Simple. It's human nature. And despite what MARKETING people may think, SALES people are human.

Sales people basically say that, so no one finds out what they are not doing in their territory. Let me explain...

Suggest to that same sales person, that based on statistics relating to the number of telephone dialing attemps to reach people today to set appointments, the cost of sales calls, the number of sales calls it takes to close a sale, the number of reps seen in a week by customers, and all the other things they have to do besides follow-up sales leads, you know that it's IMPOSSIBLE for sales people to call on prospects and know everything that's going on in their territory -- and guess what? They will agree with you.

FACT: Less than 20% of sales leads ever get followed-up.

There is good reason for poor follow-up. And guess what else? From having qualified more than 1,000,000 sales leads for more than 150 companies over the past 2-decades, we found that in the leads that DID get followed up by the sales department... 87% of them were from EXISTING customers.

So what does all that tell you? It should tell you that sales people are being forced to LIVE with their EXISTING customers today, and IGNORE their PROSPECTS. And that you will get a lot more from your sales team with EMPATHY for their lead follow-up problems, than you will with BLAME for not following up.

Empathize with your sales force's problems and make it easier for them to follow-up leads, then listen to the PINS DROP TOGETHER.