Lead Generation, Unattended Leads and Follow Up at Dealer Level for Marketing Campaign Optimization

In the time we are living in, information is money and money is power. The same can be applied to a business; lead generation has become one of the most important parts of marketing.

What is lead generation?

Technically, lead generation is the initiation of consumer interest or inquiry into products or services of a business. Basically, a lead is a person or organization who has shown their interest in the product or services provided by the company in any way. So, lead generation, simplistically speaking is the process of creating such leads by attracting people towards the products or the services. Lead generation, however, is a long process and can be categorized as follows:-

The process of lead generation

Traditionally, this is the process of Lead generation but there is one step missing from the picture. Can you guess what?

Follow Up to be conducted after the process

Why is Follow up important?

The process described above seems like the complete solution to lead generation necessity of an organization and incorporated every step from identifying avenues for a generation to executing leads that qualify. In spite of the obvious fullness of the circle, the climax does not deal with one very important aspect – Unattended Leads (Leads that were generated but not dealt with during the process).

The secret behind managing the efficiency of any process is to concentrate on reasons for failure doesn’t matter how small. A campaign can be a huge success but still face the problem of some unattended leads, which might seem doable at the time but for the long term, it is another story altogether. In the rapid economy of this era, unattended leads turn cold in no matter of time and may result in ultimate loss of revenue due to negligence. As per a study was done by Harvard Business Review, almost 71 percent of leads are not followed up on, making the organization suffer in opportunity costs.

If the process of lead generation has to be optimized, the matter of unattended leads should be made part and parcel of the procedure.

How unattended can leads be followed up?

There are various ways of generating leads, one of which is executing campaigns at the dealer level. In spite of the traditional viewpoint, this can also be difficult. The constant problem of motivation and control arises in lead generation at the dealer level. This can result in greater unattended leads at dealer level which can turn the investment in the campaign, a less profitable one.

The best way to increase return on investment is to deal with unattended leads at dealer level with efficiency. Monitoring and Supervision of unattended leads at dealer level can be useful as:-

•  If unattended leads are taken care at the dealer level, loss of opportunity costs can be saved by the organization.

•  Unattended leads, if identified in time can be nurtured to create future customers.

• Dealers have the advantage of inherent networking channels that can be used to effectively generate leads. Therefore, if they are followed upon to prevent them from turning cold, it can potentially be very profitable for the organization.

Therefore, the way to ensure optimization of return on investment, unattended leads should be taken care at dealer level which should further be monitored at the organization level for campaign optimization and ROI control.