How to Establish Lead Generation Program Performance Metrics to Measure Success
All lead generation programs share the same goal of providing qualified leads to sales. So, how do you know if your program is a success? You won’t unless you establish lead generation program metrics.
What do you measure so you know your lead generation efforts are successful?
It never fails, at some point in all of our outsourced lead generation programs a client asks, “How are we doing in comparison to your other clients?” The answer is always the same. Unfortunately, there is no effective way to make legitimate comparisons between two different programs. Each program is unique. Each company is unique too, so it is nearly impossible to compare and contrast are their performance metrics and goals.
Part of Growth Orbit’s performance management process is establishing lead generation metrics. Sales metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) are data points that help measure sales success. Some metrics are meant to track progress towards goals. While others identify areas of strength/weakness, and uncover strategic issues. Not only should lead generation metrics be evaluated in terms of leads generated, but ideally be used to monitor leads as they move through the sales process.
Two Types of Performance Metrics to Use for Lead Gen Program Evaluation
Growth Orbit typically evaluates programs using metrics in two general areas: operational and strategic. Operational metrics are related to the daily performance of a program. Operational metrics may include:
- outbound calls
- email reply rates
- voicemail reply rates
- connect rates
- conversion rates
- number of qualified leads generated
Unlike operational metrics, strategic metrics evaluate the overall performance of the program over time. This includes analyzing the program according to firmographic data. Example of such measurements include industry, revenue, size, and region. Each specific variable must be isolated to determine its effectiveness.
When establishing an initial baseline for program metrics it is important to evaluate each program’s unique factors. Some of these factors include:
- the target market
- product cost
- persona
- industry
- market conditions
Track Program Performance Against Expectations and Adjust
Finally, once you have your lead generation program metrics defined you can begin to track performance. As you begin to gather the data you can evaluate actual performance vs. expected performance. Then you can then make program adjustments to maximize performance and optimize your results.
As an example, let’s consider a program targeting only C-level executives. Typically, generating leads to C-level executives is more difficult and time-consuming than leads to mid-level management and others down the org chart. With all other factors very similar another program targeting front-line leaders would expect qualifying leads to be less difficult. Therefore, expectations for these programs would be different.
