Comments on: Sales Leads vs. Appointments?

By: Sales Leads

Sales Leads — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:54:24 +0000

Great lay outing of importance and comparison but it also boils down to a company's needs and preferences.

By: Catherine Brown

Catherine Brown — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:10:11 +0000

I like the 8 questions to ask oneself or one's clients. Thanks for that.
I have never heard of someone contrasting "lead generation" with "appointment setting," but rather, most people I know use L.G. as a broad term that may encompass appointment setting as one strategy. Interesting food for thought. thanks

By: Mike Damphousse

Mike Damphousse — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:04:21 +0000

Robert, Your 8 points are a great guideline to begin with, and although there are cases where they won't match each client's needs exactly, they are a good starting point for someone being introduced to outsourced demand gen vendors.

That said, the dialog in the middle raises some questions.

For example, we have several appointment setting clients with higher qualification criteria than others. They get less appointments, but they get what they ask for, and in a pay-for-performance model they are happy to pay more for the service.

There is a much wider spectrum of vendors and programs out there than just Appointment Setting firms and Lead Gen firms. There are higher quality versions of each and very different levels of service for each.

- It comes down to what goals and what ROI is desired for the program.
- It comes down to a quality vs. quantity discussion.
It comes down to your 8 points.
- It comes down do vendor capability and selection criteria.
- It comes down to level of service and pricing.
- It comes down to client commitment, timing and urgency.
- It comes down to various other issues.

ps: You've stirred up an idea for a new Smashmouth Marketing blog article. Stay tuned, and keep writing...love your stuff.

By: Miles Austin

Miles Austin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:21:46 +0000

Robert, You got me thinking with your post. I have sent the link to your site to several salesmakers and sales leaders that I respect for their thoughts and reaction.

Plenty of good commentary already provided here but here is my 2 cents worth...

I believe you need both all the time, and some time they are all in the same action. The practice of focusing on one goal at the exclusion of the other has proven to be a sure-fire way to slow down the overall sales momentum. It is similar to the practice in the high-tech sales world when sales comp plans are focused on Revenue one year and then on Margin the next. The pendulum swings are not helpful, at least for the first few months of the when the energy is to re-focus on the "new" priority for the year.

Keep the blinders off, train your team to seek either Sales Lead or Appointment based on the client,opportunity, timing and competitive scenario.

Keep up the great work here.

By: steve dodd

steve dodd — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:18:50 +0000

Robert, you've raised some interesting questions here that I think all companies need to ask themselves before going down this path. As well stated throughout the comments, there is no cookie cutter approach but unfortunately most organizations do not really attempt to define what they are after and how to get there. This is a great start!