• Six Tips for Establishing a Formal Measurement Process

    There's tremendous—and growing—interest among marketers and executive management concerning measuring the results of marketing programs. Everyone wants to demonstrate results and trim the fat around programs that aren't generating an ROI. And we all want to make our current programs as effective as they can possibly be.

    A popular topic, we touched on this briefly in last month's Q Spot. Follow the six tips below to establishing a formal measurement process, or fill in the gaps in your current strategy.

    1. Map out your sales process
      Marketing must have comprehensive and transparent visibility into your organization's sales process. It's critical to ensure that measurement accurately reflects your sales process—and vice versa. Any disconnect between the two will have detrimental effects on the bottom line quantification of your programs' effectiveness. Consider teaming up with your sales counterparts and reviewing each step of the sales process, per lead category and marketing program. There's a good chance you'll gain new insight.
    2. Establish rules for lead tracking
      As a component to knowing the ins and outs of your sales process, it's essential to have clearly-defined rules and standards for tracking leads. Check for consistency. If needed, provide training for your CRM tool to ensure standardization across your organization. Any variation of these rules can lead to pitfalls that will skew your ROI results.

      Just like you can’t measure what you can’t track, you can’t measure leads that drop off due to poor internal communication.

    3. Seal up inbound and outbound processes
      You may have fairly solid outbound processes. But do the inbound counterparts measure up? Make sure both outbound and inbound leads have standard processes. From the person answering the phone on up, consistency is critical. If you have a special promotion or some big push, the people on the front lines have to know about it. It's essential to communicate promotions and specials to customer care, since they'll get the majority of calls, regardless of the phone path you provide.

      If your team isn't armed to provide this data, you may very well be missing out on sales. Just like you can't measure what you can't track, you can't measure leads that drop off due to poor internal communication on your company's part.
    4. Understand criteria for lead qualifying
      Is the lead qualifying criteria clear for your sales and marketing teams? Ambiguity can come back to haunt you and create conflict between sales and marketing. The characteristics of hot, warm and cold leads—and any categories you have in between—must be clearly articulated and understood.
    5. Ongoing lead management
      Unfortunately, not all leads close in a timely manner. What happens to leads that don't close within the quarter? How long do you keep hot and warm leads in your database before downgrading them, changing courses, etc.? It's details and disciplines like these that will provide insight into your measurement process. This visibility will also keep sales and marketing working in unison toward the same goals.
    6. Determine tracking for multiple programs
      Often a lead will come to you and/or be moved down the sales funnel due to more than one marketing program. Maybe it was a newsletter, a direct mail program and a news article. How you account for leads that come to you through multiple means? Do you have the infrastructure to track that sort of data point? If the answer to these questions isn't an emphatic "yes," your tracking will miss the mark.

Once seen as elusive, a formal measurement process is a manageable goal. But it takes discipline within your organization, not just within one department. It requires consistency and a commitment to ongoing quantifiable programs. Follow these steps and see just how manageable it can be.

Client Highlights

Last month's question was from John Hewes, DHHS/NIH:

"I'm preparing to conduct a customer survey. I would be very interested in obtaining general information from you."

A summary of Pamela's advice to John:

There are several general issues surrounding customer surveys. We're frequently asked which is better: web-based or phone surveys. Using Internet-based surveys allow you to reach more customers for a reduced cost. However, the information gleaned from these types of surveys is not typically deep. Web surveys are great to get quick responses on web site visits, feedback on emailed correspondence with the customer care department, etc.

If you want deeper feedback, telephone-based surveys are the way to go. While the cost is higher, the information obtained will be worth a lot more. Telephone surveys are best fits when you are trying to ascertain overall customer satisfaction, buying motivators, market reaction/feedback, brand recognition, etc.

Have a question for the expert?

Do you have questions about establishing formal measurement quantification across your programs and throughout your organization? Experiencing challenges establishing measurement processes or getting management buy in? Send your questions to Pamela Girardin, President at Qspot@Q2marketing.com.

 

Client Highlights

Q2 Marketing is an integrated marketing communications agency focused on the Washington DC region's B2B and B2G technology market. With qualified programs, the company is committed to ensuring clients spend their marketing dollars in the best ways, thereby reducing marketing risks. Q2 capitalizes on the synergy of client partnerships and their own market differentiators to drive revenue, bridging the divide between client need and agency delivery. With quantified results, Q2 is committed to establishing measurable metrics based on best practices—becoming an indispensable resource for clients.

www.Q2marketing.com
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Q2 can help you:

  • Create ROI-driven marketing strategies
  • Deploy programs that drive your bottom line
  • Establish a formal marketing measurement process