Demand Generation 101: How to Create Lead Generation Plan That Actually Generates Client – In Just 7 Minutes with Pam Didner

Resources/Links:

• Want FREE tools on how you can increase your revenue with alignment? Click here: https://pamdidner.com/

Summary

Do you want to learn how you can generate multiple sustainable qualified leads all the time by creating the perfect lead generation plan?

Marketing and sales aren’t so different, so there’s no reason for you to prioritize one over the other. There are two things you need to remember before going into the big game of getting leads– you’ve got to define and align!

Pam Didner is a B2B marketer, writer, and podcaster. She works with clients on B2B marketing and sales and marketing alignment. She loves everything B2B marketing!

Dig a little deeper into the world of lead generation with Pam and learn how you can craft the perfect plan for you and your business that can guarantee you less miscommunication and great sustainable leads all the time.

Check out these episode highlights:

• 01:31 – Pam’s ideal client: My ideal client tends to be B2B marketers in the MET companies or the enterprises that actually either work with a sales team directly or work very closely in terms of demand generation.
• 02:05 – The problem she helps solve: There are a couple of things I do in working with my clients. Number one is the sales and marketing alignments. And that also touches a little bit on the demand generation, because you are bringing leads into your funnel, and you have to think through in terms of how to qualify the leads or nurture leads.
• 03:42 – The symptoms of the problem: One of the common issues is the definition of leads, especially MQL, which is “marketing qualified leads” and otherwise sales qualified leads. And a lot of companies actually use lead scoring to determine marketing qualified leads.
• 04:54 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Pam: In terms of, if you are doing a demand generation, at the same time you’re passing the leads to salespeople, but they are not necessarily happy with your leads, it’s very important to initiate that conversation with them.
• 05:55 – Pam’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): The number one thing is, if you feel this gap, it’s very important that you have a very frank conversation with multiple different salespeople to understand what those gaps are.
• 06:50 – Pam’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Want FREE tools on how you can increase your revenue with alignment? Click here: https://pamdidner.com/
• 07:25 – A: The number one question is, in terms of how the sales team gets the sales feedback in terms of working with a marketing team.

Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:

“Once you create a demand generation plan, make sure that you review that with the sales team.” -Pam Didner Click To Tweet

Transcript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Tom Poland 00:10
Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Pam Didner. Pam, good day from Down Under. Where are you hanging out?

Pam Didner 00:21
I’m actually in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

Tom Poland 00:26
North Carolina, and you’ve just been through the midterms. Did you get the candidate you wanted elected?

Pam Didner 00:35
Well, actually, it worked out pretty well. This is why the color purple stay and which is the combination of both parties and at this time, it’s actually, it did pretty well.

Tom Poland 00:46
All right. I’m pleased for you. It bodes well for the future. But I probably shouldn’t have opened the politics door at all. So, folks, Pam’s a business-to-business marketer. She’s a writer. She’s a podcaster. She works with clients on business-to-business marketing, and sales and marketing alignment, which is a real trick in itself to get sales and marketing aligned. And essentially, Pam loves everything about business-to-business marketing. So Pam, welcome, again! And our title today is, “Demand Generation 101–” which is where, folks, you need to start, “How to Create a Lead Generation Plan That Actually Brings In New Clients”. Pam, I’m delighted to have you on the show. Our seven minutes is going to start now. Question number one is who is your ideal client?

Pam Didner 01:31
My ideal client tends to be b2b marketers in the MET companies or the enterprises that actually either work with a sales team directly or work very closely in terms of demand generation. So it’s the b2b marketers in the MET companies or enterprises.

Tom Poland 01:49
Perfect! And folks, you might think that these folks know exactly what they’re doing with marketing, but a lot of them are struggling and need help from people like Pam. So if that’s you, you want to listen up, because you need to get some cool free stuff, and also some extra stuff at the end. Tell us about the problem you solve Pam. Six and a half minutes left.

Pam Didner 02:05
So in general, there are a couple of things I do in working with my clients. Number one is the sales and marketing alignments. And that also touches a little bit on the demand generation, because you are bringing leads into your funnel, and you have to think through in terms of how to qualify the leads or nurture leads. So you can pass that to a sales site. And then the other part is demand generation. It’s really how you build enough leads, that you can actually qualify them. And that’s a good chunk of it in terms of demand generation plan, that if you’re a marketer, you need to put that together.

Tom Poland 02:36
Right. So tell us a little bit more, real quick, about the alignment of sales and marketing. What’s meant by that?

Pam Didner 02:44
There are a couple of things really depending on what you are supporting as a marketer or how you support your sales team. It can be in terms of you creating content for them at different sales stages, then you have to think through in terms of the marketing content you created for them and what qualifies for sales engagement. The other one is domain generation. For example, if you generate leads for the sales team, then you have to understand what’s your definition of a qualified lead. And also what is your definition of qualified leads make sure you are aligned. And so you can pass the properties to them.

Tom Poland 03:20
So because, otherwise, your salespeople are going to get frustrated. The marketing people are going to be thinking, “Well, I did all the work. Why are you converting them?” and-

Pam Didner 03:28
Why are you giving me these leads if this isn’t working? Why?

Tom Poland 03:33
So what would you say are some of the typical symptoms in an organization where they don’t have that alignment? They don’t have a plan that keeps the pipeline falling and have their salespeople happy.

Pam Didner 03:42
I think one of the common issues is the definition of leads, especially MQL, which is “marketing qualified leads” and otherwise sales qualified leads. And a lot of companies actually use lead scoring to determine marketing qualified leads. For example, if the leads actually go through several pieces of content or come to your website a couple of times, or respond to an email, they get certain kinds of lead scores. Once they reach that lead score and they feel like, “Oh, this is qualified for sales to get in touch with them.” However, lead scoring can have that, how should I say it, does not necessarily provide a very true picture if that person rarely talks to the sales team. So in addition to lead scoring, you also need to have other reasons to vet the lead and make sure that before you qualify that and end up passing that to sales teams.

Tom Poland 04:33
The filter, so the salespeople are getting the right leads, and not just wasting your time. So we’re talking about organizations that are growth-orientated here. They’ve got a sales and marketing team, whether it’s a small-owner-operated team or a larger one. They want to try things that are going to work. What would you say are some of the common mistakes that you’ve seen your clients make before they start working with you?

Pam Didner 04:54
Yeah, a couple of things in terms of if you are doing a demand generation, at the same time you’re passing the leads to salespeople, but they are not necessarily happy with your leads, it’s very important to initiate that conversation with them. Have a conversation with them so they understand what the gaps are, and have that conversation going and understand what your needs are, and then come back and fix your sales demand generation plan or fix in terms of the number of qualified leads, or how you should qualify leads before you’re passing the leads to them. So I think the common mistake is, first of all, a lack of communication between the sales and marketing team. And number two is the definition of leads. And I think that’s pretty common across many companies.

Tom Poland 05:38
You’ve given us probably the top tip as well which is what we’re going to ask you about. So end the blame game and talk about the elephant in the room, which is we don’t have alignment and figure out what that looks like. So question five, though, is there another top tip that you could think of at the top of your head that’s going to help people to move forward with this problem?

Pam Didner 05:55
Yes, I think the number one thing is if you feel this gap, it’s very important that you have a very frank conversation with multiple different salespeople to understand what those gaps are. That’s number one. And the second thing is to make sure that you have a plan. So when you create a Demand Generation plan that you are going to build the top of the funnel, what does your plan look like? What’s the channel you are using and what channels were actually effective based on your past campaigns? Have that information and create a plan. And then not the only important thing is once you create a plan, make sure that you review that with the sales team. So they have a chance to see what you are planning to do. And they can also provide some feedback in terms of what they think you can do to actually help them better. Does that make sense? It’s one of the common mistakes is having a demand generation plan but not reviewing it with a salesperson.

Tom Poland 06:50
And that’s probably the most valuable part of the whole process is the debriefing. So just over 60 seconds left. Question six is a valuable free resource we can direct people to. Just for the sake of time, folks, I’m going to give you the answer to that one. Go to www.pam, P-A-M, Didner, D-I-D-N-E-R, .com. And you’re going to be able to opt-in there to get Pam’s tools and templates for creating sales and marketing alignment. Pam, thank you for that free gift!

Pam Didner 07:19
Yeah, anytime!

Tom Poland 07:21
Question number seven, 30 seconds left, what’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t?

Pam Didner 07:25
Well, the number one question is in terms of how the sales team gets the sales feedback in terms of working with a marketing team. That’s number one. And second thing is, it’s very important as a demand generation person you need to understand CIM, which is the tool that salespeople use. I think it’s really important that you understand how to use that tool in addition to your marketing automation.

Tom Poland 07:48
Critically important! Pam Didner, thank you so much for your time and your insights.

Tom Poland 07:52
Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.