Every Company Needs a Good Map

On the heels of yesterdays post about Sales Funnel math, I received an invitation to download and read an ebook, "Give Marketing a Sales Quota" by Hugh Macfarlane. Hugh is known as "the funnel guy." He has delivered over 50 conference addresses, seminars, and keynote presentations on these topics to thousands of people since 1996.
You can find the download here at Eloqua.

I really think the eBook has a great point. Too often Marketing focuses only on generating leads; on starting the conversation. What Hugh points out is that Marketing should be held to a measurable standard that is related to how many of those leads have value. He also points out something that happens far too often: Sales does nothing with the leads it receives. Perhaps that is because those leads are a waste of time since they are "unqualified" or random.

The eBook is only 20 or so pages and takes maybe 30 minutes if you stop to ponder a bit. I think it is well worth the effort.

Here's the email if you need to see what motivated me (I actually stopped after "Complimentary eBook")

Hi Roger,

Right up front, Hugh Macfarlane's eBook "Give Marketing a Sales Quota" lets you know this isn't your everyday Marketing and Sales Alignment tome:

• Companies that are most successful in their B-to-B marketing efforts DO NOT judge sales reps on their propose-to-close ratio.  Yes, that's right: closed deals aren't the most important. In this book, Hugh talks about the different metric that is much more important to success.
• Top performing B-to-B companies DO NOT measure marketing on brand awareness or even total leads generated. So what do they measure?

Download this complimentary eBook and find out if conventional ideas about "Marketing and Sales Alignment" are holding your company back.

The findings are based on real-world successes of marketers and sales teams in an extensive study of 1,400 sales and marketing professionals in over 80 countries around the world. The survey uncovers some startling numbers that these "unorthodox" organizations are realizing:

• Closing 38% more proposals than lesser performing companies
• Losing 36% fewer customers to the competition
• And some statistics that you have to see to believe.

Download your complimentary eBook now.

Regards,
Keith Nealon
SVP, Worldwide Sales
Eloqua Corporation