Targets need to be re-examined quarterly as a strategy is established and tested.

For B2B, this means first examining industries. Using a service like Hoovers is a good way to get your initial list of companies to target.

Next, you’ll usually need to identify functions, and then drill down to functional titles. Again a service like Hoovers is a good way to get initial functional contacts, although these will be upper management that get A LOT of email and phone calls. But, depending on the price point and need of a business, these contacts can open doors.

For consumer goods, the selection criteria will be by a different set of criteria such as geography, age and income.

A good first check is to look at your database of opportunities that have closed. Doing this usually helps companies realize that they are NOT using their CRM system as the tremendous asset it can be.

CRM systems like Salesforce.com have leveled the playing field. Used properly, a small business can have just as good a lead generation and sales process as the big boys.

Cha-ching! Sales guys respond to financial incentives, and so tying the use of Salesforce.com to $$ is the best way to get buy-in. More on that in the section on SFDC.

Even after you think you have it right, targets should be re-examined at least annually for a sanity check. You may be leaving money on the table by ignoring a segment that wasn’t so apparent in your initial analysis.

ESTABLISHING QUALIFICATION

Next you need to decide what qualifies as a lead, and for this Marketing needs to work with Sales. This will also be a moving target, and so Marketing needs to reconnect with Sales on this issue. The same criteria that you use to establish your targets is included in your baseline criteria, such as

• Industry verticals
• Size of companies
• Geographic location
• Functional titles

But beyond that, you will add more qualifying factors, such as

• Using or evaluating competitive products or services
• Active project
• Budgeted