Generating a steady stream of prospects is a core function of launching and maintaining a successful B2B organization. One of the coolest things about running a business online is that you are always open to doing business. As you know, operating a thriving business is tiresome, thankless, and sometimes challenging work. There is nothing more frustrating than losing leads somewhere along your sales funnel. I liken this to praying for rain and there is a hole at the bottom of the well.
In this post, I will explore some of the causes that I have encountered in my experience.
Open for business:
Technical malfunctions are one of the most common causes of missing leads. For instance, your marketing channels are firing on all cylinders, but the lead volume is not adding up. There is a multitude of reasons that leads can become misplaced i.e. system updates, breakage in infrastructure, or a simple case of neglect. In this post, I will cover some of the causes I have found.
Let us start by checking that websites and landing pages are accessible to your target user. Leading users from your paid marketing campaign to a 404 error is one that I have encountered on multiple occasions. An uptime monitoring service such as Uptime Robot provides up-to-date information about the health of your website.
Something as simple as filtering regional users in a national campaign could lead to some infuriating and painful results. So now you are sending tons of national traffic to a page that is targeted to a specific region. Double-check all campaign options and filters when restricting locales, regions, counties, etc.….
Forms and Fields:
Check that all lead capture and user input fields are working as intended. This should be a daily checklist, simulate the process that users take to reach your success page. If there is a problem I will typically start here.
Analyzing your integrations:
There are some cool lead capture and generation tools available online. JotForm, Olark, and others are outstanding utilities that require little to no technical expertise. That does not mean there is no room for error. Double-check that all integrations are operational.
Malware:
I have encountered and dread this one as it's the most intensive. Malware tends to rear its ugly head at the most inopportune moments. Couple that with how difficult they are to remove. This is largely due to the ability to borrow in databases and various file types. This typically ends with a full reinstall and deep clean of the database and other essential files.
I have encountered and dread this one as it's the most intensive. Malware tends to rear its ugly head at the most inopportune moments. Couple that with how difficult they are to remove. This is largely due to the ability to borrow in databases and various file types. This typically ends with a full reinstall and deep clean of the database and other essential files.
Installing a firewall or enhanced web security features is also a recommendation. Keeping your code and CMS updated to the latest versions is always a great starting point.
Human Error:
Look we are all human which leaves room for mistakes, I have found that providing access to the right professionals eliminates a bevy of human error. Things do slip through the cracks; instance change over in staff leave you with new untrained personnel. This can easily lead to missing or lost prospects.
In my experience thing can be a bit more sinister. Providing too much access to unqualified people can quickly backfire. There is no reason that anyone else, but the Web team should have access to integrations, core site functions, sensitive information, or high-level access to the CRMs. The last thing you need is a disgruntled employee or the office Loki providing a day of mischief for an entire staff. You do not know fun until you spend a day tracking down hundreds of thousand dollars’ worth of prospects, that went missing from everyone’s computer but one!
Theft:
This one always gets to me because of the human and emotional response. I will not touch too heavily on this subject for that reason. Whether it is shaving leads or fudging the numbers, it’s devastating to find that the spreadsheet submitted by management is skewed from the PDF that I just printed. For this reason, I suggest hiring a third-party to analyze your lead infrastructure.
Written by Tisho Richardson
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Tisho has 13+ years of experience as an SEO, Content Marketing Specialist, and B2B Social Media Manager. He is highly proficient in the most Digital Marketing utilities including, Moz, SEMRush, Hootsuite, and Hubspot Marketing Automation platforms. He can track and measure large amounts of data to present actionable strategies to reduce marketing expenses and increase KPI.
My ‘Keep it real’ Statement: I am an affiliate of some of the utilities that I mention on this website. Which means I receive monetary compensation for promoting them. I will always denote this by (*) at the end of each Link.
