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In order to run a successful sales-based business it is important to have strong leads and strong follow through. Business contact management software, sometimes called lead management software, offers the sales force real time leads as they move through the pipeline. For the manager of a sales department, these programs allow them the ability to quickly determine the strength of lead sources and make adjustments wherever needed to maintain a strong flow of strong leads.

But how can you determine if a lead source is providing good quality leads? There are a few ways:

Find your best lead source: That may seem like circular logic, find your best lead source to determine your best lead source, but it really isn’t. What this means is take the time to examine the results of leads you get from each source. Are you getting lots of pending deals or misinformation? How far is the lead going in the pipeline before they are removed? How many offers are being made? How many deals are being closed? By running a series of reports through your sales lead management software program you’ll soon start to see trends.

Trends: As we alluded to in the previous point, watch for trends as they emerge within individual lead sources and across the company. Are there individual products that sell better with an individual lead source? What is the price point with each lead source? By identifying these trends you can better equip your sales force to maximize the return on each lead.

Gauge not only sales, but ROI: Determine the quality of each list source by looking at the cost for each lead within that list and comparing it to the number of sales made in each list and the amount of that sale. Also consider the retention rate of each new customer and their long-term value. Some lead lists may result in a higher number of customers, but what is the cost of that individual lead and what is the value of the individual sale? Lead management software can run reports for these answers to help you maximize your marketing dollar and the cost of each dollar earned. For more on this topic read our article, “Tracking ROI in Lead Management Systems”

The right sales prospecting software makes it possible to track lead sources, spot and capitalize on trends, and gauge the cost of each sale in real time. Business changes daily and now the software allows you to keep up with the emerging trends.