Lead to Close Ratio — what should it be?
As you start a company or roll out a new campaign you have to begin estimating for X number of leads how many will I close?
Why?
- Assuming your business model relies on ROI against the Customer Lifetime Value Analysis you need to know what each leads cost.
- You have sales costs to weight against the time sales spend with leads.
First, define between marketing and sales what is a qualified lead, and keep that definition consistent against your lead channels.
If you are in B2B and you don’t have any data to give you a starting point we use 13% based on years of testing this against a lot of different campaigns in B2B sales.
Measure your closed loop marketing by campaign and aggregate. Be faithful to defining qualified leads accurately. Soon you’re own reliable benchmark will emerge. Be sure to continue to experiment with growth hacks and marketing and sales effectiveness strategies to improve that ratio.
Best way to manage it going forward is to begin tracking Leads by Channel Source. Lead-Close analysis by channel source will give you tremendous tool to manage your sales efforts, funnel campaigns, and your marketing spend overtime.
Close em good!
Brian Fleming
CRO, Marketing and Sales Growth Consultant
Hot Iron Sales and Marketing Services
