Forrester says B2B Marketers Can Learn from Software Firms
To me, yes, if you are looking at lead qualification and management in isolation, software companies appear to be leading edge.
But you have to look at overall sales results:
They may have qualified leads but do not prepare their salespeople with lead intelligence. Most software sales people would fail this 15 minute first meeting guideline, my friend Brian Sommer and I wrote for Optimize magazine.
Software firms spend 25 to 50% in SG&A - that would bankrupt most of Forrester clients in other industries.
Software firms lose any front end advantage by fragmenting the rest of sales and marketing in to too many compartments. Not leading edge by most industry standards.
As the industry moves to SaaS, the marketing and sales model is going through changes as Phil points out...but today, take the Forrester advice with a pinch of salt. Or a shovel full.
