For a Sales and Marketing team to be effective it is imperative that their objectives be aligned, or as it is commonly stated, "everyone working from the same play book". A logical place to start the alignment process is to focus on the common touch points between marketing and sales - Leads and Lead Qualification.

Don't get caught in the Sales/Marketing blame game: "sales is not following up on the leads", or "marketing is not developing quality leads". The two organizations have to work together to gain a consensus on what lead quality is and how it should be measured.

A set of well-constructed Lead Nurturing models provide a consistent framework for resolving this classical controversy. Taking the guesswork out of handling the complexity for lead selection and qualification. A good model can be tested, measured and is capable of development and adaptive improvement.

When a campaign is created it is important that the design pattern is not left to the task force's management level executives, or worse, a junior marketing staff member. The design should be composed of marketing communication items that :

• allow for "Expanded Content" where the lead can follow a path of information depth and potential customer "drill down"
• present options for the lead to "Self Identify"
• set "tip over" events and triggers threshold levels that serve to notify and engage sales representatives with clearly communicated lead status attainment
  

 It is important that from the beginning, marketing and sales teams are prepared to work with the leads based on the multi-stage lead qualification process that the Lead Nurturing system provides. Bringing salespeople into the definition phase not only ensures buy in, but it provides them the opportunity to become key stakeholders in a successful the process.