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As we mentioned a few weeks ago, we will shortly be releasing our first annual State of B2B Lead Generation report. In the meantime, we wanted to share interesting snippets to give you a sense of what we've uncovered.

Today, let's look at the use of CRM software. We've talked previously about some keys to ensuring a successful implementation, but firstly, are B2B companies even using CRM systems? Our data says yes, with more than half of the folks we surveyed indicating they do use the software. But that number still seems a bit low given all the talk about lead tracking and management, lead nurturing and more - don't you think? Seems like total CRM adoption still has a ways to go.

Brian Carroll over at the B2B Lead Roundtable Blog has a good post on the importance of a Universal Lead Definition, a topic we've hit on before. Carroll even goes so far as to alert his readers to NOT begin any lead generation campaign without this defintion in place, something we wholeheartedly agree with.

According to Carroll, a true Universal Lead Definition meets the following criteria:

• Fits the profile of your ideal customer
• Has been qualified as sales-ready
• Spells out the responsibilities and accountabilities of sales and marketing
• Makes marketing and sales more efficient

Read the full post.

Caroll also sites a recent MarketingSherpa study that found that 61% of B2B marketers are sending leads to sales without any qualification. In our forthcoming report on the State of B2B Lead Generation, we too found a similar lack of alignment amongst B2B marketing and sales teams. Our data indicates only 36% of respondents perceive alignment between marketing and sales within their organization as a 9 or 10 (with 10 being extremely aligned). 

These data points underscore that we as B2B marketers have a ways to go until total harmony is reached between marketing and sales.

Do you have a Universal Lead Definition? If so, let us know in the comments below.

As we mentioned previously, we recently conducted a study in conjunction with LeadsCouncil to uncover the true state of B2B Lead Generation. We asked marketers in this space (full disclosure: many of the respondents are clients of BuyerZone) about their use of technology, social media, budget, lead quality and quantity, and more. While our full report is coming soon, here's a sneak peak at some of the data:

This data, from 179 B2B marketers, shows that most companies understand the importance of speedy lead follow-up (thankfully!). But, even the 17% who follow-up within 24 hours might be losing their edge in terms of closing leads. 24 hour turnaround used to be acceptable, but with modern technology and increasing customer expectations, it's probably not getting the job done anymore.

How quickly are you following up on leads? Do you have a firm process in place to handle inbound inquiries?

Curious how quickly other businesses are following up on leads? Do you wonder how many companies are truly using drip marketing/marketing automation?

We're happy to announce the first annual State of B2B Lead Generation survey. This short survey, which we're sponsoring in conjunction with LeadsCouncil, digs into the thoughts and practices of companies in the B2B space. We'll shed light on how companies are managing leads, including use of technology, social media, follow-up practices and more.

Are you in B2B? Take the survey now and check back here in a month or two for our full report on the state of B2B lead generation!

Related: read the press release announcing the launch of the survey.

The folks over at Hubspot have released their annual Inbound Marketing survey. See how things are trending and take a moment to think about how your lead generation efforts compare.

A recent article from eMarketer says you should be spending money on search, mobile and even video if you want to connect with B2B decision makers researching a purchase.

Read the full article here.

Key takeaways:

• 73% of B2B companies looking to make a purchase turned to a search engine to do their research.
• Nearly 60% of B2B purchase decision makers are using smart phones to gather information, including nearly a third of C level executives.  
  

While this research isn't groundbreaking, it does further underscore how much of the purchasing decision-making and research has not only moved online, but to mobile devices. Are you adapting your lead generation techniques to accommodate this change?

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for some key tips on managing a PPC campaign and optimizing your site for mobile from our experts at BuyerZone.

White paper campaigns are a staple of lead generation, and with good reason: the valuable content they offer is a great hook for getting potential customers to share their contact information. There's also a strong connection between white paper readers and purchasing decision makers or at least influencers, so the leads tend to be of fairly high quality.

You can't run a white paper campaign without a white paper, though -- and as we've covered before, there are certain basic requirements that a document has to meet to call itself a white paper.

So what are your options? If we leave outright theft off the table, there are 4 main choices.

Lead generation experts Leads360 recently did a secret-shopper style survey where they submitted leads to a number of leading for-profit schools, then graded each school on their responsiveness: how soon and how often they called and emailed.

We've told you before about the importance of speed to call -- but in this survey, it's as if these schools had never even considered the fact that a prompt response might improve their chances of enrolling a student. 93% of schools in the study took more than 12 hours to call -- and 40% took more than 24 hours. The schools at the bottom of the rankings took 3 to 5 days, on average. And the email results tell a similar story.

Look, it's ok if you can't always respond in the first 20 minutes after a lead comes in. But taking days to place a simple phone call is a pretty clear indicator that you're not getting the most out of the leads you're generating or paying for.

Which group do you fall into? Confess your time lag sins here -- we'll forgive you.

Download the whitepaper to get the detailed results.

(h/t LeadCritic)

The power of listening has been on my mind recently. As a long-time editor for BuyerZone, I like to think that I know what our buyers want: timely, accurate information that helps them make the right purchasing decisions. But it's been a while since I really listened to what they're asking for, and a current research project is reminding me I should do that more often.

Survey says
We recently did a buyer survey and I asked about the types and sources of information buyers look for as they're researching a major purchase. Some of the results were consistent with my expectations: the number one answer is pricing examples, and detailed product specs and vendor web sites are also at the top.

The second most popular result surprised me: user reviews. I would have expected that in a B2C environment, but not in the B2B world of BuyerZone. Another surprise: other than user reviews, the rest of the social media options I included are all at the extreme bottom of the list. Blogs, Twitter, even discussion forums all got less than 10% support as an information source for B2B purchasing.

That may seem strange in a time when headlines like New Research: 60% of B2B Decision Makers Use Social Media are common -- but if you read more carefully, that study is simply saying that the decision makers use social media in general, not that they regularly use it for making their decisions. Score another point for long-time social media skeptic The Ad Contrarian.

Listen to succeed
Listening doesn't have to mean conducting formal surveys to gather opinion. I've also been calling BuyerZone users and asking them to tell me about their research.

I'm always cautious about taking up too much of their time on these calls, but they're often eager to talk about their plans and to tell me all about why they need to replace their old equipment, how the sales guy down the street is a weasel, or what new features they've heard about and would really like to take advantage of. Simply letting them talk is giving me some good insight into how they work and what we can do to help them out.

A great Harvard Business Review article (Marketers, Calculate Your Talk-Listen Ratio) makes the point that the simple act of directly listening to customers can be good for sales results:

Being listened to makes people feel good -- it signifies to them that they are interesting and what they have to say is valued. Imbued with the confidence this brings, they reveal more about their beliefs and feelings. It is no surprise then that successful salespeople are frequently described as great listeners.

Bad examples aren't hard to find
Finally, a couple of recent high-profile examples show how not listening to your customers can backfire -- or, depending on how you interpret the message, that belatedly listening can help you correct a business blunder.

First Netflix announced, then recanted their plans to separate their DVD-by-mail and online streaming businesses, in a great example of how not listening to customers can backfire. Then in an even more surprising blunder, Bank of America announced a $5 monthly fee for using a debit card, and was forced to reverse that decision based on the customer outcry.

What  are you doing to listen to your customers and prospects? Are you going to step into the same trap as BoA and Netflix, or do you have the finger on the pulse?

We've been writing this blog for about nine months now, and while we have some ideas about what lead buyers want to know, we thought it was time to ask you, our readers, what you want to hear about.

So, let us know! What would help you be a better lead manager or salesperson? What should we do more of in this blog? Share your thoughts and we'll show you what others have been saying.