0. Define the stages of your Marketing funnel/infinite
Before moving on to the SLA itself, it is worth remembering that you must define the stages of each lead:
Lead: a generated contact
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead): Lead qualified by Marketing and that meets the requirements to be evaluated by sales;
SAL (Sales Accepted Lead): Lead accepted by sales and which will be approached by a sales representative;
Opps (Opportunities): Leads that are in contact with sellers, in the negotiation process;
Customers: Leads that closed a deal.
1. Calculate the percentage of Marketing based on Results Marketing
To calculate the percentage of Marketing in the SLA, it is necessary to follow some metrics, which can be collected from Marketing analysis tools and CRM. It is necessary to reassess the weight of Marketing in the SLA on a monthly basis, since, over time, several factors can change the values used in the calculations. It is good practice to recalculate the Marketing SLA periodically.
To determine the values to be used in calculating the SLA for the following month, it is necessary to calculate an average of the last year or semester of the sales cycle. These calculations allow us to define a certain number of qualified leads , which characterizes Results Marketing. However, not all leads have the same value, and they vary in maturity and quality. A CEO will necessarily be a more qualified lead than a Marketing technician.
Once the calculations for the different types of leads have been made, it is then possible to set objectives in terms of the number of leads at each level. This is what results-driven marketing is all about. Let's imagine, for example, that a lead from a CEO is worth €100, a lead from a director is worth €50 and a lead from a manager is worth €40. A request for a demo could be worth €100 and an eBook download is worth €30.
2. Calculate the percentage of sales
The sales portion of the SLA determines the speed and depth of follow-up on leads generated by Marketing . According to some experts, the first 5 minutes are critical for deepening contact and qualification rates. If leads receive a response in less than 5 minutes, the chances of contact are 100 times higher than if they wait 30 minutes.
The recommended number of follow-up calls is between 6 and 9, depending on the type and quality of the lead. However, not all leads can be approached by sales immediately. And this is one of the great advantages of Results Marketing. Some leads may be of low quality and need to be nurtured.
In any case, immediate contact is essential to maintain saudi arabia companies email list a relationship that allows leads to be nurtured and then passed on to the sales team.
Ideally, you may want your sales team to follow up on each lead 5 or 6 times, but you may not have the resources to do so. In this sense, it is necessary to structure the number of leads based on the SLA, how much time is spent on lead generation by Marketing , as well as the time spent by Sales working on those same leads.
You can also explore ways to automate your follow-up, especially via email, to maintain your depth without increasing the time spent on each lead.
3. Sales reporting via SLA
To report sales via SLA, you need to evaluate two graphs: one that evaluates the speed of follow-up and another that analyzes its depth. To create the first, you need the date the lead was presented to the sales department and the time when it received the first follow-up.
The difference between these two moments is the time it took for the sales team to respond to a lead. Create a table with the daily, weekly or monthly averages and compare them with the SLA objectives.
The final step is to review these metrics on a daily basis to monitor progress and ensure that sales and marketing teams have access to reports on both sides of the SLA. This maintains transparency and accuracy, allowing both teams to work together and leverage synergies.