3automatedToday, most shoppers are researching information on the internet - even in the business-to-business (B2B) context. Around 90% of all B2B purchases are already influenced by the website of the provider. In modern inbound marketing, B2B companies can significantly increase the effectiveness of marketing and sales through automated lead management, making it worthwhile to set up their own lead management for some simple reasons:

1. Customer behavior is forcing sales to digitization: Digitization is changing the way autonomous and self-determined customers and buyers of today want to be addressed. This changed attitude is already being felt frequently by B2B sales. (Inbound-) marketing and sales must therefore work closely together and have the same goal in mind, namely the new customer. A professional lead management strategy will do just that.

2. Being able to assess and optimize marketing measures: The digitization of marketing has the nice side effect of making the success of automation easily measurable. On the one hand, this not only opens up the possibility of continuous optimization, it allows as well for the targeted use of financial and human resources for those topics, channels and measures that are particularly successful in increasing sales.

3. More flexibility and agility through automation: When a B2B company automates its lead management with appropriate technology, high flexibility and agility is in place, allowing to play all marketing and sales supportive communication spontaneously and at any time accurately to the right target groups or to the relevant leads. Interested parties and customers have come to appreciate such automatic communication processes, because the provider is getting closer to the ideal of real-time communication and 24/7 accessibility.

4. Real cooperation of marketing and sales:

Automated lead management is not just a marketing task, but a strategic project for the company. Only when marketing, sales, and IT work toward the same goal, can a mid-sized business capitalize on the full potential of its lead management and increase the effectiveness of its sales with qualified leads. In many companies this cooperation means a positive change towards an even stronger customer focus.


Since lead management has a strategic dimension, and digitization requires a change in the company, an external consultant may be useful to make the difference. With external support, a B2B company can rely on best practice to lead management and does not have to reinvent the wheel.

By Daniela La Marca