Read our latest 2019 blog post about Queue-based Lead Management.

If you are a regular reader of the VanillaSoft blog, you have probably seen references in our blog posts about “queue-based lead management.” Most of those posts have a link to our white paper, “4 Ways Queue-based Lead Management is Shaping the Inside Sales Industry,” but maybe you haven’t taken time to check it out or you didn’t want to have to register to read it. (By the way . . . all of our inside sales white papers can be read registration free!) To help those of you who may not be familiar with the concept of queue-based lead management and why it’s a revolutionary advancement in sales enablement, I am dedicating this week’s post to the topic.

What is Queue-based Lead Management?

A queue-based lead management platform such as VanillaSoft is designed to allow management to create a standard, automated workflow that all sales reps follow in order to increase productivity and contact quality. A queue-based system enforces the workflow and focuses your reps on the next best lead automatically. This type of system reduces cherry picking. It eliminates wasted time spent searching for the next best lead. It improves the likelihood of moving a lead more quickly through the sales funnel.

How is It Different from Traditional Inside Sales & CRM Platforms?

Traditional inside sales and CRM platforms have been and still are list-based. A business loads its leads and customers into the software, and there are filters and search tools to help sales reps find leads to call. However, that’s the problem – it requires the sales rep to make determinations on what the next best lead to call is. Sure, these systems may have lead scoring and other information to help sales reps find contacts to call, but it doesn’t guarantee that they will call the next best lead based on the criteria and workflow you would like to have in place. This list-based methodology makes cherry picking leads commonplace, it presents plenty of opportunities for excuses about why calls aren’t made, and it just leaves too much to human error.

Why Do You Need Queue-Based Lead Management?

A sales engagement platform (like VanillaSoft) that features queue-based lead management, prioritizes and routes the next best lead, based on criteria set by management, to the next available sales rep.

If the call goes unanswered, the system re-routes the lead back to the queue based on the lead criteria and sales cadence specifications.

Traditional, list-based CRM solutions hinder performance by forcing salespeople to hunt for the next lead to call from a list of leads or tasks.

Sales automation using intelligent systems increases results.

Queue based lead management stops salespeople “cherry-picking” leads they deem high-value and ignoring the rest. The result is more sales leads are contacted and followed up increasing overall sales.

With a queue-based approach, sales managers can set up intelligent queuing priorities based on geography, the amount of time the contact has been waiting in the queue, and specific pain points, among other factors.

The lead is automatically presented to the sales rep thereby avoiding the requirement to choose which lead to contact from a list.

This automation translates into increased productivity and deeper list penetration on an individual level, ensuring minimal to zero lead wastage.

Not Convinced that Queue-based Platforms Actually Make a Difference?

I am sure some of you are thinking, “Well, of course, you will say queue-based platforms are better! That’s what you are selling.” True—we are providing that type of solution, but we are providing it because it’s truly a revolutionary, game-changing system that has demonstrated value for inside sales professionals.

  • Compared to the standard average of 8 dials per hour, the average call count for a queue-based lead management platform is 32 calls per hour or a 400% increase.
  • Inside sales teams using a queue-based lead management platform see an average of 7 follow up calls on leads before closing them out compared to the typical 2 follow up attempts.
  • Inside sales teams using a queue-based lead management platform see a decrease of 30% in lead decay rate.
  • Real-time web leads are contacted within the coveted first 5 minutes.

(source: “4 Ways Queue-based Lead Management is Shaping the Inside Sales Industry)

I encourage you to check out our other resources and latest blog posts about this sales function as well as great case studies to learn about the difference that a queue-based lead management platform can make. Want to see it in action for yourself? Start your VanillaSoft free trial today!