In B2B marketing and sales, the question, “What is the exact definition of a lead?” inevitably comes up. I believe the definition is constantly evolving, but it can be defined or categorized relative to its stage in your funnel. Here’s a description of the lead stages I use when developing sales and marketing alignment programs for clients.

1. Raw Leads: These are raw inquiries that enter the funnel (web form submissions, trade show leads, business cards, purchased lists, etc.).
2. Viable Leads: Once it’s determined that a raw inquiry is not a prospective employee, vendor or competitor, and they have some or all BANT (or SCOTSMAN) criteria, they are viable.
3. Nurtured Leads: These leads have received communications from your company, or been touched with marcom materials or telephone contacts.
4. Active Leads: Active leads have responded favorably to nurturing activities, such as clicking on e-mail links, attending webinars, etc.
5. Marketing Qualified Leads: MQL meet sufficient criteria to deliver to sales, usually via a company’s CRM solution.
6. Sales Accepted Leads: These leads have been passed onto sales, and they haven’t been rejected.
7. Opportunities: Leads become opportunities when sales has made contact and designated the lead as a likely sales opportunity.
8. Closed/Won: When sales has completed a transaction and a lead becomes a customer!

Does your business use other categories? What’s your company’s definition of a ‘lead?’ What does your funnel look like?

As someone who works in PR, I can firmly say that one of my biggest pet peeves is the misuse or ongoing battle between “it” or “its” and “they” or “their.” And, what’s scarier, I see these pronouns misused almost daily.

I can’t keep track of how many times I’ve read a sentence like this, “Company X is expanding their product offerings.” “Their” product offerings? No, “Company X is expanding its product offerings.”

When referring to a company or organization in your writing, pronouns that can replace the subject, or company name, in a sentence are “it” or “its,” not “they” or a “their.” “It” or “its” refers to a company or organization; whereas “they” or “their” are used when referring to people.

So, the next time you’re writing a press release, ad, Web page, e-blast or any other marketing communications piece, just remember to pay attention to your pronouns—“it” does make a difference!

What do you think? Do you cringe when you see “they” or “their” used incorrectly? Do you have any other pet peeves when it comes to writing?

As many of you college sports nuts may or may not have heard, Michigan State University was set to unveil an updated Spartan head logo this April. That was, until Spartan fans spoke out in protest, convincing MSU’s athletic department to reconsider.

This issue was interesting to me, not just because I’m a recent MSU graduate (2007 wasn’t that long ago people) and a huge Spartan fan, but because of the marketing implications. To many, this may have seemed typical of a sports team trying to gain a leg up on the competition. But digging deeper uncovers a brand attempting to create a consistent identity.

MSU Athletic Director Mark Hollis states, “There has been a lack of consistency with regard to our brand…Our primary objective is to achieve a strong and consistent Spartan brand, but rest assured that, as our mission statement attests, bringing Spartans together is one of our fundamental values.”

In his comments, Hollis highlights the importance of brand management. While creating a consistent brand image can be vital to a company’s success, doing it at the expense of customer loyalty can be detrimental. In any business, loyal customers feel a strong connection to the brand. Creating and maintaining a strong identity is essential so that connection isn’t broken.

Personally, I thought the proposed logo was pretty cool. But MSU’s most loyal customers (its students and alumni) have spoken. In the end, I think MSU made the right decision by sticking with the current logo. After all, it is the best logo in the country. Go green!

Do you think MSU’s attempt to alter its brand identity was an unwise decision?

Everyday, marketers must come up with creative ways to target a certain market/customer, but how sure can you be that someone will even look at your information with all the junk mail out there?

Canyon Communications recently implemented a creative way for prospects to access information. Have you heard of USB laser pens? They are a great way to get people to access information. Rather than skimming a sell sheet or folder with materials, a USB laser pen forces people to insert a thumb drive to access your files. And, it’s easily accessible. No more searching through paperwork and folders to find information.

A USB laser pen can be used as:

• A pen
• A thumb drive
• A laser pointer for presentations

Interestingly enough, after we used these USB pens for a client, I received information from a company marketing its services. I expected to receive a folder with a sell sheet, brochure or a CD, but instead, I received a USB laser pointer pen! The accompanying note instructed me to look at the ‘media pen’ for more information. On the pen, the company incorporated a flash presentation on its service offerings. They forced me to insert the thumb drive to access the information.

Did their strategy work? Yes, it did and I will remember this company because they got my attention.