How you handle those sales leads once you get them makes the difference between happy sales people who have new customers and unhappy salespeople who have lost sales.

   Here’s a checklist of questions to ask yourself to determine if you have the best chance of being successful:

 þ Are you prepared to send requested information immediately? Do you know what to send in response to different types of inquiries? Do you have electronic versions for those who want the information by e-mail or by download from your website?

   Do you have adequate supplies of printed materials ready for those who prefer them? Do you have the people, systems and processes in place to get the requested information out the door quickly?

 þ Are you prepared to capture all inquiries in a database for ongoing nurturing and qualification efforts? Do you have the database ready to go? Do you have the data-entry people or outside services lined up to get the inquirers into the database?

 þ Do you have a program in place to “qualify” sales leads before sending them to your salespeople, reps, dealers or distributors? Have you agreed with sales management on the questions that must be asked to determine which leads are qualified?

   Are you asking these questions on all response devices? Do you have proactive programs in place to contact and qualify your leads?

 þ Do you have a process in place for distributing qualified leads to sales contacts as they are identified? Is the process designed to get the leads into sales­people’s hands without delay? Have you made it easy for your salespeople, reps, dealers or distributors to use? Can they access leads over the Internet? Does the system integrate with their existing contact management or e-mail systems?

 þ Do you have a program in place to nurture or cultivate your not-yet-qualified leads? Salespeople generally focus on those one-in-four sales leads that are ready to buy soon. However, research shows that three-of-four sales come from longer-term prospects who are frequently ignored by sales.

   Does your company have a prospect-relationship marketing program in place to keep in touch with these longer-term prospects using e-mail, fax, mail and phone contacts until they are identified as being qualified and ready for sales attention? Do you know what messages to send as part of your prospect relationship management program?

   Do you know how often to contact prospects with these messages? Do you know what offers to use to get them to further identify their needs and situation, so you can determine if they are ready for sales?

 þ Do you have a program in place to measure and track the results of your various sales-lead generation, cultivation and sales follow-up programs? Can you determine your cost-per-lead, cost-per-qualified lead and cost-per-sale? Do you know which lead programs generate the highest return-on-investment?