Have you been burned by a failed lead generation campaign? So much so that the mere mention of lead generation cause you to clamp your hands over your ears and sing-song “La-La-La-La-La…” as loud as you can? Then you may not be surprised at how easy it is for a BANT lead generation campaign to fail. But you may be surprised at why… and it’s not necessarily what you do that is the problem, but what you don’t do.

Years ago I was working part time as a dog obedience instructor in the evenings a couple of times a week. Believe it or not I have found that a lot of what I learned as an obedience instructor is applicable to good marketing practices. Often there was a communication gap between dog and handler simply because the only time training was going on was once a week at class. It was obvious that the dog owner was not communicating during the week with their dog at all.

If the marketing team is only talking to the sales team once in a while but expecting to be on the same page, you’ve got a problem. It only makes sense that the most common reason for failure is simply that there is a poor definition of what makes a lead a “Sales Ready” lead to begin with. Bad lead criteria that is based on the wrong demographics or poorly defined budget parameters are the obvious “bad dogs” when it comes to lead generation campaigns.

Here are five more you may not have thought about:

1. Delays in Response to Lead
A good lead goes bad in hours, not days. Response time is critical. When you give a dog a command, the enforcement or correction has to be within seconds or the dog doesn’t understand what the handler is wanting. Making contact with a lead works the same way.

2. Timing of Campaign Implementation
Contacting a prospective lead on the wrong day of the week, at the wrong time of day, or while another event is occurring can skew results tremendously. Be sure you pick a time when you have your dog’s attention.

3. No Defined Objectives
Sounds so simple but you would be surprised how many people start a campaign and don’t even have an idea what tricks they are going to teach their dog. Have realistic numbers in a written plan that come from communicating with your sales team.

4. No Accurate Measurement Analytics
If you don’t keep track of what you are doing and measure the results of your efforts, there’s no way to determine if you are successful or what needs to be revised to improve your results. Take that puppy into the show ring and work the routine with someone keeping score. That’s how you’ll know what you and your canine companion need to work on.

5. No Nurturing System
What do you do with leads that aren’t ready right now? It’s imperative that you have a lead nurturing system in place that allows you to stay in contact with the prospect in a manner that puts you in a position to act when and if conditions change. Training your dog requires an ongoing effort…even after the classes are over. It’s so nice to have a dog that minds, doesn’t jump up on people and actually understands what you want them to do. You can teach that old dog some new tricks. It just takes a little of knowing what not to do and… when to do what you have to.