Sales Lead Qualification: Sales Manager Tips for Reducing Cherry Picking

Why do so many lead qualification teams cherry pick their leads — and what can you, as the sales manager, do about it?

You’ve just launched your first lead qual team. You’re excited and your sales reps are raring to go and you’ve set some aggressive goals. Don’t be surprised when you start noticing signs of cherry picking.

It happens often, advises OpenView Venture Partners Senior Associate Devon McDonald, but it’s the sales manager’s responsibility to keep cherry picking at a minimum. He or she should make sure their sales reps aren’t giving up on prospects too early — if they initially catch a prospect at a difficult time they should be following up and reengaging, for example. And if they shouldn’t be settling on contacting one target prospect on a sales list — it may be usefull to speak with other people at their organization, as well.

For more advice on how to cut out the cherry picking and make sure nothing slips through the cracks, watch the full video. And to read more about successful sales lead qualification, head over to the OpenView Blog for more a series of posts on the subject from Devon.