Making Lead Generation Count: Wipros Web-Based Program’

Facing enormous pressure to produce qualified leads for the sales force, marketers are rethinking their lead-generation strategies and programs. What new tactics will boost response rates? Which types of campaigns can bring the greatest return?

The reality is that although different tactics and marketing vehicles do matter, it is the overall system and execution that drive the most successful lead-generation activities.

The integrated lead-generation program at Wipro Technologies is a great case in point. Since its beginning three years ago, Wipros program has created a 350% increase in leads and now directly accounts for more than 40% of company revenue, compared with a negligible amount prior to 2000. Given that Wipro has grown substantially as one of India’s top IT services firms during that time, the lead-generation program has played a critical role in supporting company success.

The power of Wipro’s program lies in the combination of sophisticated, mostly Web-based tactics with a fully integrated campaign management system.

Many firms talk of a single view of the customer, yet just as many are saddled with disparate databases and uncoordinated marketing and sales activities. The common result is that some prospects are bombarded with conflicting messages through different channels while others simply fall through the cracks.

Wipro faced exactly that challenge several years ago and invested in the creation of a single prospect intelligence database that provides a complete view of all marketing and sales interactions with prospect companies as well as extensive profile information. The database now includes detailed data on multiple contacts from almost every company in the Fortune 1,000 and more than 17,500 senior management contacts in all. The database is so effective that Wipro no longer buys lists of any kind to support its marketing efforts.

As for tactics, Wipro focuses largely on "pull" marketing initiatives, targeting prospective clients while they are searching for relevant IT information. Mostly this means Web-based marketing with four key components:

• Search engine promotion
• Thought leadership content on leading IT portals and directories
• Web seminars and events
• Website content

Wipro’s own Website is the fulcrum of the entire lead-generation program. The marketing team has invested heavily in creating a wide range of material to showcase company capabilities and successes, demonstrate thought leadership, and provide interactive opportunities for prospective clients to sample Wipro’s wares.

Wipro uses special offers and more than 400 case studies to get visitors to demonstrate and register their specific interests. Comprehensive Web monitoring provides regular analysis of what is and is not working and what role the Web is playing in lead generation and relationship development.

Building on the "pull" elements, Wipro uses permission marketing to strengthen relationships and move prospects along the sales cycle. Specific initiatives include telesales, direct mail, and industry-based newsletters. In all cases, the marketing team relies on the prospect database to create carefully targeted lists based on incoming traffic, client profiles, and ongoing Web activity. This helps create the greatest possible impact from the limited "push" activities. Typical marketing campaigns today target as few as 30 to 50 accounts.

Results from Wipro’s integrated lead-generation program have greatly exceeded expectations and created an extremely high return on marketing investment. Along with a surge in qualified leads has come a greatly accelerated sales cycle. The typical six- to nine-month sales cycle has been shortened to 30 days in some cases. Leads are converted to sales far more quickly because the targeted approach is more personalized and focused.

The particular tactics at the heart of Wipro’s program are well known, if not always well developed. No doubt Wipro has done a great job in improving its Website, developing newsletter and Web events, and targeting the right prospects. And it is certainly helped by being in a growing market. Yet the great power and the most important lessons of the program lie in its integrated nature and its disciplined execution.

This article is excerpted and adapted from Wipro Technologies: The Art and Science of Effective Lead Generation, which is available at no charge to members and for sale to all others. For more information on the full report, visit http://www.itsma.com/research/abstracts/cs0007.htm.

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