This white paper explains the importance of Step 3--lead nurturing--in the lead management process. It takes a look at best practices for nurturing leads in today's competitive business environment, and offers advice for implementing a lead-nurturing program. Effective lead nurturing programs can be simple or complex. On one end of the spectrum, they consist of a basic sequence of timed communications to all prospects to keep a company's offerings in sight of prospective buyers. More targeted and sophisticated programs include automated, proactive communications triggered by the responses, behavior or prior contact history of leads.

Lead nurturing is the practice of maintaining ongoing contact with prospects identified as not yet ready to make a purchase. By implementing marketing programs that gather information about where leads are in the buying cycle and moving them along in that process while favorably influencing them toward the company and its products, marketers are better able to influence and support revenue generation, and to measure the impact of marketing campaigns on sales results.