Marketing is making big strides in lead generation these days, "but how kinetic is their nurturing?" asks Ardath Albee. Passive lead generation tools just don't cut it anymore. Instead, marketers need to take a more active approach to lead generation, Albee says, to "help … speed up getting quality opportunities to opt into sales conversations." In other words, it's time to plug those lead-gen leaks.

Albee says the key to smoothly moving more prospects toward a sale lies in boosting their commitment to you. To do so, "you need to be smart about what you learn about your leads," she explains. Some tips:

• Ask about their preferences.
• Interpret their behavior to diagnose their interests.
• Notice changes in their attention and check for priority shifts.

Then, she says, you act on that information:

• Provide more information about their expressed interests.
• Address urgency, limit their effort and respect their intentions.
• Increase the perceived value of information you exchange.

"With each and every communication, your content needs to provide increasingly relevant information," she advises.

The Po!nt: Customer service before the sale helps plug lead-gen leaks. "The higher a sense of commitment you can create, the farther and faster your leads will move toward becoming sales opportunities," Albee concludes.

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