It is not unusual for business-to-business transactions to include long and often painful sales cycles—sometimes taking up to a year or more.

This creates a lead quality need. If poor quality leads are funneling in, the result could be disastrous in the long term for a business.

Enter Brian Carroll and his new book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale. In this book, Carroll lays out some critical information that can help ensure quality leads are entering your sales cycle.

One of the key messages Carroll addresses is the importance of becoming a trusted advisor to prospects. As he states, “It’s about the relationship. In today’s commoditized business climate, the thing that sets companies apart is their ability to create and develop relationships.”

He goes on explain that prospects must know who you are, perceive your company as the expert in your field and they must believe you understand their specific needs.

This is such an important concept that Carroll is discussing and it really is key to succeed.

The bulk of the book discusses the importance of synergistic tactics, sich as email, PR, events, the web, direct mail, referrals and blogs.

This book serves as an excellent planning resource for the marketing professional that has been tasked to produce better quality leads. I strongly recommend it.

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