I have been thinking about a resource like this for months. Being in the business of providing lead management software to hundreds of sales forces, I am constantly ask for resources on how to get the best out of lead management and build top performing sales teams. So, here it is the top 100 answers and resources in no particular order (feel free to add to this list with your comments):

1. First, get the lead management lead providers like to brag about
2. Keep it simple. Start with a simple sales process. Then execute, measure, adjust, re-execute
3. Learn about Internet lead generation and how to leverage them to grow your business
4. Don’t call them leads. You will start treating them like leads, and leads don’t buy anything
5. Make sure your lead management process help foreshadow and set expectations for your customer
6. Don’t forget to tell past clients what is going on in the market
7. Read books by these guys: Jeffrey Gitomer, Seth Godin, Robert Cialdini, Zig Ziglar
8. Lead management is not easy, but it can be broken into critical key performance indicators
9. Leads will not convert instantly or magically. Lead nurturing is critical to an effective customer experience and sales success
10. Don’t get caught in a rut of commitment to consistency. Your current “system” may be your weakness
11. Want to close more deals? Speed Matters!
12. Make sure your marketing campaigns and sales processes put the customer first
13. Build a Lego-style community Army
14. Lead management should stop cold calling and start a conversation
15. Tune your call back periods to increase contact rates
16. Leads convert on weekends, maybe even better
17. Better lead conversion starts with better lead buying
18. Persistence, not Repetition gets the deal
19. Don’t measure marketing on cost per lead
20. Client loyalty is about relationships, not emails
21. A lead is never dead. Reengagement gives you a deeper more profitable pipeline
22. Optimize your lead management like a supply chain
23. Treat all of your leads like referrals and end cold calling
24. Build a salesforce with a culture of urgency and responsiveness
25. Principles and attitude matter. Ask Quicken Loans or New Day Trust
26. What get measured gets improved. Watch your lead metrics
27. Learn to turn 1 sell into 4 or more
28. Have a marketing plan before your source or buy leads
29. Build a sales process that creates trust and fulfills commitments
30. Give every sales call an objective, every step a purpose
31. You want more money. Want higher production numbers. Don’t just sit there!
32. Discipline makes opportunity
33. Don’t dial for dollars. Surprise and delight
34. Customers are looking for an immediate response
35. Look for opportunity with numbers, but remember reports don’t convert
36. Set up a lead management process that attacks the opportunities competitors give you
37. Create an engaging Web storefront
38. Build rapport, but don’t neglect urgency
39. The law of big numbers: Contacts create sales
40. Lead providers want you to use lead management because they know it improves lead conversion
41. Want the sale? Assume the sale. Close more with assumptive language
42. Your lead management system should create velocity and sales intensity
43. Increase your contact rate with time-based selling
44. Create a lead refinery
45. Connect marketing and sales into a closed-loop
46. Ask every client what would make them a buyer. Then deliver
47. Don’t build a mortgage club, build a mortgage business
48. Leads are too valuable for sales people alone
49. CRM is not customer acquisition. CRM will kill new lead deals
50. Plan your career like this: opportunity, skills and education, where to go and why
51. Push versus pull lead distribution is an important lead management discussion
52. Manage your leads better and convert more with an occasional sales and marketing huddle
53. Start your lead management process by identifying your target customer
54. Read and believe The Cluetrain Manifesto
55. Lead management designed right means lead quality doesn’t matter
56. Lead every call with the “no shit” statements
57. Chances are you talk too much to hear what the customer wants
58. Don’t buy leads without your lead management system
59. Make sure your lead management doesn’t stop with the sale. Be referable
60. Rejection gets you closer to the next sale. Assess and move on
61. Read these blogs: Business Pundit, Start With A Lead, Blown Mortgage, Seth Godin, Sales Caffeine
62. Make sure your lead management system is “mission effective“
63. CRM is for marketing. CRM is not for sales!
64. Do email (permission) marketing like Seth Godin
65. Non-producers hurt your whole salesforce. Don’t buy or give leads to non-producers
66. Talk to people, not commission. Lead management maximizes your daily count of substantive conversation
67. If you are not closing deals you better hope the problem is you
68. Design your lead management to give value first
69. Build a 30 minute client loyalty program
70. The key to the complex sale is embracing the naive
71. Follow Marc Andreessen’s guide to productivity
72. No excuses! Introverts can sell too
73. Bigger isn’t better. Why you and not Countrywide?
74. Don’t waste time and down cycles. Sell the NASCAR way
75. Build a trust-based relationship.Always Be Closing is often Always Be Failing
76. Give your sales less leads? Only if your sales process doesn’t handle them effective
77. Make sure your lead management system fits your products and your markets
78. Get started on the 1000 things you should know
79. Sales don’t stumble in. Return EVERY call
80. Process makes your efficient, but attitude sells
81. Throw out loan officer web pages and create a Web version of You
82. Your opportunity? 70% of Internet inquiries don’t get called
83. No leads to Yes. Objections close deals
84. Create a consistent contact strategy
85. The first voice usually win. Lead management gets you to the prospect first
86. Never lose to the competition. Set sales trap doors
87. Timely is critical, but better late than never
88. Big winners set goals and keep moving the finish line
89. Obstacles create success
90. Learn to keep a clean and tidy sales pipeline
91. Run your mortgage business like a Web startup
92. Let your sales database work for you, setup lead workflows
93. Scale your sales, while shrink your time to contact. Create a contact team
94. Make your sales meeting a learning experience
95. Set-up bullet-proof response handling
96. Involve sales people in developing your lead management process
97. Create passionate users of your lead management process
98. Study what makes people buy
99. Stop watching the mortgage implode-o-meter and start focusing on your growth
100. Read all you can about lead management best practices