An integral part of any quality CRM system is lead tracking software. This is the part of the system that helps you gather customer data from your sales force. The ideal lead tracking software package, however, won't just tell you where the sales are coming from, but will help generate revenue by pointing sales representative to higher conversion segments of your customer base.

Lead tracking software varies in features and capabilities, but most companies require a software package versatile enough to track both in-bound and out-bound sales information while taking into account numerous lead sources. If your current lead tracking software is unable to track lead information from a majority of the following sources, chances are you're going to be left behind by your competition:

? Word of mouth leads
? Search engine/website leads
? Email leads
? Pay-per-click leads
? Phone leads
? Direct mail leads
? Trade show leads
? Advertising leads
? Face-to-face sales leads

Today's companies need to be prepared to excel on multiple sales fronts by knowing their customers. Your lead tracking software should not only be able to collect important demographic data from the customer "touch points" listed above, but it should also be able to make sense of the data. Simply compiling terabytes of customer data is not going to necessarily boost revenue. The ability to separate and utilize useful customer info is what separates the key players from the guys that'll shortly be looking for new work.

While the responsibility to give meaning to customer information lies primarily with management, quality lead tracking software can assist any businessman in slicing and dicing what could otherwise be incomprehensible mounds of data. The problem with most software packages however, is that they either only do one thing well, i.e. track website clicks/traffic, or they do many things with mediocrity. You can spend a bunch of money on half a dozen specialized programs, or settle for an all-in-one program that doesn't do any one thing really well.

While most companies are willing to invest quite a bit of money into lead tracking software, the problem with the first option is that while each program is great at what its supposed to do, none of the separate programs mesh together well, if at all. That creates a communication problem for large, complex companies with separate sales, marketing, and customer care departments.

The good news is that lead tracking software that combines the quality of focused applications with the versatility of the all-in-one packages are becoming available at prices that even the budgets of smaller companies can handle.

Cameron Brown is an internet marketer specializing in ranking automation. For more information on lead tracking software, visit Inside Sales.