If you’ve run ads unsuccessfully in the past, where was the failure point? Sometimes the ads just don’t seem to work, but that isn’t always on marketing. It’s worth reviewing your business before and after starting online advertising to make sure there aren’t critical failure points in your business creating the bottleneck on your ads, especially when it comes to your sales and operations teams.
Aligning Your Sales Team with Advertising
Especially in situations where your sales team isn’t used to advertising bringing in leads, they may not be expecting the volume or type of leads they are getting. From processing them in a timely manner to simply checking the inbox, don’t let your sales department fumble leads.
Can Your Sales Team Handle More Leads?
First there’s the question of volume: if you suddenly had double the amount of leads coming in each day, would your sales team be able to handle it? Especially for owner/operators and small businesses, you might not be able to process all these leads. Next, you might have problems such as:
- Responding to Leads: If they call the office, will someone pick up? If a form submission shows up in the company email, how long till they respond? People expect you to take action once they take action.
- Different Clients, Different Expectations: Depending on whom you’re targeting with your ads, you might get different people than your sales team is used to. Can they adapt tactics and meet the prospects where they are?
- Following Up and Closing the Loop: Depending on your product or service, you might need to follow up with potential customers. Can your sales team do that, or do they need help with marketing automation options?
Are Leads Making It from Your Website to Sales?
Sometimes, it isn’t even an issue of not being able to process leads, but the sales process being misaligned with what clients expect when they click ads. Your website might do a poor job of providing the right calls to action, or it might be that no one checks the email your Contact Us form points to.
Can Your Operations Team Handle More Leads?
Once your sales team turns that lead into a customer, can your operations team fulfill your obligation? If leads are converting into sales, you’re the new bottleneck. If you’re unable to deliver products and services—on time or at all—you’re not just looking at lost revenue; you’ve got angry customers who will potentially leave angry reviews you’ll need to handle.
- You might need to scale up your ops department. Finding skilled staff who know your industry and systems can be challenging, so you need to start now.
- You may need to upgrade your process and systems. Do you have a CMS? When was it last overhauled? If you’re still working on paper, you’re in trouble.
- It could be time for a business consultation. It’s hard to see the problems from the inside. It’s time to talk strategies for better time management and workflow.
Need a checklist to help get your business ready for a potential 50% increase in traffic? Our own COO Julia Becker Collins breaks it down in this video from the 2026 Boston Small Business Expo. Don’t worry, it’s short.
Advertising, from Google Ads to Facebook Ads, can be challenging, but you don’t have to go it alone. Vision can not only handle ads for you, but can also help prep you and your team with better systems and strategies to handle the increased traffic. Contact us today to learn more. Want to see more of Julia’s workshops and webinars? Check out our YouTube channel. And we have more great advertising tips, plus more on the rest of our Vision blogs, our enVisioning Success podcast, and our downloadable Marketing Strategies Playbook.
