Get a group of B2B marketing professionals together and ask: What are your most important criteria for benchmarking performance? You’ll get some blank stares and some muddled answers. However, the fact is, good marketing is both an art and a science, and unless you can explain how you and co-workers measure and report on your work output, you will not be recognized as a good marketer, let alone be viewed as an indispensible employee in a tough economic climate. Start by asking these six questions: 

1. Do you have a well-defined value proposition that is communicated in all your marketing messages and promotions? Can your entire team express this message in a concise and compelling elevator pitch (see my previous post)?
2. Is your brand/image being accepted by the marketplace? Are you seen by your prospects and customers in a way that is congruent with the way you see yourself?  
3. Do you have a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the sales department that specifies the quantity and quality of leads you will be delivering? Is this a sufficient quantity for the company to achieve its revenue objectives?
4. How many of the leads that you deliver to sales are truly qualified – by that I mean that they meet the agreed-to criteria and may actually buy something from you?
5. Are you targeting the right individuals at the right companies? Do you know who these people are and have you captured them in a system (CRM or database) that allows for ongoing targeted communications?
6. Does every part of your end-to-end marketing and sales model work? Are you both effective and efficient at every phase of the process or are there gaps that keep you from achieving your goals?

Each of these questions addresses a significant part of the value you provide to your organization. I’m not saying that these should be your specific benchmark questions – but I am saying that you need to determine and publish your own performance indicators. Remember that what can’t be measured can’t be improved. So start measuring and keep improving.