Lead Qualification: How It Improves Sales Productivity
Lead generation is a key part of business growth however, not all those interested will convert into customers. They may simply be carrying out research or may not have the budget, authority or need for your product or service. Lead qualification can help.
Lead qualification refers to determining the suitability of a potential customer. It means your sales team can prioritise those who are more likely to purchase your products/services.
Why is lead qualification important?
Sales teams will often have many inquiries through various sources such as web, social media, email & marketing campaigns. If there is no structure for determining if these are good leads, it can be difficult to know which ones to prioritise.
With a good lead qualification process in place you can help to understand what your customers require, identify real sales opportunities and ensure that your sales team aren’t wasting time on those who are not interested. You can also ensure there is a structure in place to understand your customers requirements and help your sales team build genuine relationships.
Knowing more about your potential customers will help you to have more relevant conversations.
What are the main factors to consider when qualifying leads?
There are a number of factors which should be considered when determining if a lead is a good customer for your business.
- Budget: Knowing what their budget is will help determine if your product/service will fit with their budget. This will also stop your sales team wasting time on leads that won’t be able to progress due to budget constraints.
- Authority: If you are selling to another business then the person enquiring may not have the authority to approve the purchase. Knowing who has the authority to make the decision can help your sales team plan their communications.
- Need: The potential customer should have a clear need for your business. Knowing what their pain points, requirements and scenario will help you determine if your product/service is relevant.
- Timeline: Some people may be looking to purchase immediately whilst others may be thinking about purchasing in the next quarter/ year. Knowing when they expect to purchase can help you prioritise.
Common methods for qualifying leads.
Depending on what type of sales your business has you can use various methods.
- BANT: This looks at budget, authority, need & timeline. It is ideal for businesses with a structured B2B sales process.
- CHAMP: This looks at challenges, authority, money & prioritisation. This method starts by finding out what problems the customer has.
- Lead Scoring: This method scores your leads based on how they interact with your business. You could give higher scores to someone who asks for a product demo as opposed to someone who just visits a general info page.
These methods help ensure your sales team has a consistent way of qualifying leads.
How does lead qualification help improve sales?
- Time management: Your sales team will know which leads to prioritise as they have a higher chance of purchasing.
- Relevant conversations: Knowing what the lead requires will help your sales team have relevant conversations around solutions.
- Better follow up: You can organise your qualified leads based on where they are in the sales process. This will mean you can communicate with them in a timely manner.
- Better marketing & sales alignment: Knowing what leads are being generated from your campaigns will help your marketing team know what is working. Both teams can use this information to improve their lead generation.
- Better conversion opportunities: Focusing on relevant leads will help your sales team have more meaningful conversations and improve their chances of progressing the opportunity.
How can I create an effective lead qualification process?
Start by knowing who your ideal customer is. Think about what industry, size of company, location, budget & business requirements they have.
Create a set of questions for your sales team to ask. This will help identify what they need without feeling like an interview.
Keep your leads organised using a CRM. This will help keep everything consistent by keeping a record of what was discussed, when to follow up & what they were scored.
Keep track of your performance. Tracking how many leads you are qualifying, conversion rate, length of sales cycle & follow up will help you see where you have gaps in your process.
Final thoughts
Having a structured lead qualification process will help you utilise your sales resources better and build stronger relationships with your customers. It will help you identify real requirements and prioritise those with higher potential. Incinque Business Solutions can help your business with B2B demand generation & sales enablement solutions to help improve engagement with your prospects.
