Unless you clearly define a sales lead, a sales and marketing strategy doesn’t happen.
You may think that the ability of sales and marketing to define a sales lead and ratings for their company is a well-orchestrated, collaborative effort.
You may believe sales and marketing produce well-targeted leads, resulting in a full sales pipeline of qualified opportunities that result in revenue and sales. Think again. Many companies today have yet to clearly define a sales lead.
Best Sales Development Programs Have a Process to Define a Sales Lead
While there are many reasons why companies have trouble exceeding their sales goals with lead definitions and rating scales, they still need to work on defining and implementing their lead definitions. Customizing Lead A-Lead X definitions for your environment is critical and complex. You may be in the process of creating your lead definitions or have found that the ones you’ve developed aren’t working. Here are a few guidelines that have worked for us in helping the sale development team with their sales development strategy .
How to Develop Lead Definitions for a Strong Sales Pipeline
- Review history of lead definitions – Repeat successes; learn from failures. The simple W’s provide a good start. What has been done to define a sales lead and rating scale? What was it? When was it created? Who developed it? When and how was it implemented? Did it work, and does it work now? Why or why not? Which leads resulted in revenue and sales? Which didn’t? What were the characteristics of those leads?
- Be clear and straightforward in lead definitions – Definitions should be comprehensive and thoughtful enough to separate tire kickers from genuine buyers. It’s equally essential that lead definitions are clear and straightforward to the qualifier so they can be accurate in their classification. Allow for definitions to include insufficient data and disqualification. Lead definitions should encompass all scenarios the qualifier may encounter during discussions.
- Standardize and agree upon a universal lead definition to be used and communicated company-wide. Adaptation of an agreed-upon lead definition will not happen by osmosis. All departments should agree upon lead definitions, and then managers should introduce them to all departments that interact with potential and actual buyers. Be sure to get feedback from these departments:
- Sales
- Marketing
- Customer Support
- Client Services
- Professional Services
- These departments need good working lead definitions to guide their decisions in qualifying opportunities before passing them on to the next step in your process.
- Set up a recurring review process to adjust and effectively communicate the adjustments – What you develop and try in round one will need to be tested and adjusted. It’s essential to obtain honest feedback about lead definitions as leads pass through the lead sales process using your newly defined lead definitions. Are the qualifiers accurately classifying leads? Why or why not? Are the lead definitions clear to them? Do the qualifiers frequently find themselves in situations where they are unsure how to classify a lead after a conversation? How are the hot leads progressing through the sales stages? What’s happening to the “interested buyers”? Are they eventually being passed to sales as hot leads, or are they falling silent by the wayside? Answers to these questions may point to more significant underlying issues, but they will help refine or solidify your lead definitions. Don’t forget to communicate the adjustments. You don’t want your front lines qualifying to yesterday’s news.
These insights help you develop lead definitions that build a more robust sales pipeline.
If lead generation lists are on your mind this quarter, contact me for the best sales tips and resources.