What kind of “LEAD”?
“I want potential clients who want to hire my service”
That’s how the discussion began, although we will see that the definition of “What is a lead” is a little more complex.
There is no ONE type of lead. There are many.
And most of them don't look like what my client was asking for.
According to theory, we can separate leads into 3 categories :
1) IQLs (Information Qualified Leads)
2) MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads)
3) SQLs (Sales Qualified Leads) This is the one we want!!
When do we have an SQL?
Simple. When the lead wants to talk to a salesperson and meets all the characteristics of the target. Difficult at the same time, because the more complex and consultative the sale is, the more information I need to validate if the lead is a target.
When a lead meets the characteristics but does not yet want to talk to a salesperson, we have an MQL. We need to continue cultivating it.
When we do not know if the lead meets the characteristics of a target client, we have an IQL, which must be qualified.
The list of characteristics that the lead must have to be targeted will depend on each company, the product or service, the market, etc. By the way, your company must have this checklist crystal clear.
Why am I doing all this explanation?
Unfortunately, campaign statistics show that 97% of leads that come through the web and forms are not interested in speaking with a salesperson.
They just want information.
So when we do lead generation we need to be clear about what we are dealing with.
We are not dealing with people who want to buy, but with human beings who are trying to understand their problem and how to solve it.
This is natural.
This is how the B2B purchasing process works.
People start searching for information long before making a purchasing decision.
For this reason, professional salespeople know not to get anxious.
Big deals are slow-cooked, they can take months, even years.
Therefore, lead generation is just a small part of the process, which must be followed by lead nurturing and lead scoring.
Think about it, how do they do it in your company?
To differentiate yourself from your competitors, you must be prepared in 3 key aspects:
1) Generate a constant volume of leads.
2) Know how to discriminate between SQLs, MQLs, IQLs and malaysian numbers those that do not qualify.
3) Have mechanisms that activate the response flow quickly:
An SQL requires an immediate response. An MQL won't want to be called. An IQL will need to go through a qualification process before you know what to do with them.
A junk contact should be discarded quickly.
Remember this: Lead generation is about managing 100% of your leads.
GOLD is not about managing 3%. Everyone is fighting over it.
The GOLD is in managing, like no one else, the remaining 97%.