How to Qualify Leads More Effectively

The Internet has changed the way consumers buy, along with how sales representatives approach consumers. With access to plenty of content and information online, consumers are more evolved and have a better understanding of what’s out there. Selling becomes more challenging; not everyone visiting your website or signing up for your newsletter may have a genuine need for your product or service. This is where lead qualification comes in, which is the art of zeroing in on the people who actually have the interest and authority to make a purchase. Here are a couple of ways to qualify leads more effectively.

Weigh the Options

Anyone who shares their contact details with you does not qualify as a lead. You need to be careful before biting the bait. Jumping at any chance to sell could result in wasted time, resources and energy. The classic qualification technique, championed by IBM, is the BANT model:

• Budget: Does the lead have enough money to purchase your product?
• Authority: Do they have the authority to make a purchase decision?
• Need: Do they have a genuine need for your product or a problem that your product can fix?
• Timeline: Have they specified a time when they want to make the purchase?

There are several other questions you can ask in order to check whether or not they qualify as a real lead, such as the overall mood of the company or internal relationships that influence purchase decisions, but the BANT method usually helps determine whether the lead is worth pursuing.

Work in Sync

Sales and marketing teams need to work together to ensure that quality leads fall into the funnel. By working together with marketing and defining the ideal target, they can scout for potential leads in the right place and send them marketing messages. Sit down with both teams and tell them exactly what they should be keeping an eye out for. This way, the lead qualification can begin at the vetting process. Equipped with what to look for in a lead, your marketing team will also be able to judge when to pass on a lead and prevent sales from wasting time on dead ends. If the lead fulfills all of the qualifications, then you can have a more meaningful conversation with them. Once you begin conversing, keep track of each interaction. With data and analytics tools, you can tell which of those leads convert and what triggered the conversion. This helps you refine both the search and the marketing message in the future.

Qualify Better with Salesvue

Salesvue helps both sales and marketing teams with powerful data and insightful reports. See at a glance how many sales activities are taking place in the funnel, how many leads spark conversations and how many conversions those conversations bring. Manage and improve lead generation as it happens. Salesvue insights help teams make better choices, which consistently delivers a 20% increase in conversion rates.