Sales leads play a critical role in the sales pipeline and while they can come in many forms one needs to be able to determine their values depending on your businesses requirements.
This article might assist you with the process of managing your Sales leads
Qualified Sales Leads - Top Tips on Identification and Management of Prospects
By Daljeet Sidhu
Marketing, sales, and business management understand what sales leads mean - more money. However, each department perceives qualified sales leads differently because of its varied role in the customer acquisition process. For a marketing venture to generate qualified leads that are valuable to sales personnel, sales, marketing and corporate management should agree on a common definition of qualified leads. It is crucial to get this definition on paper and get it approved by participating departments.
How can you define qualified sales leads to the satisfaction of all parties? This can be done through a systematic approach that varies across companies and industries. It is described below:
1) Characteristics of a qualified sales lead
- Does your product or service address the need of the potential customer?
- Is an attempt to solve the problem already underway?
- Is the prospect an important contributor to decision making processes at her company?
- Has the prospect been directed by her management to find a solution to the problem or make recommendations?
- Will the prospect set up a meeting with higher-ups at the appropriate time?
- What is the prospect's timeframe for purchasing the product or implementing a solution?
- If not immediate, is the proposed timeframe reasonable?
- Has a budget been allocated for the purchase or implementation?
- If not allocated, is the budget under development?
- What will be the value of the prospect's order?
2) Developing and sharing a common glossary
Sales, marketing and management teams meet often to discuss business matters. Slight differences in perception may lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings of common terms and jargon. Having a common glossary that defines standard terms such as "prospect", "qualified suspect", and "inquiry" is a good idea. Again, the glossary should be approved by all parties involved.
3) Score leads on qualification criteria
Characteristics of sales leads work as criteria for qualifying sales leads. Each criterion is weighted by a score. The sum total of scores should exceed a predefined number to be considered a serious lead that needs follow up by the sales team. Lead scores are assigned on the basis of how well a prospect meets lead qualification criteria. The following is an example that arranges qualification criteria in descending order of lead scores:
- Clear need of the product
- Immediate requirement and ready funds
- Large order
- Timeframe of purchase or implementation is less than 6 months
- Budget under progress
- Prospect is recommender, not main decision maker
- Prospect is only influencer in final decision
- Timeframe is more than a year
- No budget
- Very small order
Follow these suggestions and get the draft definition, glossary and lead scoring approved by participants. Senior sales management should have the last say in case of disagreements. The harmonious efforts of sales, marketing and senior management in defining sales leads is necessary to convert maximum sales leads into sale conversions. Working together increases sales and garners more revenue for the business.
Daljeet Sidhu is founder at TradeSeam. Compare b2b telemarketing quotes. Sellers register for sales leads.
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