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Lead Qualification 101: The Modern Step by Step Guide

Lead Generation
December 2, 2021
5
 min read
Lead Generation

Lead qualification ability is a process of evaluating potential customers based on their financial ability and willingness to buy from you. This includes estimating the potential customer's need to purchase the product, to see if the person has the purchasing power and how much they can afford.

Why is lead qualification important?

In order to effectively achieve long-term sales opportunities, a company needs enough leads to be willing to buy its products. However, identifying and evaluating potential customers is by no means an easy task, and the only way to prepare potential customers for the exchange is to qualify them.

In other words- qualified leads help you organize your promotions, connect directly with the people who want to buy, and maximize your profits.

Qualified leads versus ineligible leads

Based on the location of leads during your targeting, they can be divided into two major groups. So let's look at each group in detail.

Ineligible leads- There are many reasons for labeling leads that are irrelevant: they are unaware of your offer, your prices are too high, or they just don't know what they are looking for.

Qualified leads- They know the benefits your product will bring. The marketing team collects and generates leads through email campaigns, blog posts, webinars, guides, videos, white documents, e-books, podcasts, questions, courses, and more.

You have to offer products based on the needs of the potential customers. There are three types of marketing information qualified leads (IQL), marketing qualified leads (MQL), and sales qualified leads (SQL).

An IQL, also known as a "cold" lead, is someone on the first leg of a client's journey. Here, you need to provide useful information to potential customers that they are looking for in exchange for their contact data. The second type, MQL, also known as the "hot" lead, is the type that is in the middle of the sales funnel. These are potential customers who are interested and engaged with your brand. They send you to contact data, frequently visit your site, download your content, sign up for the program, and much more. The third type, SQL, also known as the "hot" lead, is the one that is already under the funnel and ready to buy from you.

Now that you know the difference between these two main groups of leads, let's find out how you onboard a lead.

How does Lead Qualification work?

The best way to find the right potential customers is to empower them. This process involves reviewing future leads, sorting them according to their capabilities, and automating follow-up messages for users to convert leads. To get the most authentic leads, companies need to know the characteristics of their ideal customers. Understanding these features allows the company's sales and marketing departments to create a system for reviewing future leads and focus on the source of their sales leads with all the necessary features.

Now in days, companies use a variety of tools to attract potential customers. Landing pages help you collect leads, CRM software lets you organize and score, and automated marketing tools help you grow leads.

1. Adapt to the central scoring model

Lead evaluation is the process of determining the value for each lead you create for your company. You can gather important information about potential customers without asking them directly. Start by analyzing the contact data they provide. This includes demographic descriptions (age, gender, and location), things about the potential business, potential behavior, and level of engagement. This process enables companies to prioritize and connect with potential customers to increase conversions. It also helps you understand the pain points and your potential needs.

If you send campaigns via email with Alfred, you can score leads based on rankings and performance. Thier service automatically gives customers a score from 1 to 5 based on the interaction of potential customers over the last 60 days. The result is affected by the total number of campaigns sent to a particular lead, the open rate, and the clickthrough rate for that particular user.

2. Complete research.

Learn about the predictions you are talking about. Follow the guidelines for analytical purposes with Google Analytics. It helps you find information about their activities on your site, such as:

 

●        The pages they want to visit.

●        Demographic.

●        Benefits and preferences.

●        Equipment information.

You can also use social media to gather more demographic and psychological information about your potential for data collection or social analytics sites. In addition, visits from Facebook visitors can help you understand your potential needs.

For B2B, reading a potential customer's LinkedIn profile can give you some basic information about your potential customers, such as location, goals, benefits, and advantages. You can also visit the website of your potential customers to gather some information about your potential customers' goals, values, products, and contacts.

3. Select the appropriate frame.

There are several frameworks that can help you activate leads. You may have heard:

•        BANT (budget, authority, needs, time);

•        MEDDIC (metrics, economic buyer, decision criteria, decision process, identify pain, champion);

•        CHAMP (challenges, authority, money, prioritization);

•        GPCTBA/C&I (goals, plans, challenges, timeline, budget, authority, negative consequences, positive implications);

•        ANUM (authority, need, urgency, money).

We will review these frameworks later in detail in this article. They differ based on their basic preferences.

You can start with BANT as it is one of the most popular frames. Understanding the potential customer's budget, rights, needs, and timing can help you determine if you have a chance of winning a sale. Of course, you can't ask direct questions, but you can create smart questions that help you get answers and bring you closer to sales.

4. Use the SPIN.

Neil Rackham first introduced the abbreviation SPIN in his 1988 book. The style was designed to navigate through sales posts. They mean the situation (current status of the potential customer), the problem (the problem of the potential customer that you can help solve), the impact (the negative impact of the problem on the potential customer), and the need for payments (you're The importance of the solution)). The seller must ask questions about these four items in this particular order. It helps you to understand the current situation and the problems that your potential customers are facing which can be solved with your product. In addition, the seller must find the cause of the problem and finally tell the potential buyer why they can buy your product.

With Alfred, you don't need to bother leads with SPIN query bells. Once you have compiled a list of your leads, you can use Alfred-provided email templates to design tests, surveys, and send them to your leads. Before you email the contacts to your list, you can classify and organize them.

5. Make sure you have a complete profile of the information.

Companies have potential user data profiles to facilitate communication. Profiles typically include the leader's name, address, phone number, email address, preferences and benefits, demographic information, viewed actions (subscriptions, orders, downloads, calls, etc.), and the level of engagement with your brand. This profile helps you get the most relevant and personalized suggestions. In addition, documented information enables you to find specific ways to understand and reach your leads.

You can find and request lost information in your data profile while interacting with potential customers. Try to get complete information, because it is the key to a successful business that brings buyers and sellers.

In order for your leads to fit properly, you also need to set the appropriate fitness framework. Below you can find the most popular frames and choose the most suitable for your business.

Potential Lead qualification Checklist

Creating a checklist for your business takes you one step further in starting the right relationship with your potential customers. Follow the checklist below to check and rate your leads.

Pay attention to the potential customer profile. First of all, you need to know your expectations and whether their characteristics match your customer's personality. The main goal here is to analyze your target audience to distribute your leads.

Identify problems and find solutions. Find out the pain points of your potential customers and whether your products can benefit your prospects.

Introduction to decision-makers. Here you need to find partners who are involved in buying decisions. Knowing them will help you find a way to buy.

Find out what your potential customers know about your company. It is important to know your position in the market so that your audience understands. You need to show interest and ask potential customers if they know anything about your company. If so, find out what your leads are about your brand. Afterward, you can send a message that helps clarify your product and improves the relationship with potential customers who have already heard about you.

The right lead generation process can get you more relevant deals with less effort than sellers. Choose a suitable framework and use Alfred to automate and simplify your capacity.

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