So your marketing team has provided your sales team with a bundle of leads. These may have come from a lead magnet on your website, a webinar, signups to your blog or from us!
What comes next?
It’s time for your sales team to review the leads and follow them up, turning this collection of leads into fresh opportunities for your business.
Here is our guide to mastering your brand new leads and ensuring the handoff from marketing to sales is as smooth as possible.
1. Qualify your leads
Do you know the difference between marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and sales qualified leads (SQLs)?
An MQL is a lead that marketing has determined is a potential customer, but perhaps is not ready to be reached out by sales. On the other hand, an SQL is ready for the sales team to reach out to.
Think of leads as apples on a tree. MQLs need a little extra time to ripen, but SQLs are looking delicious and are ready to pick!
73% of leads aren’t sales-ready, so don’t be afraid to pass those leads back to marketing to nurture until they are ready to buy.
How can sales determine which leads are SQLs? By lead scoring. This is where sales use several predetermined metrics to work out which contacts to follow-up with.
The metrics will vary from business to business but think of the acronym BANT:
- Does the business have the budget for your product or service?
- Does your lead have the authority to buy your product or service?
- Does the business need your product or service?
- Is there an appropriate timeline in place? (i.e. does the business want to buy your product or service imminently?)
2. Follow up your leads in a timely fashion
So you’ve determined which leads are a priority to follow up. You now need to move quickly as not to lose momentum.
Some leads can have a short shelf life. Prospective customers may be looking at several different providers so if you move slowly; you may lose out to a competitor.
According to Harvard Business Review, companies that follow up within an hour are seven times more likely to convert their leads.
3. Know what you want to say
You need to have a plan in place, so your sales team know the protocol for reaching out to leads.
- When should they reach out?
- Should they phone, email or reach out on social media?
- What will they say?
- When should they reach out again?
This will ensure consistency and maximise your chances of converting leads into sales!
Following these guidelines will help your sales team to sell and ensure the leads your marketing team provide do not go to waste!
Struggling to generate leads? Get in touch to see how we can help you today.
