Key Issues

• There’s not an optimal system in place to qualify inquiries to gauge their sales-readiness
• Marketing people focus more on quantity rather than quality
• The lead scoring approach seems complicated

Lead qualification is that important phase that separates the browsers from the leads that are actual potential purchasers.  Most qualification tactics use the BANT acronym:

•  Budget: Is the potential purchase budgeted; and how much is budgeted
• Authority: Can the lead make a purchase decision or are their others that need to be contacted
• Need: What problems does the lead have at their business?  How important is it that the need has to be solved?
• Timing: How long is the buying cycle?  When will the purchase decision be made?

Qualification, as performed by marketers, should be done either through email, telephone, or, ideally, the web form that accompanies a content asset.  However the approach, lead-qualification must apply the following:  criteria covered (speak to sales!), focused, and easy to secure the intelligence (simple web forms)

Lead Scoring is the process of qualifying leads based on a defined criterion.

We can help put together a lead scoring matrix that can be utilized within a marketing automation platform.

There are many ways to score leads.  We like to use the matrix below as an ideal system.

As you’ll see, scoring is assigned based on:

1. Explicit Factors:  Who they are; the demographic and BANT information as collected on a web form
2. Implicit Factors: The lead’s website and email behavior (Pages viewed, webinars attended, content downloaded)

Click to enlarge

Lead Routing

Using a lead scoring approach, only qualified leads are sent to sales, whether it is via email or telephone.  Marketing Automation automatically routes leads to specifically assigned salespeople.  Determining what threshold or lead grade is required before the hand-off begins is a discussion between marketing and sales managers.  We can be involved with that process.

Summary of Approach

Utilizing an agreed-upon approach to lead qualification and lead scoring, only the best leads are routed to salespeople.  That means a higher percentage of quotas are reached, and more revenue per deal, because sales are engaging with qualified prospects, and not just anybody.

Next Stop: Database Marketing