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Lead Generation Best Practices: Agree on Lead Definition
| Guest post by: Dan McDade |
Article Overview:
- Sales and marketing must agree on the criteria for a lead to be qualified for hand-off.
- Ideally ten criteria including the traditional BANT subset will be addressed.
- Consider SiriusDecisions' lead categories of MQLs, SALs and SQLs.
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Free Download - Marketing Tip: If You Only Do One Thing, Qualify Your Leads By Dan McDade |
Lead Generation Best Practices: Agree on Lead Definition
As simple as it sounds, agreement on the definition of a sales lead can be elusive.
The lack of agreement results in marketing forwarding to sales large volumes of names with qualifying criteria absent or overstated. After making a few calls to these so-called "leads" and discovering they are not sales-ready buyers, reps in the field realize they are time wasters and rightly return their focus to qualified sales opportunities.
The truth is sales and marketing define leads differently based on their respective self interests. Incented to execute programs that deliver large volumes of leads, marketing defines a "lead" as an interested self-educator or a hand raiser with a question or request for more information.
By contrast, sales requires a "lead" that meets specific criteria and warrants attention from highly skilled and highly compensated field reps. For these resources, a "lead" is a sales-ready buyer or a qualified sales opportunity.
The two groups must identify and agree on ideal criteria for qualified sales opportunities that merit attention from sales representatives. Informed of lead parameters during the planning process, a dedicated resource—either internal or external—will address each and every one of the following when delivering qualified prospects to the field:
- Vertical (SIC or NAICS code)
- Firmographics (revenue, # of employees or # of locations)
- Decision makers/influencers and respective roles in the decision-making process
- Environment (related to each solution—such as "technical environment")
- Decision maker level of engagement (engaged or referral but in the loop)
- Business issues/pains uncovered and validated
- Decision making process documented
- Budget allocated or process for establishing a budget documented
- Competitive landscape documented
- Sense of urgency or compelling event
Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs): Leads deemed ready for handoff from marketing.
Sales Accepted Leads (SALs): Leads where qualification tenets have been met and where sales agrees to work them.
Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs): Leads where opportunities have been identified and sales-ready buyers have been added to the pipeline with a high probability of buying.
When sales and marketing share a clear and concise definition of the criteria that qualify opportunities ready for handoff, each group operates at peak efficiency and supports the joint mission to close more new business and drive revenue. Related Articles
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Article Tags: Developing Prospects, Lead Generation, Sales Lead Generation, SalesReady Buyers
Referred by: http://www.findnewcustomers.com
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About the Author: Dan McDade RSS for Dan's articles - Visit Dan's website Dan McDade founded PointClear in 1997 with the mission to be the first and best company providing prospect development services to business-to-business companies with complex sales processes. He has been instrumental in developing the innovative strategies that drive revenue for PointClear clients nationwide. In addition to serving as president and CEO of PointClear, Dan is the author of The Truth About Leads, an insightful book that sheds light on the little-known secrets that help focus B2B lead-generation efforts, align sales and marketing organizations and drive revenue. Prior to starting PointClear, Dan served as president of UST, The Business Marketing Group, a high-tech B2B marketing services firm. The company, serving leading technology companies including Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments, Oracle and SAP, grew over 500% during his tenure. From 1989 to 1991, Dan was an independent consultant providing direct marketing, telemarketing and new business development consulting services. Clients included Sears, Exxon, Rodale Press, R.J. Reynolds, and The Ritz-Carlton. Dan also served as vice president of marketing with Jackson & Perkins in Medford, Ore. Dan is chairman of the board of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) Education Collaborative, an organization promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in Georgia's middle and high schools. He is a member of TAG, and also serves on the boards of TechAmerica Southeast (formerly AEA); the Business & Technology Alliance, a TAG society; and TAG Marketing. The Sales Lead Management Association named Dan one of the 50 most influential people in sales lead management in 2009 and 2010. Dan is also the author of ViewPoint | The Truth About Lead Generation, a blog exploring issues related to B2B sales, marketing and lead generation. Click here to visit Dan's website   Lead Generation Best Practices Dedicate Qualifying Resources Lead Generation Best Practices Agree on Lead Definition Lead Generation Best Practices Fewer Leads Are Better Lead Generation Best Practices When to Use Outbound vs Inbound 3 Good Reasons Marketing Should Qualify Leads Before Passing to Sales |
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