Lead qualification is a vital part of lead management
. But, it is also an equally challenging area with regard to improving the sales-marketing relationship. To reduce this mismatch, marketers require a systematic measurable approach that takes care of lead qualification and sales hand-over.
Lead qualification is called lead scoring. This process helps to align sales follow-up to the right salesman so that the lead does not leak out from the sales funnel. In the process of lead qualification sales and marketing connect is made since there is no confusion with regard to the buying stage of the leads. Above all, lead qualification prioritizes leads so that sales can follow up depending on the sales readiness of the prospect.
As said before, a systematic approach is required for lead qualification. With such a system in place, marketers can:
Build a healthier sales pipeline. This means there is increase in lead quality and quantity. Share:
Bring accountability to marketing and sales. With greater visibility into campaign activities marketers can get increased customer insight and data.
Create strong reporting. This provides marketers with the ability to measure their current campaign effectiveness and returns to help them plan for future market demands.
Improve efficiency in usage of human resource and gain website visibility through efficient SEO operations.
Automate communications for nurturing and social media sharing.
Marketing automation software is the best tool that suits the above requirements. It can provide the following benefits to the lead scoring process.
Lead Definition - It allows sales and marketing teams to define the parameters for a 'good' lead in advance, based on which it then classifies all leads.
Lead Monitoring - It monitors every click and keystroke, to understand where the visitors are in their buying cycle and which of them are exhibiting key buying indicators.
Lead qualification - The scoring rules use the right combination of implicit and explicit information about a website visitor to determine their identity and quality.
Lead Tracking - The website activity data that is accumulated over a period of time and when combined with a company level view can become a powerful tool in qualifying leads.
Marketers can use automated marketing automation tools to work with the hottest leads first for their drip campaigns and lead management.