LEAD QUALIFICATION IN LEAD MANAGEMENT

Lead qualification in Salesforce Sales Cloud refers to the process of evaluating and determining whether a lead has the potential to become a valuable customer. This is a critical step in the sales process, as it helps sales teams focus their efforts on leads that are most likely to convert into opportunities and eventually, customers.

Key Aspects of Lead Qualification:

Lead Scoring:

• What it is: A technique used to assign a numerical score to a lead based on various attributes and behaviors, such as demographic information, engagement with marketing materials, or interaction with the sales team.
• Example: A lead may receive a higher score if they are from a target industry, have a large company size, or have visited your website multiple times. For instance, a lead from a Fortune 500 company might receive 80 points, while a lead from a small startup might receive 20 points.

Qualifying Leads

• Why is lead qualification important to your business? It really boils down to two things: time and resources. If a salesperson is pursuing prospects that aren’t interested, they’re wasting time. But by qualifying leads, before they even get to sales reps, you can save your company a lot of time and money in the long run.
• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs): Prospects or leads that are a good fit for your product or service but just aren’t ready to buy yet.
• Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs): Prospects or leads that are both a good fit for your product or service and are ready to buy. Note: An SQL is a former MQL prospect that has been nurtured over time and is ready to move farther along in the sales cycle.
• Additional Benefits: Improved customer experience, higher close rates, better use of marketing resources, and potentially improved data quality are examples of other benefits to your company.

Common Lead Qualification Models

• Lead qualification: Essentially looking at leads and assessing how likely they are to purchase your goods or services. This assessment is based on factors like a customer’s need, budget, timing, and decision-makers.
• Common Models: BANT, CHAMP, and MEDDIC.

BANT: Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline

• Questions asked:
  • How much is the prospect willing or able to spend?
  • Is the prospect the decision-maker for the deal?
  • Will your product or service help solve their problem or achieve a goal?
  • Will the prospect implement your product or service soon?
• Advantages:
  • Sales can quickly qualify or disqualify a prospect.
• Disadvantages:
  • It may be overly simple.
  • It doesn’t account for all factors that can influence a prospect’s decision-making process.
  • Some prospects may not have answers to all the BANT questions.

CHAMP: Challenges, Authority, Money, and Prioritization

• Questions asked:
  • What problems is the lead facing and how does your product or service solve it?
  • Does the lead have buying power for their company?
  • How much is the lead willing or able to pay for your product or service?
  • What is the lead’s priority level around the problem your company’s service or product solves?
• Advantages:
  • It emphasizes the importance of identifying challenges faced by your prospect.
  • It emphasizes the prospect’s priorities.
• Disadvantages:
  • It may be too prescriptive.
  • Sales reps spend too much time on low-quality prospects.
  • It doesn’t account for new prospects that enter after the initial lead qualification process.

MEDDIC: Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, and Champion

• Questions asked:
  • How much money will the lead’s company make using your product or service? Will it save the company money?
  • Who’s the decision-maker?
  • What factors would affect whether the lead purchases your product or service?
  • What’s the approval process like for the lead?
  • What are the primary business objectives?
  • Who will champion your company to the rest of their company after purchase?
• Advantages:
  • It’s a comprehensive framework.
  • It accounts for most factors that could influence a prospect’s decision-making process.
  • It’s flexible and adaptable to a product line or service.
• Disadvantages:
  • It may be too complex.
  • It can be time-consuming to implement.
  • It doesn’t account for market size or the prospect’s willingness to pay.
  • It’s not ideal for smaller accounts.