Lead Management is a process that helps companies and freelancers monitor and improve the sales process. It is necessary to start from the assumption, in fact, that it is unlikely that any person we deal with is really interested in what we propose to them.
In this regard, especially if we are not marketing experts, an organized lead management process is able to transform leads into actual customers.
But what is Lead Management and what steps can we follow to effectively implement a lead management process? Let’s try to understand it together.
What is Lead Management?
In the digital age in which we are immersed, lead generation is only the first step of a complex process that requires accurate and targeted management. Lead management , literally “lead management”, focuses on acquiring qualified contacts and transforming them into actual customers.
It is through this process that companies can capitalize on the business opportunities generated by lead generation campaigns. Lead management offers companies the ability to :
monitor and track acquired contacts ;
qualify them according to the established criteria;
nourish them over time,
lead them towards final conversion.
Lead Management can make a sales team more effective by working on unqualified leads and building a pool of interested customers. For a salesperson, calling 10 qualified leads instead of 30 unqualified ones will definitely be more profitable.
The Role of Lead Generation
If we want to manage our leads in the best possible way and be sure to lead them towards purchase, we will first have to generate them by structuring a marketing strategy that responds to the needs of ideal consumers, known as buyer personas .
To implement Lead Generation we can use channels and tools such as blog content, social media posts, Content Marketing, ADV campaigns on Google and Social Media and in-depth Lead Magnets.
After acquiring leads, we will have collected numerous useful data through the CRM to classify contacts and implement Lead Nurturing .
Qualify Leads with Lead Scoring
To transform a lead into a customer we must give it value, that is, qualify it.
The qualified lead is a potential customer who corresponds to the ideal profile made through buyer personas, therefore taking into account factors such as budget, timing, propensity to purchase and much more. At the same time, however, it will also be necessary to specifically define the category to which they belong and identify the lifecycle stage of each lead through the programming of personalized and targeted actions.
That’s why we’ll need Lead Scoring . A lead classification process that will assign a quality score to each lead based on demographic and behavioral data.
Definition and classification of MQL and SQL
The first classification of leads in a CRM is between Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) and Sales Qualified Lead (SQL).
The Marketing Qualified Lead is a lead that is more likely than others to convert into a loyal customer.
The company believes that the MQL is very involved in marketing activities. For example, he or she was able to fill out a form, sign up for newsletters or download in-depth information content. This is a series of activities that can be easily tracked and evaluated.
The Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is a lead that does not hesitate during the purchasing process.
Unlike the Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL), the SQL does not require special marketing campaigns to bring it to purchase. In fact, it is the ideal prospect to be contacted by the sales team that will lead it to the transaction, its security makes nurturing strategies less necessary.
The purpose of such a categorization is to reduce the work of the respective teams while maximizing the results . While the MQL requires the intervention of the marketing team, the sales team will take care of the SQL.
Lead Nurturing to “Cultivate Relationships”
Once the Leads have been acquired and qualified, we will be able to implement a nurturing strategy in order to provide personalized communications for each contact and gradually lead them towards the next stage of the funnel.
Lead Management uses Marketing Automation to do Lead Nurturing. This allows you to automate and speed up processes such as sending emails, follow ups and messages based on lead actions.
Read also ” Email marketing automation: boost your campaigns ”
Steps to Effectively Implement a Lead Management Process
Lead management is used to first identify potential buyers, then educate them, and when they become qualified, move from the marketing process to the sales process.
In the following steps, we will discover how to create and implement an efficient and successful lead management process.
1. We identify and understand our leads
First we need to understand who our potential customers are and then work to identify the part of the sales process they are in. We can do this by segmenting the types of buyers in order to establish a basic ideal image for our product or service.
The lead will be obtained by analyzing its demographic data, for example, where the ideal customer lives, the behavior: where did they find us? And the source, that is, how did they find us?
Our Mexico mobile database provides comprehensive telemarketing data tailored for effective outreach campaigns. This database may include a scoring system that ranks leads based on their likelihood of conversion, allowing telemarketers to middle east mobile number list prioritize specific contacts and optimize their marketing strategies.he database includes essential details of individuals and businesses targeted for telemarketing, such as names, phone numbers, and email addresses.
2. We generate and collect information about our leads
The sales process aimed at converting a lead into a customer starts with marketing and aims to understand where the first point teeth and sinuses of contact occurred, in order to track the contents.
We need to place content offers near an america email list acquisition form, so that we can get lead intelligence about them, which we will use during the management process.
For example, adding a tracking token to links shared on social media or through email marketing will help identify the lead’s behavior and interaction with our content.
Marketing analytics will help us determine how users arrived at our blog or site and where they tend to click. This will allow us to receive information on what content leads look at and therefore on their interests, desires and needs.
All this information together will help us implement the lead nurturing process.
3. We give a score to our contacts
To understand the real interest of the lead in our product or service we need to record the score, which is determined by factors that include behavior and demographic data.
This is important information because the higher the score, the higher the probability that the lead will convert.
We need to consider timing when determining the score. For example, it happens when they do not open an email or do not click on a post.
Cold leads can go through lead nurturing and salespeople can choose which calls to prioritize, based on the lead’s actual activity.
At this point, however, we should ask ourselves what are the most important factors for our business, to take into consideration in order to evaluate the most suitable leads for our business.
Read also ” Lead scoring: what it is and why it is useful ”
4. We nurture our leads
Next step: Use the information you gained in the previous steps.
Identify lead segments based on their interests and potential position in the sales cycle, and understand how they converted.
Some will still be trying to understand if our product is really what actually satisfies their need.
At this point, we will have to educate them by showing them promotions, effective content, etc… and insinuating in their mind that what they need is exactly our product or service.
To do this, for example, we could:
use content mapping to choose content based on each lead;
personalize communications;
include call to action invitations;
nurture the relationship from the first contact until they are ready to convert into a customer using targeted content.
Read also ” How to create an effective lead nurturing campaign ”
5. We pass our contacts to sales
We need to make sure the lead is ready to become a new customer. The sales team is hungry for leads and would not appreciate wasting time on a lead who is not yet ready to buy.
Determining a lead score will serve precisely to ensure that it is truly qualified: to be able to establish that the lead does not require nurturing, the score must be correct and accurate.
Similarly, while the marketing team must provide as much information as possible about their background, in order to have enough data to contact the lead, in turn the sales team must collect Lead Intelligence information such as current products and services, company structure, etc.
Read also ” Smarketing, synergy between Marketing and Sales: how to succeed ”
6. We track and measure our contacts
Monitoring, measuring, and then monitoring and measuring again is a basic process.
That’s why before we hand over our leads, we should evaluate them all with the sales team and continue the process of refining them, classifying them based on need. We need to make sure that the lead continues to move through the entire sales cycle without running the risk of losing it or sending it back to the marketing team for further nurturing.
While it may take some time to work out all the kinks, it is true that eventually you will have a lead management process that will be able to generate effective and better results.
