Marketing and Sales Need to Agree on a Lead's Definition
We have been looking at some of the reasons why an organization's sales team doesn't, or
won't,
follow-up on the qualified opportunities that are being delivered to them. This week I will talk more about another common obstacle (in fact one that folks like
Robert Lesser have been discussing even as recently as last week) - the lack of definition around what a qualified lead looks like.
*The organization has not come up with a universal definition of what a "qualified" lead is*
I remember interviewing someone a few years ago and determining 15 minutes into the interview that they would be a great fit for the company. They had gone to a good school, had a great GPA, and had put themselves through college by working 2 part time jobs. It was evident that they were intelligent and hard working - who wouldn't want to hire them?! A colleague of mine interviewed them afterwards and came out of the interview not wanting to invite the candidate back for a 2nd round. He felt that their lack of relevant experience and the types of questions they were asking made them a less then desirable candidate. After that interview we realized that we needed to come up with a set of criteria defining the key attributes that we wanted a new hire to have. We evaluated our strongest employees and thought about what characteristics they all possessed that we were looking to replicate. By making sure we were all on the same page as to what made up a "qualified candidate" we saw our employee retention increase. The same case can be made for ensuring that your sales and marketing teams all have the same definition as to what a "qualified lead" looks like.
I have worked with sales reps who consider any prospect that is interested enough in speaking to them and learning more about what they are selling a "lead". Other reps only want to follow-up on leads that have a defined project, budget and a timeframe to purchase of less then 3 months. Some are very stringent about a company's annual revenue while others will talk to anyone with a pulse. This makes it very difficult to gauge the quality of leads you are generating.
When implementing a lead generation campaign it is imperative that both marketing and sales sit down and determine what they are going to consider a qualified sales opportunity. That way, when it comes time to determine the effectiveness of your campaign, you are comparing apples to apples.
Whenever I meet with a new client I will take them through an in-depth lead description discussion and make sure we are on the same page as to what is, and isn't, important information to gather when uncovering a lead. This way, our BDRs know exactly what type of questions to ask and what matters most to that particular client.
Even when you have a universal definition of what a "qualified sales opportunity" looks like there is still a need to get in front of prospects who, although they might not be ready to purchase in the next 3 months, sill have an interest and a need. The problem arises when these leads are not nurtured properly, and when the time comes to purchase, they end up signing on with your competitor. This will be the focus of my next blog...stay tuned!