Your business generates tons of leads, but only a small percentage convert into customers. To increase your sales-qualified leads and drive conversions, it’s essential to focus on identifying and nurturing high-potential prospects, ensuring you spend time on leads that are most likely to buy.
State of Sales report revealed that- A Sales representative spends only 28% of their time on actual selling, with the rest being consumed by administrative tasks, including lead qualification. To meet targets and drive growth, it’s crucial to focus on identifying and converting Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs).
In this blog, we’ll break down the sales qualification process to help you save time and money you would spend on the non- qualified leads.
What are Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)?
Table of Contents
A sales-qualified lead is the journey of potential customers through various stages, starting as a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) and progressing towards becoming a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL).
It’s important to establish clear sales qualified lead criteria to ensure only high-potential leads make it to this stage.
This is the pivotal point where the sales team can focus on converting them into paying customers, often through a targeted sales pitch.
However, knowing how to generate leads for B2B sales is just as crucial to ensure a steady flow of high-quality prospects into the pipeline.
So, where exactly do SQLs fit in the entire sales funnel?
SQLs typically sit between Sales Accepted Leads (SAL) and Sales Qualified Opportunities (SQO) in the sales funnel. SQOs are the leads who have expressed strong buying intent and have been qualified by your sales team.
What Does the Sales Qualification Process Look Like?
Let’s get on:
Understanding Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” – Peter Drucker (father of business consulting)
The first stage is identifying the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). In other words, it’s about targeting the right audience that suits your offerings or solutions.
An ICP is a detailed description of your perfect customer, based on market research and real data about your existing clients.
Creating the ICP requires collaboration between marketing and sales efforts. In B2B sales qualification, having a well-defined ICP helps identify the right prospects more effectively. The result streamlines the sales qualification process, increasing the chances of converting leads into customers.
Components of an ICP:
- Demographics: Age, gender, income level, and education.
- Firmographics: Company size, industry, and revenue.
- Behavioral Traits: Buying patterns, decision-making processes, and pain points.
- Technographics: Technologies and tools they use.
Effective Lead Generation Strategies
Generating high-quality leads and increasing sales-qualified leads requires a mix of proven strategies. Here, we explore methods that not only attract leads but also enhance their likelihood of conversion into SQLs.
A. Content Marketing
Content marketing is a crucial piece of effective lead generation strategies. It involves creating valuable content to attract and engage your target audience. Understanding how to qualify inbound leads generated through these content efforts is essential to ensure only high-quality leads are passed to sales.
This content can take various forms, including blogs, eBooks, webinars, and infographics.
Key Points:
Educational Content: Provide insights and solutions to your audience’s problems.
SEO Optimization: Ensure your content is optimized for search engines to increase visibility.
Regular Updates: Keep your content fresh and relevant to maintain engagement.
Call-to-Actions (CTAs): Include strong CTAs to guide readers towards taking the next step.
For instance: A B2B software company might publish a blog post about common industry challenges and how their software solves these issues, prompting readers to sign up for a free demo.
B. Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms are not just for socializing; they also provide a wealth of data. Shares or comments are valuable data that, when analyzed, reveals valuable insights.
They allow you to share content, participate in discussions, and run targeted ads.
Strategies:
Targeted Ads: Use platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to run ads targeted at your ICP.
Engaging Content: Share valuable content that encourages interaction.
Community Building: Participate in industry groups and forums.
Analytics: Track and analyze engagement metrics to refine your strategy.
For instance: Use LinkedIn to share case studies and success stories that highlight your product’s effectiveness and run targeted ads to drive traffic to your website.
C. Paid Advertising
Paid advertising, including PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and display ads, can drive targeted traffic to your website. The main goal of B2B paid advertising is to reach out to prospects who are looking for your solutions.
Best Practices:
Keyword Research: Identify and bid on keywords that your ICP is searching for.
Compelling Ad Copy: Create ads that highlight the benefits of your product.
Landing Pages: Design optimized landing pages to capture lead information.
Retargeting: Use retargeting ads to re-engage visitors who didn’t convert initially.
For instance: A cybersecurity firm might run Google Ads targeting phrases like “best cybersecurity software,” leading visitors to a landing page offering a free trial.
D. Lead Magnets & Landing Pages
Lead magnets are the foundation of a content marketing strategy. It’s the best way to boost subscribers, leads, and ultimately revenue.
Lead magnets are valuable resources offered in exchange for contact information, while landing pages are designed to capture this information efficiently.
Types of Lead Magnets:
eBooks and Whitepapers: In-depth resources on relevant topics.
Webinars: Live or recorded sessions providing valuable insights.
Free Trials and Demos: Allow potential customers to experience your product.
Landing Page Tips:
Clear Value Proposition: Clearly state the benefit of the lead magnet.
Simple Forms: Only ask for essential information.
Strong CTAs: Encourage visitors to take action.
A/B Testing: Continuously test and optimize your landing pages.
For instance: A marketing automation company might offer a free eBook on “Top 10 Marketing Automation Strategies” in exchange for email addresses on a dedicated landing page.
Qualifying Leads: Separating Diamonds from Rough
Once you have generated leads, the next step is to qualify them to determine which ones are most likely to convert into customers. An effective qualification process can significantly increase the number of sales-qualified leads in your pipeline, improving your team’s chances of closing deals.
Lead Scoring
Companies using advanced lead scoring and qualification frameworks see up to a 20% increase in lead conversion rates
– Forrester report
Lead scoring involves assigning points to leads based on their actions and characteristics.
Demographic Information: Points for fitting the ICP (e.g., job title, industry).
Behavioral Data: Points for engagement (e.g., website visits, content downloads).
Firmographic Data: Points for company size and revenue.
Technographic Data: Points for the technologies they use.
Qualification Frameworks
BANT: Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline.
CHAMP: Challenges, Authority, Money, Prioritization.
MEDDIC: Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion.
Example: A sales team might use the BANT framework to evaluate whether a lead has the budget, authority, need, and appropriate timeline to purchase their software solution. Incorporating storytelling in sales within this framework can further enrich the engagement process, making the value proposition more relatable and compelling to potential buyers.
Nurturing Leads: Keeping Them Engaged
Nurturing leads is about building relationships and providing ongoing value to guide leads through the sales funnel. In the context of B2B lead nurturing, this means delivering personalized content and touchpoints that address specific business challenges and needs.
Strategies
Personalized Email Campaigns: Send targeted emails based on lead behavior and interests.
Educational Content: Provide additional resources that address their pain points.
Follow-Up Calls: Regularly check in with leads to answer questions and offer assistance.
Social Media Engagement: Stay active on social platforms to maintain top-of-mind awareness.
Tools for Lead Nurturing
Marketing Automation Platforms: Automate and personalize email campaigns.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems: Track interactions and manage relationships.
Content Management Systems (CMS): Deliver relevant content based on lead behavior.
Example: A cloud services provider might use a marketing automation platform to send a series of emails offering tips and case studies on cloud migration, gradually moving leads towards scheduling a consultation.
Conclusion
Increasing and qualifying sales-qualified leads is a multi-faceted process that involves understanding your ideal customer profile, implementing effective lead generation strategies, qualifying leads accurately, and nurturing them consistently.
Adhering to sales cadence best practices throughout this process ensures that every interaction is timely and impactful, further optimizing the lead to conversion pathway.
By following these steps, businesses can ensure they are focusing their efforts on leads with the highest potential to convert, ultimately leading to increased sales and growth.
Vikas Bhatt is the Co-Founder of ONLY B2B, a premium B2B lead generation company that specializes in helping businesses achieve their growth objectives through targeted marketing & sales campaigns. With 10+ years of experience in the industry, Vikas has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by businesses today and has developed a unique approach to lead generation that has helped clients across a range of industries around the globe. As a thought leader in the B2B marketing community, ONLY B2B specializes in demand generation, content syndication, database services and more.
