Lead Qualification Process: A Step-by-Step Guide – Crunchbase Blog

As soon as you hang up, you should be able to decide whether the lead is qualified or unqualified so you can take the necessary next steps and move on to the next lead. Uncover the information you need to qualify them, then decide whether you believe they’re qualified or unqualified. On the call, start with introductions, explain the call agenda, ask your questions, assess their needs, and give them the opportunity to ask any questions they have about your product, service, or business.

There, you'll also learn about the main qualification frameworks with example questions to ask, along with a free script template to use as your foundation. For more information on the steps to hold an effective discovery call, check out our ultimate guide on discovery calls. At this point, the lead generation stage is complete, and the prospect moves into lead nurturing, where you can start pitching to them. On the call, the salesperson asks a list of qualification framework questions to confirm that qualified leads the lead meets certain criteria.

There you’ll find examples, sample questions, and a how-to guide on conducting a needs assessment with a lead. For more information on how to use a systematic approach to learning about the needs of your potential clients, check out our article on needs assessments. However, for smaller ticket items that require no direct contact with a salesperson, the lead might just start receiving product-focused marketing content.

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Having defined parameters around what qualifies a lead to move from MQL to SAL to SQL will ensure there’s consistency across your lead’s experience with you. Because the prospect has been qualified, the seller can nurture them with confidence that the effort is worth their time. A sales accepted lead (SAL) is a lead that has achieved MQL status and has been passed to a salesperson, who has conducted further testing to assess the lead’s likelihood to buy. Marketing will then qualify leads who meet the minimum points (aka scoring threshold) needed to be considered an MQL and push them to the sales accepted stage for more qualification. Marketing then qualifies them to MQL status using a quantitative (and often automated) lead scoring framework that assigns leads a score out of 100 based on key demographic and psychographic factors.

• To effectively capture, organize, track, and engage leads, companies should use a powerful CRM.
• With a lead generation and engagement tool, you can create targeted prospect lists using prospecting software that will help you identify potential buyers.
• When in doubt, align campaigns with internal legal and compliance guidance.
• Lead generation creates opportunities that move through the sales pipeline—from leads to qualified leads to paying customers.

Step 6: Website & Landing Pages

This will also affect how you interact with each lead on your discovery call — MQLs will likely be familiar with your company, while cold leads will not. If you’re finding the leads yourself, however, you’ll skip lead scoring and likely jump straight into qualifying them through the call. This is important because your specific lead qualification process will largely depend on how you’re finding these leads in the first place. Once you've built this profile to give you a picture of your customer base as a whole, you can use it to create a buyer persona that describes your individual customers. If you haven't already made a customer profile using the data around your customers, create it by researching the traits, behaviors, and pain points that make leads a good fit for your product or service. Before you dive into how you’ll qualify leads, decide what makes a lead an ideal customer for your business.

If the seller generates them directly or receives qualified leads from a lead generation company, they skip to SAL or SQL status. If the marketing team generates leads, they go through all three stages — marketing qualified, sales accepted, and sales qualified. There are three stages a lead can pass through to become a prospect to be nurtured.

For larger companies with more complex or high-price products, these leads will be passed to sales. Once created, point systems are often automated through lead scoring software and/or lead distribution software. We'll review both lead scoring and discovery calls below, but if you attract leads without the help of a marketing team, you can jump to the discovery call below. In lead scoring, marketing gives leads points for certain actions and demographics until they hit a certain score. Qualifying a lead means learning key information about them to assess fit.

Before hopping on a call with a lead, look over their company website or social media profile. Spend that extra time learning, selling, or simply doing what you love. Giving 30-minute demos to unqualified leads can cost you significantly over time. This allows you to spend time building strong relationships with the highest potential customers. Qualified leads are those who will receive a high level of value from your solution. Systematic and consistent lead qualification helps you avoid spending too much time on unqualified leads while offering several additional benefits.

Schedule the discovery call with the lead, then prepare for it by researching them and writing a call script using the framework you’ve chosen. Determine whether BANT, CHAMP, GPCTBA/C&I, or another framework will best help you gather the information you need on a discovery call in order to qualify leads as a sales lead (or prospect) for nurturing. If you'll use lead scoring to qualify leads as a marketing lead, create a lead scoring model that quantitatively assesses key demographic and psychographic data. Determine if you need to take leads through all three lead qualification stages — from marketing qualified to sales qualified — or if one or two will suffice.

The Main Types of Qualified Leads

Marketing and sales teams use methods like lead scoring and discovery calls to qualify leads. Keep these tips in mind as you personalize your lead qualification process. This system can route each lead to the most appropriate salesperson to speak with and nurture them. As marketing scores leads, consider using the information and scores you gather to have those leads distributed to you. When a lead hits your desired score, the system will alert your sales staff. Perhaps certain marketing channels produce more qualified leads than other ones (e.g., your LinkedIn leads are often qualified, while your Facebook group leads are not).