It is disappointing to see the leads slipping through the crack. Isn’t it? Well, this happens when time and resources are invested in the wrong leads.
Most of the time, the pipeline is filled with many leads but sadly most of them do not convert into sales. This is because the sales pipeline isn’t filled with quality leads.
Quality is more important than quantity. So to maintain a healthy sales pipeline you need to qualify your leads regularly. This will prevent you from chasing the wrong leads.
Leads qualification: How to do it right?
Thanks to the marketing team who generated leads, you have a long list of prospects. However, not every prospect will end up buying your product. There is no point selling to someone who might not need your product.
Lead qualification helps in identifying the prospects that have greater buying potential. So ensure you invest a little time in knowing and qualifying your potential prospects.
Every minute in sales is precious, so it is better to spend it on a handful of your best prospects.
Here is what you need to do for qualifying the prospect:
1. Have a buyer persona
First of all, you need to have a buyer persona. Describe your ideal customer in detail (Explain how the best-fit company looks like). Whom should you be selling to?
For creating a buyer persona, refer to the database of customers who have purchased from you in the past.
- Conduct in-depth research about each customer.
- Speak to your happy customers and dig deeper into their purchase.
- Find out what motivated them to purchase the product and how the product helped overcome their issues.
- Once you collect the information of the ideal buyers, start creating the buyer persona.
- Be explicit while describing your ideal buyers. Include a detailed explanation of who the buyer is and provide its demographic information.
- Include information about the job responsibilities.
- Make a list of pain points that you have collected through phone conversations.
- Map the entire buyers’ journey. Note down how the process ideal buyers followed to purchase your product.
Refer to your ideal buyer profile and make a list of information that you need to gather from your prospects.
2. Ask qualifying question and listen
To gather information about your prospects, you need to ask relevant questions about their needs, challenges, goals, etc.
Here are a few questions that you can ask you prospects:
- How long have you been in this business?
- What’s the size of your organization?
- What are your priorities for this year?
- What are the top challenges that you’re currently facing
- Have you experienced these problems in the past?
- What would be the consequence if you don’t resolve these problems?
- Are you searching for a solution?
- Are there any specific features that you are looking for in a product?
- Why do you need these particular features
- What role do you play in the decision-making process?
- Who all are included in the decision-making process?
- What concerns will these decision makes likely have?
- Have you allocated any budget for solving these problems?
- What does your ideal timeline for implementing a solution look like?
Don’t be in a hurry to just ask the questions. Make sure you listen to your prospects attentively after asking one question. Note down every point. You can use the best CRM that comes with a built-in virtual phone system so that you can record your calls and listen to them later for collecting information about your prospects.
3. Check the lead against buyer persona
You have created a buyer persona and even gathered information about the prospect. Now, check the lead against the ideal buyer profile.
See if they have similar needs and requirements. Determine if your product can solve those problems. If they have the budget to purchase your product.
Evaluating the leads based on certain factors and attributes that are included in the profile of the ideal buyers can help in qualifying your prospects.
4. Sales methodologies that can help
Here are a few famous sales methodologies that you can use for simplifying the prospect of lead qualifications. It will help in gathering information and understanding your potential prospects for qualifying them.
SPIN methodology
SPIN selling methodology proposes that there are four types of questions that can help in finding out customers’ problems and concerns.
Situation Question — Helps in understanding the prospect’s and their current situation.
Problem Question — Encourages prospects in speaking about the problem they have overlooked.
Implication Question — Help prospects understand the impact of the problem and the consequence of not addressing them in real-time.
Need Payoff — Help the prospect in understanding the true value of making a purchase.
MEDDIC methodology
MEDDIC is one of the most effective sales methodologies that helps focus your efforts towards better customer qualifications.
Metrics — Quantifiable and measurable results that the prospects are hoping to gain from your solution.
Economic buyer — The person who has the power to make purchasing decisions in the company.
Decision criteria — The factors the prospects consider while making a purchasing decision.
Decision process — The process that the prospect’s company follows to purchase a product.
Identify the pain-points — Discover the prospect’s pain points and understand the causes.
Champion — Find an influential person from the company who will benefit if the pain is mitigated.
BANT methodology
BANT is an advanced sales qualification strategy that aids in determining whether the leads in the sales pipeline are worth pursuing.
B — What’s the budget of the prospect?
A — Who has the authority to make decisions?
N — What’s the prospect’s needs?
T — What’s the solution implementation timeline?
Wrapping up
Do not waste your precious hours on the bad leads. Qualify them at the right time and focus on high-value deals. A healthy pipeline is pivotal for meeting your sales quota. So ensure you fill it with high-quality leads.
To manage your sales pipeline and the deal in it effectively, you can take the help of a smart CRM like Salesmate. It helps you in streamlining your sales process and keeping track of each deal.
You can use automation with this CRM to save your time, and with the help of its intuitive sales reports find out where you are wasting your time.
Try Salesmate for free to explore its various features.
Salesmate is one of the most comprehensive platforms that offer features such as sales pipeline management, built-in calling, and texting, power dialer & voicemail drop, sales sequences, sales automation workflows, activity tracking, email automation, team inbox, personalized campaigns, mobile apps, crucial integrations for SMEs. With these features, any business can build a winning sales team and process. No other software is needed.
