As some of you may know, I’m a moderator for the very resourceful website Bizsugar.com. What this means is that I get to read a lot of blogs. I love it.
Some blogs pass on some really valuable information and some are a-ha moments for me. Someone can write something as simple as two lines and you know that you’ll remember that advice for the rest of your working career.
I got that feeling this morning when I was reading a blog – Lead Management:The CliffNotes for Success. I’m working with a number of business owners on testing out their sales process (because really, a one size fits all doesn’t exist).
And this simple rule stood out for me like a lighthouse beacon:
“We don’t pass leads/inquiries to sales. Instead we pass qualified leads; that is, leads that are ready to be worked by sales. To achieve this goal, we need lead management.“
Leads v Qualified Leads
There is a huge distinction between leads and qualified leads. It’s better to qualify them first before moving them from marketing to sales so that you’ll get a better return.
While we, as business owners, are generally both the marketing and sales departments, it’s important to not get attracted by the shiny new prospect. You do need a scoring mechanism or at least a number of stages that the person can get through before they become really qualified.
This economy makes it tough – sometimes business owners want the cash flow but you must ask yourself, how much is a lead costing you to pursue?
This article that I referenced above has some nice tips about what to do in terms of lead management that all business owners can adopt. Take the time to read it. Here’s the link again – Lead Management: The CliffNotes for Success
And share what your lead generation process is here.
Pic credit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/9/prweb9860898.htm
