Clearview Midlands September 2013 - Issue 142 | Page 64
businessnews
ARE YOU WASTING YOUR SALES LEADS?
In an exclusive for PRO Installer and Clearview, Andrew Scott, Managing Director of Purplex Marketing, discusses the importance of qualifying sales leads…
The topic of sales leads comes up in almost every client conversion. Sales people tend to have a particular view on what a good sales lead is, and marketing people often have a different view. To most marketing agencies, a lead is a lead is a lead (marketing agencies rarely understand sales). Before launching Purplex in 2004 I was client-side, as sales and marketing director of a number of very successful manufacturing, distribution and retail businesses. In fact, when we launched Purplex we had a dedicated division specialising in business consultancy and sales training. So, I’m a marketing man who understands sales leads and the sales cycle – and I’m constantly frustrated at how some companies simply waste sales opportunities, losing potential customers and millions of pounds in business. Firstly, let’s park up the idea of a sales lead. What we have are potential buyers who may be at different stages in the sales process. The 5 stages in the sales cycle are; Interest – the initial awareness and interest in your type of product or services Research – the buyer investigates the market to find more information Evaluation – assess and compare features and benefits, compare prices and offers Decision – having evaluated the options available, the buyer makes a purchase decision Sale – having made the decision, the buyer proceeds to place an order A potential buyer may connect with your business at any point in the sales process. The key to converting more leads into customers is to understand where the buyer is in the sales cycle.
MARKETING QUALIFIED LEADS VS SALES QUALIFIED LEADS
A web enquiry responding to a pay-per-click campaign offering a free brochure download is not the same quality of lead as a potential buyer who has called your office asking for a quote, so it is essential that every enquiry or lead you receive is qualified. A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is an enquiry or lead that the company has generated from their marketing activities but is not sales ready; it is [? H8?&[?\?\?8?&H?8?& ?\?X\??8?&H ?Y?H? H?^Z[?? ???\??\??[??X\??][?? ]X[Y?YYXY ? ? [?\? ?[\? [?KX[\???\? ?X?]?? ?[ ?\?[ [? ?\?H ?? ?[\????\??[? ?]\??[\? [?H ?[\ H ???&]??[?YH ??\?H [?H ??\?H8?&?\? [??[??X??]]8?&K??Y??H \??[??TS8?&\? ^H?YY ??H8?& ?[\? ?XY x?&K?H ?[\? ]X[Y?YYXY
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