For that, you need successful lead management.
This article covers everything you need to know about lead management, including the definition, process, best practices, and automation. Remember that the average cost per lead in the B2B SaaS industry is $237.
So there’s a lot of money hiding in plain sight.
What is lead management?
Lead management is the process of capturing, tracking, and nurturing potential customers from initial contact through to conversion.
It usually involves series of steps to analyze lead data to determine how likely they are to make a purchase. After leads make a purchase, they become customers and lead management tracks all steps along the way.
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Why is lead management so important?
Lead management is the backbone of all sales processes.
Lead management is essential for a winning business strategy, because it aids in the conversion of prospects into paying customers.
It enables businesses to track lead origins, refine marketing efforts, and enhance overall return on investment.
Lead management maximizes the efficiency of sales efforts, improves customer conversion rates, and drives revenue growth.
This is how lead management benefits sales processes:
Prioritization: Lead management helps sales teams british student b2c mobile number database focus on high-potential leads first, increasing chances of conversion.
Follow-Up: Automated reminders ensure timely follow-ups, reducing the risk of losing interested prospects.
Personalization: Tracking lead information allows for tailored communication, enhancing customer engagement.
Analysis: Metrics and analytics from lead management systems help refine marketing and sales strategies for better outcomes.
Most importantly, businesses can better prioritize leads thanks to lead management and focus on the ones that are most likely to convert.
Lead Management: 8 most important steps
1. Lead Generation: Capturing potential customer information through various marketing channels like forms, social media, and events.
Lead generation involves collecting contact information from potential customers.
This can be done using online forms, social media campaigns, or in-person events.
The goal is to gather enough details to initiate a relationship and start them on the path to becoming paying customers.
2. Lead Tracking: Monitoring and recording lead activities and interactions with your brand.
Lead tracking involves keeping a record of all interactions and activities a lead has with your brand.
This includes actions such as website visits, email opens, and social media engagements.
Tracking this data helps you understand the lead’s interests and readiness to buy.
3. Lead Qualification: Evaluating leads based on predefined criteria to determine their potential to convert.
Qualified leads are potential customers who have been vetted and meet the predefined criteria indicating they are likely to convert.
Rather than manually finding these leads, you can use the lemlist lead database. With lemlist, you can find leads, verify them before adding them to your database, and categorize these prospects so it’s easy to track them in the sales pipeline.
Moreover, qualified leads should align with your buyer persona. A buyer persona is a detailed description of a person who represents your target audience.
If you are in the process of creating your buyer persona, use this free buyer persona template.
Follow the steps in our in-depth buyer persona guide that explains how to define your B2B audience.
4. Lead Distribution: Assigning qualified leads to appropriate sales representatives or teams.
Lead distribution is the process of assigning qualified leads to the appropriate sales representatives or teams.
This ensures that each lead is handled by someone best suited to address their needs.
Efficient lead distribution enhances the chances of conversion by providing timely and relevant follow-up.
5. Lead Nurturing: Engaging leads with relevant content and follow-ups to build relationships and move them through the sales funnel.
Lead nurturing involves engaging leads with relevant content and consistent follow-ups over time.
This process builds relationships and keeps your brand top-of-mind. The goal is to guide leads through the sales funnel until they are ready to make a purchase.
6. Lead Scoring: Ranking leads based on their behavior, engagement, and fit to prioritize sales efforts.
Lead scoring is the process of assigning numerical values to leads based on their behavior, engagement, and fit.
This helps prioritize which leads are most likely to convert. Sales teams can then focus their efforts on high-scoring leads for better efficiency and results.
At this step, your CRM will play a vital role.
The general procedure of lead scoring with your CRM software includes the following:
Your CRM assigns point values to specific information (event attendance, downloads, submitted forms, etc.)
Leads come into the CRM during lead gen, and the CRM scores them automatically according to your given criteria.
When the goal score is reached, your CRM notifies the sales team to further qualify your lead and push them further down the sales process.
If you don’t have a CRM just yet, consider implementing a free crm that’s powerful enough to make automations and sales management procedures.
7. Conversion: Conversion is the process of turning qualified leads into paying customers.
This is achieved through effective sales strategies and closing techniques. The goal is to finalize the transaction and secure commitment from the lead.
