. . . is a question Jeff asked in the comments yesterday.
I thought it was a great question.
Leads are an opportunity. They are a “suggestion” that a company or person may be interested in buying your stuff. But, more than that they “suggest” your product or service is a good fit and the lead could benefit from what you’re selling.
If you want to know what a good lead is, start by asking what a good customer looks like. Don’t do it backwards. A lead should reflect the traits and buying patterns of the majority of your existing customers.
To define a sales lead, define your customers, create a customer profile.
What are the commonalities of your customers? Are they women making 100k or more a year? Are they companies with TDM phones? Are they start-ups? Are they plumbers and contractors with more than 10 employees? Are they technology companies with revenues over 25 million? What do your customers look like? Why do your customers buy? Do they buy because they are looking for low cost products, or because they rely on your service? Do they buy what you sell because it’s easier to repair and find parts or because it’s the most attractive widget in the game? Get into who your customers are. Build a customer profile.
Once you know what a typical customer looks like and why they buy, the lead part is easy.
A good lead has a lot of the traits and qualities of your existing customer base. Build a customer profile. Know what your customer looks like. Be exhaustive and complete. Then take your customer profile, compare it to the lead, you’ll know if it is a good one. It will be plain as day.
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As a marketer – I have a very well crafted sales lead policy that truthfully came directly from the head of sales – I just wrote it down and then wired all my efforts to help fulfill on it – it was 5 easy to remember steps …
1) our company and prospect are having a conversation
2) that conversation is about a particular solution
3) a need for that solution has been identified
4) a budget has been allocated
5) a time frame has been identified
now as a marketer I would argue I could get you the first 3 but the last 2 were really best gathered by a face to face sales interaction
Comment by PaulDunay — January 7, 2010 @ 1:02 pm
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It’s so true that “A good lead has a lot of the traits and qualities of your existing customer base.” In the B2B world that means sell to the competitors of your existing customers.
Comment by Cliff Allen — January 7, 2010 @ 2:55 pm
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Jim,
This is such a critical step for getting your sale team focused. You need to know what a lead is in your organization. I love the customer profile approach you outline here. You (hopefully) have tons of past leads that you can use as models. I think defining a lead is as simple as a little win-loss analysis.
Good stuff.
Comment by Bill Rice — January 8, 2010 @ 9:50 am
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Jim,
Thanks for taking the time to provide such a well thought out answer to my question. As with most things, its all about the perspective from which one views it. And the perspective you outline makes the process so much easier. Thanks.
Jeff
Comment by Jeff Monaghan — January 8, 2010 @ 10:40 am
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Glad it helped Jeff.
It was a great question. Made for a good blog post too. Thanks for the inspiration!
Comment by Keenan — January 8, 2010 @ 11:05 am
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You're the lead king. I appreciate your insight. Win-loss analysis will go a long.
Comment by Keenan — January 8, 2010 @ 11:07 am
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In your opinion, what's the difference between a lead and a prospect? Just a matter of semantics, or do you have a similarly detailed definition of prospect?
Great post…
Comment by aaronklein — January 13, 2010 @ 8:31 pm
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In your opinion, what's the difference between a lead and a prospect? Just a matter of semantics, or do you have a similarly detailed definition of prospect?
Great post…
Comment by AaronKlein — January 14, 2010 @ 3:31 am