In sales and business, leads are a vital aspect of your growth.
Some will cost you less.
While other leads will definitely cost you more.
But these won’t just cost you more financially.
They will cost you more from an effort + energy perspective too.
This is why it’s essential to know what type of lead you’re working.
3 Important Questions to Qualify Leads
- Where is the lead in your Marketing Funnel?
- How far are they in the buying process?
- What do you want to do about it?
As solo advisors and small business owners, you cannot be wasting precious time or mismanaging your resources.
You must know where your time is best used. And what activities get you the best ROI.
Using this highly beneficial illustration below – you can answer the above questions.
“Not all leads are sales-ready. They may be considered marketing qualified, but they’re not yet sales qualified. When marketing hands over leads…..it’s crucial that these leads are ready to purchase. So that the sales personnel don’t waste their time on leads that won’t convert.“
When you understand the different stages your lead or prospect is in, you can treat them accordingly.
Stages Your Financial Prospect Goes through:
- Information Gathering
- They know they have a problem
- They know they have a problem + are studying solutions
- Have solutions in mind + want help with it
- Want solution + need to determine who will help
For instance, the author refers to people early in the info gathering stage as “Top of Funnel” leads.
They may be great candidates or they may not be.
But if we treat them the same as “BOFU” (sales-ready) leads, we will end up frustrated. Disappointed and depleted.
You’ll have wasted vital energy on people simply not ready to buy.
These leads are not worthless.
They just require to be nurtured.
To be put through an effective process.
I’ve seen advisors throw in the towel on a lead source way too early. Think something is “wrong” because the lead didn’t convert into a client today.
This can be short sighted in their marketing and unfair to the lead.
Leads are people.
They have different needs and are in different places in their lives.
There is no one-size fits all strategy for lead management.
If you don’t have systems in place; outsource or automate.
But not understanding where your leads are in the buying process, can be a big mistake.
It can also be why some leads will cost you more. 😉