Time in the most valuable resource you have - whether it's your own time, or that of any member of your team. So do you really want to waste it cold calling leads, manually sending out follow-up emails week after week after week? Scrolling through contact lists and reviewing notes to determine those needing attention? NO! You want to develop a strategy that allows you to focus all of your sales efforts on the ripest, most valuable leads you have - your SQLs, or Sales Qualified Leads.
Identify SQLs
How do we identify SQLs, you ask? It's really not as complicated as you may think. We simply assign scores to the various activities you use to engage your prospects, and then put some criteria in place by which you determine where your leads fall within their "lifecycle". For example, refer to the customer journey funnel below:
Basically, everyone comes into the top of the funnel as a lead, whether you deploy a direct marketing campaign or they've found you through a web search or other means.
Once they've engaged at a certain level, we consider them a marketing qualified lead (or MQL) - where they continue to receive marketing fodder until they reach SQL status.
Now it's time for the heavy hitters to their job and turn those SQLs into opportunities - and eventually, customers! By nurturing your leads along the customer journey, your sales team can focus their limited & very valuable time where it's most needed.
Then let the automation take back over while we convert those customers into evangelists, or raving fans.
Regardless of the terminology you prefer, those folks can give great testimonials and reviews which we can then use for marketing collateral as you continue the cycle of greatness.
Automate the Sales Process
But wait! We handed over all the SQLs to our Sales team and they're still a bit overwhelmed. How can we automate the sales process even further?
This is where we employ some additional sales automation tools so that you become the most efficient and effective team on the planet!
Create personalized sequences of emails and tasks.
Connect your inbox and calendar to track everything and allow your leads to book calls with you rather than going back and forth by email to find a time that works for you both!
Create call logs to keep you on track and dashboards to monitor your progress and set priorities.
But hey, that's a lot to think through for one day. We can dive deeper into sales automation processes another time.
We hope this article gave you some ideas about how to better nurture your leads and save time for your sales team.
Comments