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How do you define a qualified lead?
To all the salesmen and marketing people out there, what type of information do you like to see when receiving a qualified lead?
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5 Answers
Defining a qualified lead can be achieved by defining what your organization wants to accomplish. For us, a qualified lead meets a certain set of both behavioral and demographic parameters such as: have we identified the prospecting contact(s)/decision maker(s), have we established their wireless and fixed telecom policy, what is their time frame, online body language. Defining a qualified lead can't just be based on if you set an appointment.
A “Sales Ready” Lead, has identified a need for a Product we supply for which there is a Budget and the potential to meet with a person with some direct involvement in the Buying Process. Acronyms such as M.A.N. - Money, Authority and Need are useful shorthand. Sometimes, Time Scales 3, 6, 12 months can be helpful as well. I give a cautionary note, since for example the IT and Telecom Buying Process is an average of 7 months, if your “Lead” has a timescale of 3 months you are arriving FOUR months late!
I can recommend “Lead Generation for the Complex Sales” by Brian J. Carroll, which has excellent discussion on setting the “Qualified” standard, a process that involves both Sales AND Marketing.
A “Qualified Opportunity”, is when Sales have verified the
Sales Lead “details”. They have had meetings with significant players in the Buying Process, have identified the ‘active’ Competitors, the ‘desirability’ of the Prospect as a Customer, the ‘attractiveness’ of their Value ‘offer’ to the Prospect’s requirement. With this information, a calculation can be made on the likelihood of winning the business. Then, a rational decision can be made to either pursue the opportunity or drop the opportunity to a no bid. A Sales Master skill is in focussing on likely wins and not on likely losses!
The definition will vary a bit within each company depending on the selling landscape, but as a standard it's safe to say they have these 5 elements:
1. Pain within their organization they plan/need to solve.
2. The influence to get you in the deal.
3. Have, planning to have, or can justify a budget.
4. The timing is within your traditional sales cycle.
5. Are willing to talk with you now and move it forward.
A successful lead generation program will also uncover other viable leads in addition to the above that need to be cultivated and will meet the above criteria within 12 months.
I look at it in very simple terms - a qualified lead to me has all of the following:
- a contact person with decision making authority or direct access to the decision maker
- a pain level high enough to require a serious and immediate investigation for solutions
- a final decision timeframe w-in the next 3 months (longer cycles ok for more complex engagements)
- A budget which can reach at least past the lower boundary of a profitable price point for you
It can take many forms. Basically, someone that has a "true" interest" in our Service or products.
- do they currently have our type of solution?
- are they currently un-happy with their current provider?
- budget availability
- the timeframe for deployment
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