What is an SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)?
A SQL (Sales Qualified Lead), is a lead that the marketing team thinks is worth looking into because it has a good chance of turning into a customer. The client is at the beginning of the sales cycle because they are interested in the marketing materials. They have clarified that they want to do more business with the company.
Synonyms
- qualified sales lead
- sales accepted lead
Stage SQL of the Sales Process
Most of the time, a sales-approved lead is in the middle of the sales funnel. This potential customer is no longer in the entry part of the funnel, where they were introduced to the business through marketing. They have not yet become customers, though.
The marketing team has reached out to this type of lead, and they have shown some official interest in what the business has to offer.
One way to do this is to fill out a contact form or make an email inquiry. Regarding where they are in the sales process, an SQL would be right after a marketing-qualified lead.
What Makes MQL, SQL, and Opportunity Different
There are three types of leads: MQL, SQL, and opportunity. Before we can tell them apart, let’s look at what each one is.
Lead for marketing qualified.
An MQL is a lead who has shown interest in what your business offers through marketing. A MQL would have learned about your goods or services through your marketing department when they were looking for a way to solve a problem in their business. They could now be moved further down the buyer’s journey for your business.
A lead that is ready to sell
It takes more than just how they behave on your website to turn MQLs into SQLs during the sales process. The size of a company’s sales team determines when a lead is considered an SQL. An SQL must have given the company the lead’s name, job, pain points, and the solution they’re looking for. This gives the sales team more tools to meet with the lead and sell them a product they know will meet their needs.
The chance
Sales Odyssey says that four steps must be taken between a lead and an opportunity:
- Step 1: The sales team finds leads, usually through marketing.
- Step 2: The leads are qualified based on criteria set by the sales team.
- Step 3: Qualified leads become prospects because they have shown a need for a solution.
- Step 4: Prospects have now given the sales team information and insight and become opportunities.
With this in mind, it’s clear that the marketing department’s job is to find leads and let them know about a need or gap they need to fill. This puts the lead at the top of the sales process.
The sales team’s job then is to nurture these leads by giving them the information they need to turn them into MQLs, working with them to find the following steps and solutions to turn them into SQLs, and then taking the time to make sure the potential client sees the value in converting, which turns them into customers.
How to Find and Turn Sales-Qualified Leads Into Customers
How to Look for SQLs
The people on your B2B sales list must be possible customers you want to work with and whose businesses will benefit from you. The first thing you need to do to find and turn sales-qualified leads into customers is to take the time to picture your perfect potential customers.
Scores for leads are another essential way for businesses to choose who to call first and who not to call at all. The lead score is how the sales and marketing teams sort their leads into groups based on different factors that help them determine if the lead is ready to buy. Your sales team will know how much work needs to be done to turn these possible customers into actual customers based on where they fall on this scale.
How to Sort Out Sales Leads
With a few simple steps, sales qualification can tell if a lead or client is a good fit for your product or service. Hubspot says that “qualifying your sales leads” is crucial because it can help you immensely with your close rate.
During sales, a company will encounter different types of leads, such as MQLs, SQLs, chances, unqualified leads, etc. However, it can be difficult to tell the difference between these types. After making a list of leads, these leads need to be put into a lead qualification system. There, they will be asked a series of questions to help figure out if there is a chance to convert and if it is worth the work.
The best ways to qualify sales leads
According to a 2018 HubSpot Report, sales reps thought recruiting was one of the most complex parts of the sales process. Getting this part of your sales process right is essential because marketing is so vital to the whole process.
Get Back to Basics
Try not to make your lead scoring system too hard to understand when you’re making it. First, ask the potential client to explain what’s bothering them. Then, go from there. If you can’t help them with their problem or need, you know to move on immediately to other options.
Change how you score leads for each product.
If your company has five primary goods or services, you should have five lead-scoring frameworks to go with them. This comes from the idea that just because a possible customer is interested in one product doesn’t mean they’ll be interested in another. That’s why it’s important to know what those needs are and how each product can meet them.
Involvement of the sales team
Recent studies have shown that when marketing and sales work together to find leads, about 90% of those companies will see a significant change in the type of lead that turns into a real chance. For your sales team to buy in and be able to attract customers, they need to be involved from the start.
Steps to Take to Make the Lead Qualification Process Better
Sales qualification is an integral part of the sales process because it can help you avoid wasting time on leads that aren’t qualified. It would be best if you always werlook at your lead screening process and find ways to improve it.
Reply.io has found five essential ways to make sure your leads are good ones:
- Figure out what the business issue is
- Explain why they need an answer right now.
- Set a budget for the project
- Find out how decisions are made.
- Figure out any problems or issues that might come up ahead of time.
