More efficiency in B2B marketing and sales: Systematically develop lead qualification

Basics of lead qualification: behavior and profile evaluation

Classic lead qualification essentially comprises two main aspects: the evaluation of lead behavior and the evaluation of the lead profile.

The behavioral assessment analyses a lead's activities and interest. This is about how engaged a lead is — measured by their behavior on the website, during email interactions, or other marketing activities. Think of the behavioral score like a thermometer: The “hotter” a lead's interest, the higher their rating. For example, a lead that visits the website several times, makes a download, or attends a webinar is rated higher than a lead that shows little engagement.

The profile rating, on the other hand, assesses the suitability of a lead for your company. Factors such as industry, company size, location or position of the lead within the organization are taken into account. When evaluating your profile, think of a tailored suit: The better a lead matches your ideal customer profile, the higher their rating.

Together, both aspects enable a holistic evaluation of leads and help you focus your sales and marketing efforts on the most promising contacts.

Challenges when implementing lead qualification processes

It is not uncommon (especially by providers of appropriate marketing automation platforms) to suggest that lead qualification is a feature that is available almost at the push of a button and magically (and automatically!) makes it more efficient. Unfortunately, we have to disenchant this assumption, because it is not quite that simple.

Lead qualification must be tailor-made. Companies, their offers and the sales process are very individual. The criteria and factors that are taken into account during lead qualification must be just as individual so that the defined Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) are also welcomed as promising by sales and boost sales.

Our experience shows that an optimal setup usually doesn't work right away. Rather, lead qualification is a lively process that depends on close and regular coordination between marketing and sales. This is often experienced as the first real challenge, as the internal structures are often (historically grown) very isolated.

The path to success: step by step and focused

In order to reduce complexity and achieve usable results more quickly, we recommend that you initially limit lead qualification efforts to a clearly defined market and target group. This allows you to test and optimize your criteria and processes within a manageable framework. The knowledge gained can then be gradually transferred to other segments.

For example, start by qualifying leads for your main product in a specific market segment. After you've gained experience here and refined your processes, you can extend the model to other product lines or geographical regions.

The importance of data quality

An often overlooked but crucial basis for successful lead qualification is the quality of your data. Usable data must be available or collected that makes it possible to evaluate leads (and also existing contacts).

We see time and again that the quality of inventory data is moderate to poor. In some cases, data is collected in the form of free text fields or visit reports and cannot be used for meaningful further processing in marketing automation. Standardised processes for data hygiene and data maintenance are often lacking.

As part of marketing campaigns and at all contact points (website forms, trade fairs & events, customer service,...), the meaningful and structured collection of data that is relevant for lead qualification should be considered.

Checklist: Successful lead qualification for companies

To make it easier for you to get started with effective lead qualification, we have created a checklist that provides you with a structured procedure to successfully design and continuously improve your lead qualification.

• Clear goal definition: Define clear, measurable goals for the lead qualification process. What do you want to achieve (e.g. more qualified leads, higher closing rates)?
  Alignment between marketing and sales: Make sure that both departments work closely together from the start to define criteria and processes and regularly exchange feedback.
• Target group segmentation: Define a clearly defined target group at the beginning. Adjust the criteria later on based on the experience you have gained and extend them to other segments.
• Ensure data quality: Make sure data is clean, structured, and complete. Standardize processes for data hygiene and data maintenance and ensure that relevant data is collected for lead qualification.
• Regular data maintenance: Implement processes to continuously review and maintain your data to ensure high data quality. Define responsibilities for data collection and maintenance.
• Test & Iteration: Implement the lead qualification process step by step and test it regularly. Continuously optimize criteria and processes based on results and feedback from sales and marketing.
• Define clear responsibilities: Clearly define who in the company is responsible for which steps in the lead qualification process (marketing, sales, data management).

Conclusion and outlook

For a successful, scalable and fruitful lead qualification strategy, many components must interlock and communicate with each other. In order to optimize sales efficiency and generate more revenue, everyone must pull together.

Developing a lead qualification strategy can be time-consuming, but it's worth the effort. It should be a goal supported by management and should be communicated across departments. This is the only way to ensure that your efforts don't fizzle out, but lead to measurable improvements in your sales process.

Do you need help setting up a lead qualification strategy? Get in touch with us Together, we will find the optimal way to effectively qualify your leads and increase your sales success.