Make your startup sales process more effective with lead qualification. Get started with this checklist and insights on qualifying leads in tech sales.
A B2B lead qualification process can buoy or sink your startup’s sales growth.
Equipped with a well-thought-out lead qualification process, your startup sales team can determine how well your solution pairs with your target market and potential customers — and ideally can drive revenue growth. But a poorly planned lead qualification process can damage your sales efforts and stall growth.
“Many sales are lost because of poor early qualification and failure to follow up. But when you qualify leads well, you learn what you need to know while also building relationships,” says Salesforce. “By identifying the best leads to pursue and using your time to ask leads the right questions, you will close more sales and improve your company’s sales process — and bottom line.”
Key Takeaways
- Proper lead qualification helps startups target prospects who are a good fit for your product or service.
- Asking the right questions and knowing which role a prospect plays in the buying cycle improves lead qualification.
What Is Lead Qualification?
Lead qualification involves evaluating a prospect to figure out whether they’re likely to buy your product or service. This ongoing process focuses on conversations with prospects and research about their organizations.
Questions to ask during lead qualification include:
- Does your contact hold authority to make purchases or influence the people who do?
- Will your solution solve their problem?
- Is the problem big enough to justify their investment?
- Is the prospect ready to buy right now?
Why is proper lead qualification so vital? It’s estimated that only 1 in 5 leads translate into a sale.
“This means that for every new customer you get, there are four who were not persuaded to use your products or services,” according to Business News Daily. “That’s a lot of time and money lost, but smart lead qualification can minimize this concern.”
Lead Qualification Checklist
To qualify a lead, start with the most important part of the B2B sales process — building a relationship with the prospect. Then follow the rest of the process to validate your lead.
Use a Discovery Call to Determine Alignment
So, you’ve acquired a lead through email, LinkedIn, or a phone call, and the prospect has agreed to a discovery meeting. This isn’t the time to pitch your solution, though. During a discovery call, you learn as much as you can about the prospect’s problem:
- What challenges do they want to solve?
- How long have they been struggling with these challenges?
- What other solutions have they tried?
- How much is their problem costing them?
- How urgently do they need your solution?
Make Sure the Right People Are Involved
Just as there are different roles in a company, there are different roles in the buying cycle. Not everyone you speak with holds the power to influence buying decisions. When qualifying a lead, be sure you’re talking to the right people.
When chatting with a prospect, ask these lead qualification questions:
- How does your company execute the buying-decision process?
- What do you contribute to this process?
- Who ultimately decides whether to buy a product or service?
As you build a relationship with your contact, you can inquire about how they impact the buying process. If they aren’t the key decision-maker, ask for an introduction to the decision-makers
Don’t overlook talking with influencers — prospects who don’t have budget authority but are involved in final buying decisions — and gatekeepers who work closely with the decision-makers. Influencers and gatekeepers can be valuable allies.
Work on Timing and Buyer/Vendor Alignment
Once you know your solution is a good fit for your prospect’s problem and you’re talking to the right people, find out whether it’s the right time for them to buy and make sure your priorities align.
Right Timing
Timing is critical. Your lead may be interested in your solution but might not be ready to make a purchase. If your sales team is devoting time and energy to a prospect who isn’t likely to buy soon, you’re losing precious time that could be spent on better-qualified leads.
Buyer/Vendor Alignment
Which factors does your prospect prioritize when choosing a vendor? How well does your solution align with their priorities? For example, if your buyer places a premium on great customer support and easy integrations while your solution focuses on price and scalability, your priorities may not align.
Score Leads to Qualify Warm Prospects
Create a set of events and metrics to prioritize warm leads. Once you’ve made some sales, you can use sales data from your CRM system to uncover the factors that greatly impact your conversion rates.
List all of the actions — email replies, content downloads, shares of contact information, appointment bookings and discovery calls, for example — and score each action based on how much it boosts the likelihood of a sale.
In addition, consider the prospect’s:
- Number of clients — The more clients the buyer has, the more value the account may have. Decide how many clients a prospect should have before designating them as a high-value lead.
- Primary contact’s motivation — This is a subjective qualification. Nonetheless, it’s still important. Gauge how energized your contact is and how willing they are to move quickly. If they’re inclined to act quickly, you might stand a better chance of closing a deal.
- Business age and budget size — Generally, better-established companies with bigger budgets are more likely to result in sales. These leads should earn a higher lead qualification score.
Improve Sales with Effective Lead Qualification
Ready to build a powerful lead qualification process to help your startup grow? Let’s talk!