What is a lead?
A lead is a pointer that there is “something cooking” at a customer site. That “something cooking” is something that can lead to business.
A lead can come to you from many sources. It can be a customer herself who proactively shares her organization’s plans. Or, it can be a result of field sales work on the part of the sales executive who unearths some plan. Or, it could be as a result of marketing activities performed by the marketing department (sending mailers, organising seminars..).
It is interesting that the most numerous are the leads obtained from the “marketing” activities but, they are also the ones that are most derided. Instead of discussing whether it is right to dismiss all “marketing leads” as poor quality, let us make that discussion irrelevant.
Should a sales person be concerned more about the quality of the lead (how accurately it describes the situation at customer site and chances of closing as business) or the source (sales/ marketing..)? I think the answer is pretty obvious.
Also, too often, with leads such as above, you are getting the lead only along with other vendors. When the customer is ready with his needs well enough to articulate it, it is often too late to pitch your own solutions. But, how do we unearth the need without it being verbalised?
We found a simple solution; based on our belief that actions speak louder than words and a lead is a culmination of multiple signals, verbal or non-verbal that the customer is sending us all the time. We need to be smart to catch it.
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