Understanding the terminology behind sales processes can help you improve your strategies and attract the right people to your business. And this is very important, since half of the zimbabwe email address buyers attracted by companies turn out to be unsuitable.
What is a lead?
A lead is a person or company interested in your products and services — a potential buyer.
This interest can be demonstrated in a variety of ways, such as through inquiries to your customer service department, downloading rich materials you have made available on your website – such as a free ebook, for example – or by requesting product demonstrations or trial periods.
The important thing about this exchange is that the lead shares some basic information in exchange for this reward. With this information in hand, you can contact the potential client and find out if they represent a business opportunity.
One way to attract leads is through marketing and sales strategies , such as: email marketing, advertisements, social media posts, recommendations from current clients, cold prospecting , among others.
Don't know how to generate leads? We recommend reading: 4 steps to know how to identify potential clients .
What are qualified leads?
Now that you know what a sales lead is, we can go one step further and learn another concept: qualified leads.
Qualified leads are people who not only show interest in your products and services, but also meet the characteristics of your company's ideal client.
If your buyer persona is a 20- to 30-year-old woman living in Guadalajara who works in the financial sector, it may not be worth your time trying to persuade a 26-year-old man living in the United States who works in construction — even if he has shown interest in what you sell. See?
What are inbound and outbound leads?
Once you know what a lead is, it's easier to understand the difference between inbound and outbound. Essentially, these two types of approaches differ with respect to proactivity . Let us explain:
Inbound leads are potential customers who initiate contact with you through content on your blog, a post on social media, advertisements, or even a recommendation from a friend. In this case, the individual is proactive and takes the first step in building the business relationship.
Outbound leads are potential customers who are contacted directly by you. Also known as cold leads , they can be identified by a search on Google or LinkedIn, according to pre-established parameters. For example, “male, marketing director, working in Paris” or “female, university professor, teaching in Chicago.” In this case, the salesperson is proactive and takes the first step.
Both approaches can be useful for your business; it all depends on understanding the pros and cons of each. We recommend reading: 6 advantages of inbound and outbound telemarketing .
What are the three types of leads?
Great! We have seen what a lead is and what qualified leads are, as well as the differences between inbound and outbound leads.
Another way to classify lead types is based on qualification criteria , that is, what or who characterized the prospect as suitable for a certain action by the sales team.
With this in mind, we have three classic types: IQLs, MQLs and SQLs . Take a look at the definition of each concept!
1. Information-Qualified Leads (IQLs)
Information-Qualified Leads are contacts that fit your target market and have provided you with information, but have not yet expressed interest in a specific solution you offer.
They may have filled out a form on your website without leaving a phone number or expressing the problem they are facing. The marketer's challenge here is to increase brand awareness and build credibility by proving themselves to be a viable alternative.
2. Marketing-Qualified Leads (MQLs)
Marketing -qualified leads or MQLS are the next step after information-qualified leads. They are potential customers who are actively looking for your products or services and believe that your brand can help them.
These are people who have already demonstrated that they are committed to solving a specific problem and who believe that your company can be a way to do it. A common MQL behavior is to download a “guide to…” solving something or a “template to…” organizing something, i.e. practical resources created by your organization.
