The art of cultivating a prospect from lead generation through a final sale can be a complicated process. A prospect may show momentary interest in a particular product or service, only to disappear before the sales team can even establish initial contact. Marketing may be able to generate a significant quantity of leads, but only a maddeningly small percentage might have an immediate and pressing need, while others are simply “kicking the tires” or searching for general information. Without some type of further qualification, sales representatives could spend too much time on the tire kickers and get to the limited few too late, wasting everyone’s time and money. That is where the process of lead scoring becomes critical.
The concept of lead scoring is easy to understand, but often tricky to implement. Basically it is a way of ranking leads based on their likelihood to perform a specific act within a given organization’s sales funnel. An analysis is performed of actions taken by previous converted leads, and scores are assigned for similar actions taken by current prospects such as types and frequency of email opens, click-throughs, website visits, or content downloads. As lead scores are assigned, it becomes readily apparent as to which prospects are actively engaged, and which ones are not, and the sales team’s efforts can be directed at those that are deemed to have the highest likelihood of conversion.
Although lead scoring can be a primary driver of revenue, especially for those utilizing an automated marketing platform, a surprising amount of companies are still not profiting from the many benefits it offers. Experiture helps make the sales process more efficient and effective for clients through a more natural alignment of marketing and sales efforts. Here are five reasons we have found as to why lead scoring is so important:
Knowledge is powerful
Lead scoring provides information which unveils exactly who each prospect is, and determines how interested they are in a specific product or service.
Lead prioritization:
Instead of randomly pursuing leads or relying on some type of chronological system, lead scoring helps sales to segment and prioritize leads based on their anticipated desire to buy. Follow-up is more effective when implemented more closely to the initial interest.
Customization of efforts:
Since every sales funnel is so unique, each individual company must be able to customize its lead nurturing process based on the demographic and behavioral information it has available at any given point. Experiture helps clients sort through the existing information, and focus in on that which is most likely to direct sales towards a high-value prospect.
Coordination of efforts:
Often marketing and sales are at odds over lead generation, but lead scoring helps to clear a path for a smoother hand-off of action-ready leads from marketing to the sales team, so they can close the deal.
Improved sales pitch:
Utilizing information uncovered during the lead scoring process, the sales team can more precisely tailor its pitch to interested prospects, which will vastly improve the conversion rate.
Quality lead scoring can play a significant role in the sales funnel process. Experiture’s marketing automation platform empowers marketers to easily create, build and launch automated campaigns that generate new leads; helps to foster and nurture those leads by providing continued engagement across marketing channels; and then utilizes lead scoring to provide the data necessary for the sales team to focus on and convert more of those leads into opportunities. Lead scoring takes the lead in sales conversions.