Create a Lead Scoring System
The assignment of values to lead attributes is an iterative process. Given shifting industry trends and purchasing behaviours, these assumptions must continually be challenged to optimize the sales funnel.
Assign Appropriate Values
Not all lead scoring criteria are created equal. The criteria will be given a weight of a scale. For example, a customer who downloads a whitepaper may be considered a higher value lead than if they subscribe to receive a newsletter. Values will depend on the type of leads desired in the space a company operates in.
Historical customer analysis will provide clear insights as to what actions and behaviours help to support (or not support) successful conversions. Receiving authentic feedback from the existing customer base and sales network will help here.
If customer data is unclear or unavailable, conducting industry research is strong exercise to ensure that you’re placing the correct weight on both demographic and behavioural information.
Create Lead Management Infrastructure
Spreadsheets and CRM software are two common tools to bring a lead funnel infrastructure to life. However, the act of reviewing each potential lead generated by a seemingly minor interaction with your offering seems overwhelming.
Instead, if a revenue operations team integrates a lead scoring and management platform, once the platform recognizes a qualified lead, it will route the lead information to a sales agent through text message or email. If the lead is not accepted by the first-offered sales agent within a pre-determined period, the next applicable sales agent will be offered the lead and so on. With automation, all the hard work is taken out of assigning and initiating valuable lead pursuit.
Introducing Performance-based Lead Routing
All sales team managers are aware of the differing capabilities and effectiveness of their agents and partners. In response, consider taking lead routing a step further by considering the historical lead acceptance and lead pursuit performance of each sales agent.
To get the most out of your lead scoring and routing system, taking your salespeople skillset and performance into consideration will have a significant impact on overall goals. This can also be based on the availability and geographical location of your sales agents. You want the best available agent working on the best qualified leads, so that no good leads are lost, ignored, or deterred off the sales cycle.
Furthermore, equipped with existing criteria as well as the skills and performance of your salespeople, team leaders can be confident that their most promising generated leads are assigned to those who are best suited to your business. The best part? There is software that can do this in real-time and automatically springs into action as soon as a potential customer fills out a form, calls your business, or simply shows interest in your product. By implementing performance-based lead routing, your business will never leave money on the table.
To equip their sales teams with the best chance of closing sales successfully, the finance and insurance industries implements effective lead scoring systems.
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