Modern Methodology for Sales-ready Leads

1. Modern Methodology for Sales-ready Leads Can you imagine a company without sales? This is a big "no". Just as your body needs oxygen to survive, the same way sales consider the air that a company breathes. Sales are tough. Building a scalable sales model has become a typical challenge for growing companies. Sales professionals deal with a lot of negativity every day. It is difficult to succeed in carrying out all the "no" orders along the path of "yes". Time is the most invaluable asset for sales professionals. With goals achieved, it becomes frustrating to waste time with a prospect who hasn't considered buying from you in the first place. Not all leads created for marketing can be considered sales-ready leads, because each contact is not a new lead. Regardless of the lead generation technique used, whether the source is generating leading leads in social media via a prime or Facebook ad, email marketing, or content sharing, B2B lead qualification is key. The marketing team leads a lot of potential customers to the sales force through multiple sources such as a flagship ad or a Facebook ad and the sales team goes through the process of trying to convert them into a lead and shut them down. But all of their efforts fail if the potential leader is not qualified. This is where the blame game between the marketing and sales team begins. Wondering why this blame game happens when generating leads? Just because there is a lack of mutual understanding about what a qualified leader is precisely. Lead qualification is the systematic process of assessing potential prospects to determine whether prospects are appropriate, ready and prepared to purchase your products and services. This is an essential part of the selling process. Qualification of a lead includes determining whether a potential customer needs

2. or wants your product, the authority to make the purchase, and the money needed to assume and execute the transaction. Sales qualification is a difficult process, especially in the area of creating inter- company lead lists. Before proceeding with the sale, it is highly recommended that you do a lot of relevant research and gather information about the forecast. This can be really helpful when you get a chance to talk to a potential client from person to person. But before you make a call with potential clients, make sure you know the right sales-ready methodologies and sales qualification questions to put you on the right track. Now the burning question is, what are the off-the-shelf methodologies and sales qualification questions to get you where you want to go? In sales, it is very important to take care of your prospects in order to build a long- term relationship with them. Typically, qualifying a sales leader was a manual task, performed by sales development representatives in the early stages of the sales process, to increase sales efforts and outputs. But in modern days where time equals money, it becomes imperative to clearly identify a well-qualified potential customer to avoid wasting time on cold forecasts and leveraging them in maximizing lead generation efforts and directing care towards the best potential customers for your product. The lead generation process is lengthy and needs to be aligned with the overall order creation process for organizations in order to create a seamless customer journey. A B2B marketer might be able to create a great lead generation campaign that includes a thought-driving blog post with a better landing page. A robust lead management and lead management method can help you achieve an increased conversion rate from outbound marketing and internal lead generation methods. There are a number of different frameworks and sales methodologies that can be beautifully represented through their acronyms. The most commonly used

3. methodologies are BANT and CHAMP. There is much more that could be added to the list in the future. For now, let's start with BANT. BANT methodology (budget, authority, need, timing) The BANT methodology was developed by IBM. It is one of the leading, reliable and original qualification methodologies used in a variety of companies and markets. It covers all procedures for identifying eligible and unqualified persons. The BANT methodology seeks to explore and answer the following four questions: Budget - Does the potential customer have the money to pay for your product or program? Authority - Does the potential customer have the authority to make the purchase decision? Need - Does the potential customer have a business need or desire that you can satisfy? Timeline - When does a potential customer plan to buy? When you get the answers to all four of these essential questions, you get a fully qualified lead, ready to have a final conversation. Although BANT is simple and fast, it does have some basic flaws and misses some modern aspects of the buying process. Specifically, the BANT qualifications may have multiple people or a committee, which will need to sign for the purchase. So, it is really important to involve all relevant stakeholders and secure everyone's acceptance. The modern lead generation process uses multiple sources including content marketing and social media to find the next qualified lead, and your lead generation strategy needs to be kept up-to-date until your landing page is designed to effectively generate leads from your target audience. You can always use the latest lead builder or lead generator software to help you improve your conversion rate. You can even use an agency that offers lead generation services to get a better conversion rate. However, clearly defining the process that your organization uses to qualify leads can have a positive effect on the bottom line.

4. Brand awareness & lead generation: - Looking to target specific accounts and decision-makers? Or engage with a wider audience? Find out how we can help. CHAMP Methodology (Challenges, Power, Money, and Priority Setting) The CHAMP methodology pioneered by Insight Squared is a new, modern, sales- ready lead qualification method created to overcome the flaws of the BANT methodology. CHAMP stands for: Challenges Problems and challenges are the first things to discuss with a potential client before talking about a budget. A potential customer buys things because they have a challenge, and if you have the solution, you have the real start of "opportunity." By listening to a potential customer's problems and concerns, you can find out if there is an opportunity for you to present your product and show how it can be helpful to solve their problems. The best way to understand your potential pain or need is to ask them questions that will help you determine if a potential customer is the best fit for your product. Challenging questions Are you facing any challenges with the current solution that you would like to change? How long have you faced this challenge? What made you decide to solve this problem now? What drives your interest in our solution? What goals are you looking to achieve by resolving this pain? Answers to the questions above will allow you to determine if your product is a true match for a potential customer. Authority

5. It is always a good idea to inquire about the authority of a potential client. You should be asking questions of the potential client that help you map out the organizational structure of their company. Time in sales equals money. Asking for authority simply means that you don't want to waste your time and energy talking to the wrong person. It doesn't matter if the initial contact on a lead has low authority, they can point you to the right person. Once you know about the decision makers, your job is to reach out to them for more conversation. Power questions Who, in addition to yourself, is involved in the realization of this solution in your company? What will be your role in the decision-making process? How are purchasing decisions made for a product like ours and who is involved in considering this solution? What concerns would they have? If they have any potential concerns, how do you think we should deal with them? Capital In sales, money becomes an important topic of discussion. Do not start your qualifying question with this. If a potential customer cannot afford the product or service, you will not be able to sell them. First, discover the challenges and issues of the potential customer, then discover their expectations about the investment they need to make, as you have the opportunity to draw their attention towards the benefits that they can exclusively obtain if they invest in your product or solution. Money questions What are your expectations for the necessary investment to purchase the solution? Do you have a budget for this project? Is your finance team or CFO involved in agreeing to this?

6. What is the typical budget allocation process? Has budget been allocated for this project? Define the priorities In the sales process, schedule is a function of setting priorities. This relates to the priority of the lead when they need to solve their problems and challenges. You have to be very specific while discussing their schedule and priority list. If a potential customer says they need to have this problem fixed in the next week, what they're really saying is "This is a top priority". This is where you need to work, and find a potential client business plan. Prioritization questions When do you plan to roll out? Do you currently have a contract? If so, when is it due for renewal? Is there a cancellation fee? Do you have the time and bandwidth to get started now? How important is this to you and where does this stack up in priority and urgency? If a potential customer answers these questions, then you'll know you're the perfect fit if you believe your product will successfully meet the needs of a potential customer. Your current lead generation strategy can be improved through some adjustments to how you implement marketing to generate leads, be it in the field of internal marketing or the techniques of creating lead lists. Once you define who your buyer persona is and discover the mediums through which to find your target audience, the journey to filling in the lead funnel is just beginning. B2B Lead Gen operations can vary from industry to industry, but the principles that govern this methodology can help you improve your process by ensuring that the efforts of your sales team are not in vain and spent on a quality leader. With CHAMP as a sales methodology, you can closely qualify your sales opportunity and compare it with other sales methodologies. Adding CHAMP, as a

7. way to qualify a potential customer, should also work to understand “D’- decision making or purchasing process specific to your prospects.