What Are Qualified Leads & How To Get More of Them?

What are qualified leads?

Simply put, qualified leads are potential customers who have met certain criteria and thus appear to be likely buyers.

A good way to think of them is as pre-qualified prospects: you know that these folks may be interested in buying your product or service, and you can focus your time and energy on connecting with them.

Qualifying a lead requires you to look at several different criteria, such as:

• Demographics: Are they in the right age group or location to purchase your product/service?
• Interests: Do their interests and needs match up with what you are offering?
• Budget: Do they have the budget to pay for your product/service?
• Authority: Do they have the authority to make a purchase decision on behalf of their company or organization?

This may seem like arduous work. That’s because it is! That’s why it’s so important to invest in automated lead generation software like LaGrowthMachine.

Our tool can help you generate more sales leads through automated outreach sequences:

Perfect for B2B prospecting, automated sequences save your salespeople tons of time and allow you to generate leads using outbound means continuously without lifting a finger!

Marketing Qualified Leads vs. Sales Qualified leads

When a lead enters the marketing funnel, it is necessary to qualify them in order to understand what action needs to be taken and which department should take charge.

This is what we refer to as a “marketing qualified lead” (MQL) or “sales qualified lead” (SQL).

MQLs are leads qualified by the marketing teams. The department has successfully identified a need in them and has succeeded in attracting their attention.

These leads are then passed on to the sales teams to be transformed into customers.

SQLs, on the other hand, are leads that have been qualified by the sales team.

This means they have confirmed that there’s real sales potential with the prospect and have been able to convert them into customers. We have a full guide on sales leads and how to convert them right here, so make sure to check it out!

If you’re looking for a way to generate qualified sales leads, LaGrowthMachine is the perfect solution.

Our process for lead generation is highly targeted and produces great results. And with a tool like ours, you have all the data you need to automate multichannel workflows and generate leads continuously.

As an example, here is one of our cold calling campaigns:

As you can see, out of 552 cold leads contacted, 318 of them showed interest and responded to our prospecting messages. This gives us a response rate of nearly 60%!

How to determine qualified leads?

Now that you understand the basics of qualifying leads, let’s talk about how to determine which leads are qualified.

The lead qualification process is a set of steps used to change sales prospects who are “unready” to buy into people who might actually make a purchase.

It can also help your business stand out from the competition by getting to know a prospect’s pain points and tailoring your sales outreach accordingly.

Let’s take a more in-depth look into the steps required to qualify a lead:

1. Start with research:

The first step in qualifying a lead is to do some research on the prospect. This can include things like their company size, buying history, industry, and competitive landscape.

Once you have enough information on your lead, start putting a process with rules in place, you can for instance ask yourself these questions:

• Is the lead a decision-maker? If not, then they don’t qualify.
• Does the lead have the budget to make a purchase decision?
• Did the lead express a high enough level of interest?
• How much lead nurturing is required before a purchase decision can be made?

2. Use scoring systems:

Lead scoring models are a great way to rate and prioritize leads.

This is done by assigning scores to leads based on certain criteria and actions they take related to your brand, e.g. the amount of time they’ve been in the sales cycle.

These scores can then be used to determine which leads are “hot” enough. Meaning who should receive priority-level attention from your sales team and which ones can be put on the back burner for now.

Naturally, the hotter a lead is, the more likely they are to convert to a customer.

3. Qualify with surveys:

Surveys are another great way to qualify leads.

They can help you determine things like the lead’s budget, needs, and timeline for their purchase decision.

You can also use surveys to better understand their pain points and offer tailored solutions accordingly.

In addition, you can also use surveys to identify any possible objections they might have before getting into a sales conversation.

This way you can address those points right away and prevent any potential problems down the line.

Start getting qualified leads now

Lead qualification is an important process for any business looking to generate qualified leads and convert them into customers.

By understanding the basics of lead qualification, you can make sure that each lead you receive has the potential for a sale and is worth your time and resources.

You can also use tools like surveys, scoring models, and research to better assess which leads are ready to buy so you don’t waste your time chasing down unqualified leads.

Happy qualifying!