The Best Way to Qualify Leads

HOW TO DEFINE A QUALIFIED LEADInspired by a post on the Vorsight blog.

1. THE DEFINITION

1. THE DEFINITION

• Having a clear definition of a qualified lead is essential

• Without one, there is a break in the sales funnel where reps receive leads too quickly or too slowly

• This makes your sales engine run below optimal performance- too many leads, you flood the engine, too few and it’s sputtering along the road

2. THE SAD TRUTH

2. THE SAD TRUTH

• Many organizations lack a clear definition

•The definition of a qualified lead is not universal- it should be defined within the scope of your business

3. BANT

3. BANT

BudgetAuthorityNeed Timing

• Some organizations use the BANT acronym to used to determine how qualified a lead is

• The term is frequently debated and may not fit new buyer profiles because it’s too highly focused on budget rather than finding the person of influence who has a need

4. ANUM

4. ANUM

• Instead, use an acronym coined by InsideSales.com’s president, Ken Krogue

AuthorityNeedUrgencyMoney

• The subtle difference is this: • You start by building need with an authority figure, then helping them find a way to fund it

5. LEAD HANDOFF

5. LEAD HANDOFF

• Think of lead transfer as the aperture of a camera:

• The wider it’s open, the more leads will funnel through

• The degree to which you open or close your aperture depends on how many leads your business needs to thrive

6. THE APERTURE

6. THE APERTURE

• Using the ANUM acronym, you can customize how open or closed your sales aperture is

• If you want more leads, make it meet less requirements of ANUM (for example, just “Authority”)

• If you want fewer leads, add the appropriate acronym letters to filter exactly which leads get through

7. OPEN APERTURE

7. OPEN APERTURE

• So when might you want a large flow of leads to get to sales?

• You’re far behind quota• You have few Sales Development Reps (SDRs)• Have a sales team that doesn’t work many late stage opportunties• Have few inquiries through marketing• Sell mostly outbound • Have an evangelical product still unknown to the market

8. CLOSED APERTURE

8. CLOSED APERTURE

• When do you want fewer leads to get to sales?

• Have lots of SDRs• Have sales teams that are working many late stage opportunities• Have a lot of inquiries through marketing• Sell to mostly junior people at smaller companies• have a hot offering that is creating pull demand

9. THE GOAL

• Opening or closing the aperture is meant to tailor lead flow to your business

• Most companies are somewhere in between a highly filtered and wide open aperture (a good middle ground is 3 out of 4 ANUM letters)

9. THE GOAL

10. THE DANGERS

• If you open the aperture too wide, you’ll flood your sales team with fool’s gold (leads that aren’t going to buy).

• Filter too many leads and you’ll miss out on opportunities to sell

10. THE DANGERS

makes it easier to generate accurate and targeted lists of

leads from the internet.

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