How to Know When a Lead is “Sales Ready”

by | Oct 16, 2015 | Sales and Marketing Integration, Sales Strategy, Sales Tips

Today, leading companies recognize that content marketing is a great strategy to generate new leads.  They also recognize that prospects are unlikely to be converted into customers after simply reading a few blogs or infographics. A talented sales representative must reach out to leads and guide them through the buy cycle.

Traditionally, sales executives spent a lot of time interacting with unqualified leads—individuals unlikely to ever become customers. Fortunately, today’s leading business growth teams have developed effective strategies for connecting sales reps to the perfect lead.

Using a combination of inbound and outbound tactics to distribute the content, they produce eGuides, infographics, blog posts and other valuable content available for public consumption. They can then measure interaction with the online content, gauge interest levels, prioritize their efforts and conduct more effective sales calls.

Of course, there are “tire kickers,” and then there are truly interested leads. There is an art to knowing which is which.  That art is called lead scoring.

Here a few ways to help you determine when a lead is sales-ready:

  • Use a Marketing Automation tool.
    Marketing Automation tools are the key to sending targeted marketing material. With the right marketing automation tool, you can confidently assess which leads are noticing your content and responding positively.
  • Integrate Marketing Automation and CRM
    Modern sales teams rely on CRM software to organize, manage, and record sales interactions and conversations. By integrating Marketing Automation and CRM, sales executives can be alerted when prospects are exploring your content.
  • Score leads demographically
    Your system should score leads based on their given information. This can help filter leads based on their title and role at their organization and guide your sales rep straight to the influencers and decision makers that you need to reach.
  • Track buying behaviors
    Use your marketing automation system to pinpoint each lead’s interest level, based on his or her activity. Has the prospect downloaded multiple content pieces and investigated your free trial? Reps should call now. If they’ve just eyeballed an infographic, they aren’t ready to engage with your sales team.

With the right practices in place, content marketing helps the sales team achieve perfect timing. Partnered with effective scoring on your marketing automation system, your sales reps will have the green light to start making valuable calls. The bottom line: businesses that use processes like these to nurture prospects see a 451% increase in qualified leads.[i]

At NuGrowth Solutions, our mission is to help organizations grow their sales with pace and purpose. We create goal-oriented sales teams and support them with exceptional lead generation marketing to build pipelines and increase sales. Contact us at 800-966-3051

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Author: Adam Rapp

Adam serves as account manager for NuGrowth Solutions providing sales and marketing leadership, consultation, and strategy for NuGrowth Solutions and client engagements. In his time at NuGrowth, he has lead several NuGrowth Solutions client engagements driving rapid and scalable revenue growth and ROI for his clients.

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[i] http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics