Managing a lead well, i.e. a person who has shown a minimum amount of interest in the company's products and/or services, is possible provided you have and follow a strategy aimed at creating a relationship and cultivating it over time, strengthening it and directing it towards a sales pipeline , and then keeping it active in the post-sales phase for up-sell and cross-sell opportunities.
The starting point is simple: the company cannot say it knows the potential customer just because it provided them with a white paper or because they attended a webinar. In appropriate ways and times, it is necessary to:
deepen your knowledge;
identify needs and pain points;
understand whether it is actually in target with the company's offer (there is nothing to stop it from being a mistake);
understand how to offer them a personalized solution;
in B2B, also overcoming the complexity of the company structure, which often presupposes the consent of two, three or more managers.
If the lead is not managed in the best way, the fact that it has shown interest during the generation phase is absolutely useless.
Lead management, why error is around the corner
As in any activity that involves human intervention and is intrinsically complex, lead management is also subject to errors. Lead management, in fact, is a multi-phase process, each of which must be managed accurately and in a personalized way : we have already talked about generation , but those in which errors are concentrated are rather those of qualification, nurturing and scoring . Let's look at some classic errors, which are found more frequently:
Delay in Follow Up
Failure to follow up with interested leads in a timely manner can cause them to lose interest and reduce their chances of conversion.
Lack of customization
This is the most common mistake, but also the most difficult to avoid. Sending generic messages, in fact, can make leads feel that the company does not understand their needs. This criticality can only be resolved in one way: an in-depth analysis of the various market segments, the clear identification of pain and needs and the development of ad hoc content to be introduced in the context of marketing automation.
Poor data valorization
Not fully leveraging the data collected can hinder understanding lead behavior and needs. This results in the lack of personalization mentioned above.
Ineffective nurturing
Nurturing is the process of developing relationships with potential customers through targeted communications and engagement strategies. Incorrect management of this step causes a loss of interest, and this often depends on inadequate content and excessive frequency or lack of communication. Also, be careful to tailor messages to the stage of the purchasing cycle in which the prospect is currently located
Inadequate qualification
The qualification phase plays a fundamental role, as it allows you to identify the prospects that are most likely to become customers. If this phase is conducted inadequately, the contacts passed from the marketing estonia whatsapp number data 5 million department to the sales department may not generate concrete results, creating problems of synergy between the divisions and compromising mutual trust . Very often, qualification is inadequate because the criteria by which it is performed are ambiguous and not well defined.
How to reduce errors, between prevention and mitigation
We have said that (at least, for now) lead management is managed by humans and humans make mistakes. It is therefore necessary to adopt a balanced approach between preventive and error mitigation actions , focusing first on prevention. Some suggestions are:
Establish clear lead qualification criteria that reflect the behavior of potential customers;
Implement an automated lead scoring system , which allows you to objectively evaluate the potential of each lead, avoiding obvious errors;
Invest time in accurately segmenting leads , creating homogeneous groups based on common characteristics and behaviors (for personalization purposes);
Use automation wisely to avoid simple mistakes like duplicate sends, incorrect times, or failure to send follow-up emails.
Despite all the precautions, mistakes can still happen. In that case, it would be appropriate to have a mitigation plan , a bit like what happens in the cybersecurity field. For example, if there is an overload of low-quality leads for the sales department, at the first symptom it is necessary to immediately carry out a review, identify the cause and modify the qualification criteria. An incorrect email can easily be followed by an errata corrige : people do not penalize (at least not for the first mistake) companies that make mistakes, if they are able to fix them.
Another fundamental element is the constant monitoring of key metrics : a gradual deviation from the forecasts can mean changes taking place in the market, while sudden oscillations could be caused by errors in lead management (e.g., irrelevant content, too pressing communication, difficulty in contacting, etc.). The implementation of monitoring tools and the in-depth analysis of key metrics reveal opportunities for improvement .
