What are the Different Types of Sales Leads?
What are Sales Leads?
Sales leads keep you from wandering aimlessly in search of your next client or customer. These leads point you in the direction of fresh revenue opportunities that will help you expand your digital business. Once you’ve begun generating leads, you can begin the lead nurturing process, which is a vital source for attracting more individuals into your sales funnel.
A company’s marketing department can evaluate which sales leads are worth engaging and which are likely a waste of time using several tools and tactics. Once leads are generated, then the sales department will take on pursuing and closing these sales leads.
Top types of Sales Leads:
Hot Lead
The very first type of lead in the sales process is a hot lead. The hot lead is generally the one that qualifies the criteria of sales dealings and has a better profile of offering benefits to the business organizations. BANT that qualifies budget, authority, need and time frame of the lead prospects helps evaluate if it is hot or not.
Cold Lead
The cold lead is another common type. It is called cold lead because it is not much qualified, and significant effort, hard work, and constant lead nurturing are required to convert this type into a successful lead. The cold leads might not have the right budget, authority, or time frame, which keeps them from sealing the deal; however, their need keeps them in the sales cycle or prospect list.
Warm Lead
The third type is the warm leads. The warm leads are in the mid of the hot and cold leads. They do not qualify on all criteria like hot leads, and they do not even fail on all criteria like cold leads. They have a fairly positive ratio of reaching the end goal of deal closure. Such types of leads require a little bit of nurturing to achieve profitability.
Information Qualified Lead (IQL)
The next type is the information-qualified lead. This is the type of lead in which the prospects get in touch with the business just randomly while trying to search for information. Such leads often share their contact details to get more information. After that, the marketing teams get a hold of them and share all the relevant and needed information that might motivate them to close the deal.
Sales-Ready Lead (SRL)
One of the unique types of a it is the sales-ready lead. This is the lead in which the individual or digital business prospects contact the business organization in order to get connected to the sales teams. Such prospects have usually done their research and are ready to finalize the deal.
Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)
Another common type of it is the marketing qualified lead. As the name suggests, this type of lead becomes a prospect because of the marketing efforts. They might have attended a webinar or watched a video that attracted them. It is different from the information-qualified lead in terms that those prospects get to know the business first and then explore the information, while in the case of MQL, marketing efforts attract the lead.
Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)
Sales qualified lead reaches the end stage of the sales funnel through the efforts and hard work of the sales. However, to reach the final stage taking the right initial step and prospecting is critical. You can take the help of lead generation experts to find the right prospects and ensure sales qualified leads.
Tips to help your business generate more sales leads
Ask for referrals from your current customers
Referrals are often the most effective way to generate more of it. Happy customers are usually happy to give a referral, and since they’ve already purchased from you, they know your products or services work.
Engage in and expand your network
Networking is a tried and true way to generate more sales leads. Nowadays, there are both in-person and online networking events to engage in, which will help you find potential clients or customers.
Be active on social media
In our modern world, a presence on social media is crucial for lead generation. Social media allows you to find and connect with potential leads all while expanding your network.
Optimize your landing pages
Creating a dedicated landing page for each of your product or service offerings is key to getting more relevant sales leads. Each landing page should capture the reader’s attention so that they can explore your business further and provide a clear call to action (CTA).