A lot of business owners think that if they get more leads, they can get more customers.

In a perfect world, you sell your product and service, and people buy them. But in the real world, there are rejections. Sometimes, people show interest in what you offer, but it does not necessarily mean they will buy. Only 5 to 15 percent of leads who ask or show interest are sales ready.

More often, you have to earn their trust before they make a purchase. Also, if your product or service is more complex, you have to work harder to win them over to your side.

Because of this low conversion rates, marketers are pressured to increase their lead volume in hopes to drive growth. There’s something wrong with this picture, but what should be done?

Businesses need to identify their leads. Leads are not created equal. Some leads show interest but are not ready to buy, and some leads are sales-ready.

Leads that are more interested in your products and ask for some in-depth information are Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs).

On the other hand, leads who have been carefully examined by both your sales and marketing teams as ready for the next step of the buying process. They are called Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs).

More so, MQLs won’t necessarily buy your products while SQLs are ready to buy but they need to be sure that it’s the right product/service for them.

Imagine: if you don’t identify these leads, you won’t know how to qualify these leads. You will send all of them to your sales team. That can only create a poor customer experience, which is very dangerous—that will cost you time, money, and effort.

You are also making life harder for both your leads and your sales team. That lead who showed interest by downloading your gated content might want to read it and has no intentions in talking to your salesperson.

These quality issues can be avoided by validating each intent of your buyers. You can send them an email that analyzes their interests and actions. Or you can answer their queries in real-time, leading to a meaningful lead and customer interaction. These interactions not only improve your customer service but they give you insight.

Transitioning MQLs to SQLs

Understanding how MQLs and SQLs convert into revenue is very critical. Your marketing and sales team should work in close collaboration to analyze these conversions. Knowing who to target and what their behaviors are give you an insight on which lead needs nurturing and which lead is ready for a sales call.

MQLs are more engaged but still not ready to make a purchase. Your company might have different levels of MQLs based on the sales cycle you have. Only specific and high-interest activities should qualify a lead to become an MQL.

Once your sales team qualify MQLs as high-quality leads, they become SQLs. By letting your marketing and sales team work closely together, you can focus on high-quality leads, increasing your conversion rates. If you let MQLs pass through your sales team, their transition to SQL will be much smoother. When your marketing team helps clean the dirt to discover gold, your sales team can truly do what they’re hired to do—generate revenue.

Lead Transitions Done Right

Identify leads → qualify leads → transition MQLs to SQLs → interact with leads and customers → collaborate with each other.

Looking at all of them seems like you need to put a lot of hard work. It is indeed true! But what if there’s a tool that will help you do all these things?

Fortunately, there are! Tools like Xeno have features that allow you to have better lead and customer interaction, provide data and analytics about the leads you come in contact with, and an effective CMS tool which allows your team to coordinate easily.

With all these tools at hand, there’s no excuse not to gear yourself towards success!