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Which Leads are Worth Your Time? How to Prioritize your Leads
You sit there with a long list of potential customers in front of you. You are probably not working through it from the top down in alphabetical order, but starting with the ones that give you have a good feeling about. But who is it that gives you a little extra attention? And why really? Here’s how to prioritize correctly in the qualification process.
A lead is a company or individual that has in some way been in contact with your company and has shown interest in you and your products. It may be someone who has only visited the website, someone who has downloaded your material several times or someone who may have contacted you directly to hear what you have to offer.
In other words: leads can look different and have shown different levels of commitment. But everyone is worth your time in one way or another and should be contacted. However, how much time and effort you make depends on more things:
The idea of ”wow” is a good sign for a qualified customer
When you sit with your list of leads, there are probably some of the names that you recognize. Maybe there is some well-known company and you think “wow, cool that they contact us”. There may also be names on the list that don’t tell you anything at first, but then turn out to be “big players” in a particular industry. Then it can also appear a “wow” in the mind and cause you to raise the eyebrows in surprise in front of the computer screen.
Although it may feel superficial, it is common to give well-known and large companies some extra attention as a seller. And the reason for that is really very simple: the odds of being a qualified company are simply higher. Their budget is probably higher and their needs are probably large, which makes them more qualified customers than companies that have a smaller budget to work with. Assuming your company can meet their needs of course.
How your leads act determines the work you put in
When you initiate contact with a potential customer, you quickly get a sense of how interested the person really is. You may find that one client thinks your product or service sounds moderately interesting but still has not decided if his company needs your services or products. Another client, on the other hand, is already familiar with the industry and knows that their company will buy the type of product or service your company sells – and relatively soon.
Both are in need of your attention, but who do you spend the most time and energy on? Probably the latter. And that is not because their business is more important than the others. But is based on the situation the client is in. Based on their behavior, you understand that they will read every word you give them – while a less interested lead may only skim through the information. And that is why your priority should preferably be then.
All leads should be contacted, but in some cases, there is actually a reason for you to spend your time and energy elsewhere. Most often you feel it in your gut and it is based on the fact that you simply do not get any response back.
Let’s take an example. You call a lead and the person asks you to email the information instead. To know that your time can actually lead to something more than just an email, you should make sure that they can answer the questions of what, when and why – if you do not get a “specifier” the person is not really interested and you can spend your time on more important things.
Finally, we can conclude that all leads are worth your time, just very different. Some deserve your full commitment, while you may not even need to send an email to others. And it depends partly on the size and establishment of the companies, and partly on the commitment they show to your products or services – so be sure to keep a close eye on your leads and how they interact with your company! Only then can you prioritize your to-do list.
