Managing inbound leads in Salesforce.com requires a system and process for qualifying prospects. If you are engaged in team selling, then coordinating data within the Lead record will become a priority. The goal of a Lead is to be converted into an Opportunity which is tracked as a viable part of the sales pipeline and forecasting.
There may be a person or a team which manages Leads before they become Opportunities. It could be separate from Account Managers or senior sales team members that work with qualified prospects towards a business deal. Within your process, be sure to have a clear flow to how Leads are tracked and followed.
Here are 4 Salesforce.com process tips from we have used as Salesforce.com consultants to increase lead flow:
- Create meaningful ratings. The native picklist values are “Hot, Warm and Cold.” These are likely derivative values and can be easily misconstrued. A good practice is to work with your team to understand how a Lead moves through their buying decisions. Find out what the stages that have meaning to your organization are. Ratings like “Ready,” “Education,” and “Nurtured” are more descript. Your team has a common language. Capture it and customize your Salesforce.com system to reflect what is natural and cultural.
- Monitor Dashboard information. If you have a large number of leads over time, ensure you are using a set of Dashboard Reports to monitor the distribution and performance of your team. This will help you to effectively manage your process and people towards higher levels of success through continual optimization.
- Integrate marketing automation. Marketing automation nurtures your Leads and works with your Salesforce.com system. Integrate a system which can help to drive your Lead Ratings or provide activity information of your buyers that are happening online. The information can then be used to update the Lead Ratings or a Lead Score.
- Create triggers. If you are on Salesforce.com Enterprise Edition then you can use Triggers and Workflows to create intelligence from this field to automate next tasks or email communications. Thus, if a Lead is rated as ready by you or automation built into your Salesforce.com system, you can create a task for a specific salesperson on your team for immediate follow-up. Timing is critical in our fast-moving economy. Thus, this would help you engage with speed and precision for a competitive advantage when your Leads are attentive.
Salesforce.com Lead Ratings should be carefully used for a thorough qualification process. With careful strategy, design and execution, this is a valuable metric within your Lead process for converting more Leads.
What are some ways you are qualifying leads in Salesforce.com?
