The short answer: yes.
If you have cold leads in your funnel.
But without a continuous flow of new prospects, and no way of acquiring them, you might as well throw-in-the-towel and close up shop. It’s obviously not an option any savvy business owner would take.
So, let’s take a step back and examine how you can generate more qualified leads.
What is Lead Qualification Services?
Historically, marketers would send all new leads to sales regardless of where they were in the funnel. This resulted with prospective customers getting missed, left behind or lost.
Fortunately, we learned.
Adapted.
And created new processes to better manage leads.
Because not all leads are created equal. It’s why lead qualification services need to happen before they are sent to sales.
Today, a marketing-qualified lead is a lead that goes through an evaluation process and is determined more likely to become a customer when compared to others in the funnel. A lead qualification service will help your process, working with you to develop certain criteria created by your sales and marketing teams which are then translated to points – usually managed in a marketing automation system – assigned to your leads by specific actions they take. When your prospect accumulates a certain amount of points, it gets scored high enough in its quality to be sent to sales.
Why Use It?
Lead qualification services is a common practice … specifically for inbound marketing. A term (“inbound”) many B2B marketers quickly adopted as their own. Several marketers swear by this method: write a piece of content, upload it to your website with optimized keywords for search, share on social and bam – new leads come rolling in and you look like a rock star.
Sure, the concept seems simple enough but unfortunately it’s not that easy. Most leads that get generated from inbound are cold. They need to be nurtured until they’re sales-ready. It’s why lead scoring and lead qualification services are key components to any marketing automation platform. Because building a content plan to generate a massive online presence doesn’t magically translate into new leads for your business. It takes time. And lots of it before your subscription list is large enough that you start to see results.
Is There a Downside to Lead Qualification Services?
Where inbound marketing falls short is its reliance on your target audience seeking you out. It’s a passive approach to marketing and requires a high emphasis on lead qualification services. The key problem is the web is a highly distracting place, especially when it comes time for your prospective customer to focus on what you have to offer.
We’ve all been there – where we’re going to buckle down and get some serious work done. Next thing we know, 30 minutes has passed and we’ve spent all that time watching cat videos on YouTube.
So, how do you get in front of your target audience, focus their attention, and secure new leads, fast? Simple. Acquire an email list. It will be the driving force to your lead generation efforts. You can then use your marketing automation system to nurture your leads, pushing them down the funnel until they are ready to be sent to your sales team to close.
Expand Your Reach
Despite the majority of email marketers who claim that acquired email lists are not a viable way to generate new leads for your business, they’re wrong. Source out a few data providers that can provide you with a new list of prospective customers. Then use Clickback’s Email Lead Generation software as a way to send emails to your list of cold contacts. It’s the best way to push new B2B leads into your funnel.
Want to know how other companies are using lead qualification services to optimize their lead gen efforts? Check out our case study to learn more.
