Sales lead
Good sales leads are the foundation for any lead generation strategy, one of the most frequently used strategies in digital marketing, especially among B2B companies.
For a lead generation strategy to be successful, it makes sense for there to be clarity and alignment around the definition of sales lead.
Unfortunately, too many organizations lack a clear definition that can be used across marketing and sales. There are even differences among the experts.
So you decide best definition for your business, here are 10 experts that give their definition of a good sales lead.
- “A lead is a person who has provided at least some basic information that suggests a potential interest in buying from you.” – Dan Purvis, Head of Marketing Communication, Planet
- “A lead is an unqualified contact. Any potential client or customer you meet that hasn’t been qualified as a prospect, is a lead. A prospect is a potential customer that has been qualified as fitting certain criteria.” – Mindy Lilyquist, Founder, Epiphany Marketing Management
- “Lead – An individual who has provided contact information and, in doing so, pointed toward a potential sales opportunity.” – Matt Leap, HIPB2B
- “An individual or company with an actionable need for a service or solution.” – Dan McCade, President and CEO, PointClear
- “A lead is usually a person who just entered your marketing funnel. He may have filled out your online form. Or signed up to your program. Or clicked on your ad. A lead’s engagement is usually minimal. They just showed interest, but they aren’t that invested in your product or service yet. A prospect, on the other hand, is a person who has been exhibiting interest or showing ability to make a purchase. A prospect has been qualified by your sales team or your segmentation process.” – Will Cannon, Founder at UpLead
- “RULE No. 1: A good lead is pre-qualified. RULE No. 2: A good lead is easy to convert into a customer. RULE No. 3: A good lead is easy to close. RULE No. 4: A good lead includes quantitative data.RULE No. 5: A good lead is measurable and measured.” – Geoffrey James, CBS News, Moneywatch
- “Most salespeople define a sales lead as a person or business who fits the perfect customer profile of their company. A qualified sales lead is a lead that has been validated and checked manually within your organization (or by a third party) as meeting the minimum attribute level of the customer profile. This task is usually carried out by the marketing team. A prospect is a person or organization that has expressed an interest in your product or service.” – Liz Fulham, Sales Optimize
- “A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a lead who has been deemed more likely to become a customer compared to other leads. This qualification is based on what web pages a person has visited, what they’ve downloaded, and similar engagement with the business’s content.” – Sam Kusnitz, HubSpot
- “A sales qualified lead (SQL) is when the buyer has a defined project with budget and timeline established.” – Craig Rosenberg, Chief Analyst, TOPO,
- “The point is: a “Lead” isn’t a sure thing. One of the dictionary definitions states that a lead is, “a slight or indirect pointing to something”. – Justin McGill, LeadFuze
Before your organization jumps into a lead generation initiative, make sure you have agreement on how you define a good sales lead. Do these definition help your consideration? Are you ready to begin?
