We all want our sales pipelines packed with leads, am I right?
But swimming in a sea of prospects makes it easy to feel overwhelmed. The real challenges kick in – the missed opportunities, the time wasted on dead ends, and the feeling that you're stuck in sales purgatory.
However, there’s a skill that can help you keep all your ducks in a row and focus on those most lucrative prospects: the art of prospect prioritization.
Expertly prioritizing sales prospects is what will set you apart from the pack. It's the game-changer that transforms a good sales rep into a great one.
So in this article, I’m going to help you crack the code on the best ways to prioritize your sales prospects!
1) Lead Scoring Helps You Prioritize Sales Prospects
Lead scoring lets you rank prospects based on their characteristics, behaviors, and interactions with your business.
It's a powerful tool that brings order to the chaos of your sales pipeline and helps you focus on the most promising leads. By assigning scores to various factors, you can separate the wheat from the chaff.
To get started with lead scoring, you need to understand your ICP. This is a clear picture of the type of customer that aligns perfectly with your product or service.
With your ICP in mind, analyze customer behavior and identify patterns that indicate strong potential.
For instance, if you notice that leads who have previously engaged with your competitor tend to churn after six months, you can consider them as high-value prospects who may be open to exploring new solutions.
Next, consider the prospect's activities and interactions with your business.
Did they attend your webinar? Engage with your content on social media? Download a whitepaper? Each meaningful action can be assigned a specific point value.
The leads with the highest scores accumulated through these interactions are the ones you should reach out to first.
The beauty of lead scoring lies in providing an objective assessment of each prospect's worth so you invest your time and energy in leads with the highest likelihood of becoming paying customers.
2) Eye Those Bountiful Inbound Leads
Inbound leads should be your top priority. Why? Because they've already demonstrated that your product aligns with their company's needs.
Imagine you're running a B2B software company specializing in streamlining ops for SMBs.
A promising inbound lead lands on your website, enticed by your free resource on supercharging productivity for entrepreneurs. They've taken the initiative to dive into your content, indicating a clear interest in boosting their workflow efficiency.
Here's where the magic happens.
By swiftly reaching out to this engaged lead, you're capitalizing on their immediate curiosity and aligning your solution with their pressing needs.
Inbound leads deserve your undivided attention for a multitude of reasons. These prospects have actively sought out your business, responding to your marketing efforts with genuine interest.
They've taken action – maybe they downloaded a whitepaper, or maybe they subscribed to your newsletter. Maybe they filled out the contact form on your website.
What sets inbound leads apart is their level of intent and engagement. They often come equipped with an urgent demand for a solution, making them prime candidates for conversion.
By focusing on these leads, you can utilize your time and resources more efficiently, redirecting your efforts away from time-consuming cold calls and ignored cold emails towards nurturing those who have already signaled their interest.
Besides that, inbound leads also provide a wealth of insights that can shape your future prioritization endeavors.
Dive into the metrics, analyzing the source of the lead, the content that sparked their interest, or even their unique demographic information. These invaluable nuggets of information empower you to refine your strategies, ensuring you're focusing on the channels that generate the most qualified leads.
3) Leverage Your Customer Base to Find Upsell Opportunities
When it comes to prioritizing sales opportunities, don’t overlook the goldmine right in front of you – your existing customer base.
Think about it: these are the folks who have already experienced the value your product brings to the table. So, why not start by nurturing those relationships and uncovering upsell opportunities that can benefit both your customers and your bottom line?
Here's the beauty of this approach: it's not only easier but also more cost-effective. By offering additional features, upgrades, or exclusive discounts, you can tap into the trust and satisfaction your existing customers have already developed.
How do you do it? Your CRM can give you customer data, including purchase history, interactions, and preferences. This insight will guide you in understanding their unique needs and tailoring your upsell offers to suit their desires.
Remember, a customer-centric mindset is key. The extras need to genuinely provide value and meet their evolving requirements.
So keep upselling in the back of your mind because it’s a clever tactic that capitalizes on the foundation you've already built with your customers!
The same goes for sales referrals, for which I recommend setting up an additional email flow.
4) Fit Over Interest
Who should take the spotlight? Is it the prospect with a perfect fit but only a sprinkle of interest, or the one brimming with enthusiasm but not quite the right fit?
The answer may surprise you: Leads that fit better should always take priority over those who are solely interested.
Sure, highly-interested prospects may seem enticing at first glance.
However, if your product or service doesn't truly address their needs or provide substantial value, you might find yourself facing high churn rates. It's like trying to force a square peg into a round hole – it's just not a good fit.
That's where the concept of fit over interest comes into play. By prioritizing leads that align seamlessly with your offering, you increase the chances of long-term success and customer satisfaction.
But how do you determine if a lead is a good fit?
The key is to assess whether a lead's needs, challenges, and goals align with the solutions you provide. That’s called qualification, but I'll delve into that in our next section.
5) Qualify Your Leads
Not every new prospect or lead is created equal.
Sales qualification is the process of evaluating and determining the potential of a lead to become a valuable customer. By qualifying your leads, you can save time, headaches, and, most importantly, laser-focus your efforts on those high-value opportunities.
There are several qualification methodologies you can use. One widely known methodology is BANT – Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline.
With BANT, you assess whether the lead has:
- The financial means (Budget) to make a purchase
- The decision-making power (Authority) to move forward
- A clear need (Need) for your product or service
- A specific timeline (Timeline) for implementation
Then there is CHAMP – Challenges, Authority, Money, and Prioritization.
CHAMP focuses on understanding the Challenges the lead is facing, identifying the key decision-makers and their Authority, assessing the financial capabilities (Money) to invest, and determining the level of Prioritization the lead assigns to your solution.
Lastly, we have NEAT – Need, Economic Impact, Authority, and Timeline.
NEAT emphasizes evaluating the lead's Need for your product or service, the potential Economic Impact it can have on their business, the level of Authority they possess to make purchasing decisions, and the specific Timeline for implementation.
These methodologies serve as frameworks to systematically assess your leads and identify the most promising opportunities.
However, remember you can tailor and combine elements from these methodologies (or any of the others) to create a qualification process that aligns best with your business goals.
Best Practices for Prioritizing Sales Prospects
- Understand Buyer Intent: Dive deeper into understanding the intent behind a prospect's actions and behaviors. Analyze their engagement with your content, website, and interactions with your sales team.
- Get Customer Referrals: Tap into the power of customer referrals. Satisfied customers are often eager to recommend your product or service to others who may have a similar need. Prioritize these referrals as they come with built-in trust and credibility, increasing the likelihood of conversion and long-term customer satisfaction.
- Continuously Evaluate and Refine: Prioritization is an ongoing process that requires continuous evaluation and refinement. Regularly review your prioritization criteria and measure the effectiveness of your approach.
- Look for Buying Power: Keep an eye out for indicators of buying power, such as companies receiving funding or launching new products. These events can signify increased resources and a greater potential for making purchasing decisions.
Unleash the Power of Effective Prioritization
Prioritizing your sales prospects is a vital step in maximizing your sales efforts – and now you have 5 effective methods and best practices to make sure you do it right.
By focusing on those high-value opportunities and knowing where to put your resources, you can build high-quality lead lists that ultimately generate sales.
But, of course, when you’ve found that juicy lead, you’ll need their legit email address. Findymail has you covered. Sign up today and get your first 10 verified email addresses for free!
