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Lead management: Lead status values - Iron Horse
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What about “accepted” stages?At Iron Horse we don’t recommend explicitly having status values for accepted stages (e.g. sales accepted, tele accepted, etc.). Forcing a rep to manually select a status value before engaging a lead wastes a rep’s time. If you want to report on accepted leads, take the total number of leads sent over and subtract those that were rejected. “We recommend using tasks/activities as they allow the capture of disposition (e.g. spoke with admin, left voice mail, sent email, etc.).” What if I don’t have an inside sales or tele team? You should have these teams as they drive higher conversion rates at a lower price point. But, if you don’t, just replace that team with the lead-receiving function that will get the lead (e.g. direct sales rep).
Can a lead stay in one of those lead stages forever? Outside of pre-inquiry, N/A, and some rejection reasons (e.g. competitor) the answer is absolutely not, as it will very much screw up your funnel reporting. Timelines (typically outlined in a service level agreement [SLA]) that specify the maximum amount of time a lead can stay in any one of these stages (before automatic termination) absolutely need to be defined. “The key with reps is that they enter and track their activities and opportunities in the CRM and in this way you can map their activity and opportunity activities to funnel stages.” Do I really have to have inside sales and direct reps use lead status values?Many do, but at Iron Horse we recommend having lead status values automated and driven by automation rules and triggers that fire based upon actions and timelines you’ve specified in your CRM and marketing automation platform. It takes a little more time on the front end when setting up your lead management process, but it decreases human error and also decreases the amount of time it takes to process leads that enter your funnel moving forward.
Connected.The lead is actively engaged by an inside sales resource and the rep has had one or more live conversations or exchanges with the lead. “Disqualification reasons include: unable to reach, no interest, not ready to buy (in the timeframe defined by company), went cold (aka stopped responding), etc.” Long term nurture. The lead is primarily being engaged through long-term nurture and there is no active engagement from sales. This pick list value is not available for sales or marketing resources to select. Leads are placed in this status by an automation rule after a specified timeframe after rejection or disqualification (typically six months or half of the average buyer’s journey for the product in question). This status value exists because rejection or disqualification once doesn’t mean a lead is never going to be viable. When a lead achieves this status, it is again eligible to become an MQL.
Disqualified.A lead that inside sales or direct sales engaged or connected with, but which the sales team has determined to be non-viable. When a lead is listed as disqualified, a conditional field should be used to capture the disqualification reason. Disqualification reasons include: unable to reach, no interest, not ready to buy (in the timeframe defined by company), went cold (aka stopped responding), etc. When a lead is disqualified it is not eligible to become an MQL until it moves to long term nurture. “Long term nurture. The lead is primarily being engaged through long-term nurture and there is no active engagement from sales.” N/A.This is the lead status value that all individuals from client and partner accounts receive and it indicates that they are not viable candidates for sales to engage. When a contact is placed in this status the status value stays persistent as long as the contact’s company remains a customer. If the company does not renew all contacts with the lead status of N/A, then they move back to the lead status of pre-inquiry (if no activities) or inquiry.
Disqualified.A lead that inside sales or direct sales engaged or connected with, but which the sales team has determined to be non-viable. When a lead is listed as disqualified, a conditional field should be used to capture the disqualification reason. Disqualification reasons include: unable to reach, no interest, not ready to buy (in the timeframe defined by company), went cold (aka stopped responding), etc. When a lead is disqualified it is not eligible to become an MQL until it moves to long term nurture. “Leads are placed in this status by an automation rule after a specified timeframe after rejection or disqualification (typically six months or half of the average buyer’s journey for the product in question).” N/A.This is the lead status value that all individuals from client and partner accounts receive and it indicates that they are not viable candidates for sales to engage. When a contact is placed in this status the status value stays persistent as long as the contact’s company remains a customer. If the company does not renew all contacts with the lead status of N/A, then they move back to the lead status of pre-inquiry (if no activities) or inquiry.
Why using the right CRM lead status values is important to Sales and Marketing “Lead status values are a way to organize and prioritize leads, but they are also a way to communicate internally about the lead funnel in a consistent way.” CRM lead status values for B2B companies
CRM lead status values for B2B companies “Most B2B companies use a CRM lead status (or contact status) field to trigger Sales to call a contact and track and measure funnel performance.” Pre-inquiry.An individual that is in the CRM, but has not taken any marketing activities (i.e. a contact from purchased list with no activity). Frequently these are contacts from data list purchases.
Why using the right CRM lead status values is important to Sales and Marketing “When growth teams can accurately track and measure lead flow, outreach, and conversion, Marketing can better target, capture, and filter leads so that Sales can more easily prioritize leads and efficiently plan outreach.” CRM lead status values for B2B companies
Why using the right CRM lead status values is important to Sales and Marketing “Having too many, too few, or unclear lead status values can muddy this process and increase busywork for Sales—which always gets in the way of growth.” CRM lead status values for B2B companies