In Marketing, there is a special term for those potential customers who are very close to the decision to buy from you: Sales Qualified Lead (SQL).
This is because the purchasing process is complex and the fact that a consumer needs products or services like yours does not automatically make them a customer.
Buying is more than finding what you are looking for: buying also involves information, service, experience, among many other factors!
So follow me to better understand who SQLs are and how to get them to this stage of the process!
What is SQL?
In the sales cycle, a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is a lead that, after being carefully qualified by the Marketing team, demonstrates a real interest in the products or services offered by the company and is ready for a more focused sales approach.
Why generate Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)?
Unlike other types of leads, SQL is the one that is closest to the purchase decision, being considered an important asset for Marketing and, especially, sales teams!
Look:
- 👽 Suspect: lead that provided basic data (such as name and email), but has not yet clearly demonstrated their interests;
- 🎯 Qualified lead: lead that has the ideal customer profile (ICP);
- 🧑💻 Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): a lead qualified by Marketing, who is mature and possibly interested in buying. This varies from case to case: an MQL can be a lead who has the profile and is still interested in buying, or it can be a lead who has the profile and is ready to buy, but is not necessarily interested (because he is educated, but has not yet moved forward on his own, so the sales team must approach him);
- 🕵️♀️ Sales Accepted Lead (SAL): lead accepted by the sales department, whose data provided has been validated;
- 👩🏫 Sales Qualified Lead (SQL): a lead that has been educated by the Marketing team, was approached when it became a SAL, and the sales team validated that there is a real commercial opportunity. In other words: it is a qualified lead for sales!
Identifying these different types allows you to direct efforts and resources towards leads that are more likely to become customers, optimizing the efficiency of your sales team!
How to generate Sales Qualified Leads?
As leads are consumers who are interested in the topics covered by your company and have the potential to purchase your products or services, as they have already made initial contact — visited your website or blog, sent a message, left their email registered in the newsletter, for example — they must be guided to the purchase decision.
But how to do this? I’ll answer you! Mainly through content.
Think about it: from the moment a lead is generated, they need to be educated to feel increasingly secure about your company and its solutions.
This can be done with strategic content across different channels — that blog post explaining how to choose a smartphone or a special email offer for the model the potential customer had viewed a few days ago.
However, in this process, not all leads are qualified. To differentiate them and ensure appropriate segmentation, we use lead scoring, which is nothing more than a score that indicates the most promising ones.
This way, it is possible to observe how leads evolve, passing through different stages of the Marketing and sales funnel until they reach SQL status.
And, with good qualification work, the chances of your consumers buying increase a lot!
From there, different approaches come into play: support via email, telephone or in person, chatbots… and so on!
It is also necessary to approach SQLs in a personalized way. This is possible because, throughout the process, your leads provide a series of information about themselves.
These are the data that should be used: content consumed, questions asked, products researched, categories and brands that are of interest…
Everything can help your sales team offer even better deals to these consumers!
The transition process from MQL to SQL
Marketing Qualified Leads, as they have not yet made their interest in purchasing clear, are under the responsibility of the Marketing team, which must guide them forward in the process and generate the desire to move forward until the purchase.
Therefore, the transition from MQL to SQL is a milestone in the customer journey. The strategies employed to educate, nurture and persuade leads during this transition will make all the difference!
The idea here is to not let them “cool down”. In practice, this means that Marketing’s job is to transform MQLs into SQLs as effectively as possible!
And specific criteria are applied to determine a lead’s readiness for sales engagement. This includes:
- Lead scoring assessment;
- Engagement behaviors;
- The interest expressed in products or services, among other factors.
Collaboration between the Marketing and Sales teams determines a successful transition. Therefore, I have some recommendations:
- Jointly defining criteria: both teams must know when a lead is ready to be considered an SQL for better alignment;
- Use of automation and technology: there are many tools that help with tracking behavior, automatic scoring and facilitating the transfer of qualified leads to the sales team;
- Feedback sharing: Marketing can provide information on the quality of leads generated , while sales can contribute with the main objections observed, for example, and give tips on how to overcome them sooner.
All of this is essential for the continuous improvement of the qualification process and collaboration between Marketing and Sales!
Criteria for qualifying leads
Keep in mind that leads must not only want the product or service offered, but they must also need the solution to solve a problem or meet a specific need (the most important thing) and also have the financial capacity (power) to acquire it.
This set of criteria is the basis for qualification!
Interest demonstrated
Signs of interest may include actions such as:
- Material downloads;
- Interactions on social networks;
- Or participation in webinars.
Tracking and interpreting these signals requires strategies such as analyzing engagement patterns and personalizing approaches based on past interactions.
Furthermore, knowing how to identify and understand the lead’s interest is what allows you to adapt sales strategies and optimize the entire process!
Suitability for the product or service
Defining the ICP and the persona allows for a more assertive assessment of the lead’s suitability for the product or service offered.
Understanding whether it fits the desired profile can help (a lot!) in directing sales.
To do this, consider using actions such as analyzing demographic, behavioral and purchase history data to assess the lead’s fit with your solutions.
Budget available
Financial issues are often a sensitive issue when qualifying leads.
Therefore, strategies need to be well planned and implemented to address this in a more subtle way!
It includes approaches that focus on the cost-benefit ratio of the product or service and, at the same time, offer flexible payment options, highlighting the added value.
This alignment prevents wasted time — both for the sales team and the lead — and ensures that expectations are set from the start!
Strategies for managing Sales Qualified Leads
Now, I will explain the practical strategies to maintain a long-term relationship with SQLs, aiming at loyalty and increasing the value of the customer’s lifetime cycle:
- Lead nurturing: personalized content, targeted emails , and automations that ensure leads receive relevant and timely information are practices that strengthen relationships and set the stage for future sales opportunities;
- Use of Marketing and Sales Automation: These technologies can simplify routine tasks, personalize mass interactions and provide information to teams, in addition to saving time and improving the accuracy of actions in relation to SQLs;
- Monitoring and analysis of interactions (lead tracking): it is important to track and analyze lead interactions, from opening articles to emails, in addition to evaluating engagement on other digital platforms, such as social networks, to better understand behavior and adapt strategies to meet their needs;
- Use of scoring systems (lead scoring): as I mentioned, the score of each lead indicates maturity and conversion potential , assigning values to different interactions and behaviors. This allows efforts to be directed towards the most promising leads, accelerating the sales cycle.
A CRM will help you with SQLs!
Using a CRM is very interesting because it gathers information about leads, such as interaction history, preferences and current stage in the sales funnel.
This simplifies data search and increases the team’s understanding of each SQL, designing a more aligned, exclusive and personalized approach!
In addition, CRM facilitates communication between teams by sharing data in real time. This collaboration contributes to the integration of SQL management, minimizing errors and increasing efficiency!
Imagine a hypothetical scenario in which a lead performs several interactions on different types of content and channels, such as website and blog visits, conversions on rich materials and opening emails.
With a CRM, you can automate the classification of these interactions based on predefined criteria to identify behavioral patterns indicative of an SQL.
For example, automation can award more points to leads who demonstrate specific interest in products or services, visit sales pages frequently, or interact consistently across the company’s customer service channels.
Automation also speeds up the follow-up of qualified leads, ensuring that the sales team gets in touch at the right time and increasing the chances of conversion!
Every journey (including purchasing) starts with a first step!
Now do you see how the Sales Qualified Leads journey can be complex, but it is essential to the sales process?
Lead tracking, lead scoring, lead nurturing and the use of marketing automation tools are important ways to maintain long-term relationships with SQLs, aiming at their loyalty.
But remember: every journey, including the purchasing journey, begins with the first step towards understanding and applying solutions that actually work.
Reading this complete content was just the beginning!
Explore EnjoyMinder’s blog and find many more tips to continue your Marketing and sales journey!
