Lifecycle of a Lead: Overview

Lead management is a very intricate process.  The lifecycle of a lead is often complicated and time consuming.  There are so many factors to consider that, to the average marketer, it can seem overwhelming and even daunting.  In the next few posts, I would like to go in depth about the lifecycle of a lead and all of its factors.  I will begin with a general overview and talk about how our services work in conjunction with your information.

Promote — The process starts with a promotional event which can come from a web form, phone inquiry, trade show, direct/bulk e-mail or a combination.  You can either initiate your own program or enlist our services at this point.

Capture — Leads must be captured first by our system and is where the work really begins.  We step in and capture the lead information. We want to make sure we’re gathering every single lead that comes in and get it to the right person.

Qualify — The range between qualified and unqualified leads can vary immensely.  Understanding when someone is ready to buy can give a competitive edge.  Our goal is to send quality leads out to the field, so if there isn’t enough information, we will get it and determine where it needs to go.

Nurture — Developing and using a consistent approach to prospects that have expressed interest but are not ready to buy is important for any company.  We work with our clients to develop a customized solution for these “cold” leads to nurture them until they are sales ready.

Distribute — Quickly distributing leads to your sales channel is a necessity to getting the sale.  If the lead is hot or warm, we send out information as requested via an automated process. The lead is then sent to the salesperson or dealer through the SmartLead Lead Management tool or SmartLead Plus Sales Force Automation tool.

Follow Up — SmartLead tracks all the activity taking place with the lead and reports it to corporate. If the prospect falls out of the process, we can put them back into a lead qualification/nurturing program.

Convert — This is where the lead is converted into a sale.

Report — The last piece is closing that loop. Upon conversion, we can tie the lead back to the original event that generated it and analyze what the sale was worth, how long it took to close, what product/service was sold and what promotional event generated it.