Hot leads – These are customers who are ready to convert. They are qualified. interested in your offer. and most likely to buy. For example. they could be a purchasing manager who has had several interviews with you and has taken a product demo. They have the authority to buy and a timeline.
- Cold Leads – These are potential customers who may not be familiar with your brand or offering. They have not yet shown any interest in what you are selling. Generally speaking. these leads are the hardest to convert into sales.
Warm Leads – A middle ground
The previous two types of leads. these are people who are familiar with who you are and what you offer. They are the ones who watch your videos or read your blogs but haven’t contacted you directly. Your goal is to turn them into hot leads.
- Information Qualified Leads (IQL) – These are the type of leads who have already shown some interest in your company and followed through on a call to action. They may have signed up for your email newsletter or filled out a lead generation form. They are often looking for more information and will respond positively to a nurturing campaign.
- Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL) – MQLs are a step further than IQLs. They are actively looking for a solution that meets their needs and are trying to figure out if yours is a good fit. These are the types of leads who will download your whitepapers. watch your videos. and attend your company seminars.
- Sales Ready Leads (SRL) – Sometimes phone number list called “accepted leads.” these are bottom-of-the-funnel prospects who are almost ready to push the button and buy. It’s important to understand their budgets. buying authorizations. needs. and time frame.
- Sales Qualified Leads (SQL) – These leads are ready to buy and should be communicating with your sales team. They are considered very hot. however. you should be aware that they are probably still considering one of your competitors.
Lead generation process
As you’ve probably figured out by now. lead generation is a multi-step process. Yours will differ depending on whether you’re focusing on inbound or outbound lead generation – but you should follow a similar approach in both cases.
Before you start trying to collect leads. you need to gather as much information as possible about your target audience. You want to contact by phone or dm know not only who they are. but also where they live. what is important to them. and most importantly. what their pain points are. especially the most pressing ones.
It’s often a good idea to create
Customer personas . in which you define the demographics. budget. and needs of typical customers. You may traits.
Once you know who you’re targeting. it’s time to determine where they are. Are they active on Facebook. or are they more likely to marketing list respond to email? Again. this will vary depending on the specific circumstances.
At this stage. you should also check out your competition. What do they do? How is your offering different from theirs? And most importantly. why is it better?