Lead Qualification & Segmentation: Why it Matters to Kitchen & Bath Design Businesses
By now you are hopefully bought in on the benefits of a defined sales process and having, or improving, a sales system. One place that trips up even the most sales-savvy Kitchen & Bath design businesses is how to clearly define Marketing Qualified and Sales Qualified leads. Also known as MQLs and SQLs.
If these terms are new to you, check out Episode 3 this season that discusses the sales process lingo and helps to demystify these terms. While there are many other stages a lead goes through, the qualification stages can be the muddiest when you haven’t taken the time to clearly define them for the organization.
In Episode 3 we also laid out the entirety of the sales process: moving someone from prospect or a lead, through qualification, into the design consultation. From there, a proposal is presented in the form of a design and quote and then the sale is closed when the client signs the agreement and pays the deposit.
The Importance of MQLs and SQLs
So why does it matter that we segregate MQLs from SQLs? Isn’t a lead a lead? Well, yes and no. It is true that this delineation is more of an advanced level of sales process. And, a good sales system can help with making this delineation. It isn’t a requirement, but you do want to do it because having it means the valuable resources of your designer’s time and attention are able to be used most effectively.
That is, when you have MQLs and SQLs, designers can prioritize engaging with SQLs knowing they are more likely to be ready to buy now. With MQLs, you can use systems or other resources to nurture them into SQL status.
Great! About now you might be wondering… yeah, but how do I do that? Good thing you tuned into this episode, because we’re about to break it down.
Lead Qualification & Segmentation: Breaking Down SQLs and MQLs for Your Business
- Define what a Sales Qualified Lead is in your business. It might feel a little counterintuitive to start with the SQL, but most of the time we are more in-tune with what makes a contact ready to buy than what makes them worth nurturing. A SQL is a vetted lead deemed ready for the next stage in the sales process. So let’s start with the obvious action first: they booked a design consultation. That’s a contact ready to talk about buying. Check!
Okay, now… is there anything else that would make them a SQL? Maybe they provided their budget information in an interest form and it matches the types of projects you do. Perhaps they were referred by a partner like a builder or interior designer that only sends over contacts that they are working with. Basically, who would make it to the top of the list to get in touch with if you only had 10 minutes to spend on sales?
- Define what a Marketing Qualified Lead is in your business. This is a lead that isn’t yet sales qualified, but have taken actions that show they have interest and that suggest potential for becoming a paying client. One way to think about this is: What are the qualifications of a contact that would make it worth paying money to get in contact with them? This could be an action as simple as signing up for your list, or calling in to ask about setting up an appointment (if they book the appointment, they are an SQL, if they just inquire about it, they are an MQL).
The key here is to make it SPECIFIC to YOUR business and what actions your leads take. And typically there is a list of possible MQL qualifications. The value in defining this status is knowing that they are more than tire kickers.
Enhancing Sales Efficiency: The Importance of Defining MQLs and SQLs
Putting in the effort to define the qualifications for MQLs and SQLs in your Lead Qualification & Segmentation process means you can use your sales system to better cater to the needs of each of these types of leads, and you can automatically prioritize leads for your designers. This is where you reap the benefits of effectiveness and efficiency. Another reason to make this improvement for your sales process is it can also help your marketing team tailor their efforts to get MQLs and put nurture campaigns in place to support moving leads from the MQL stage to the SQL stage.
The next episode is all about what to track when it comes to leads. Beyond the obvious capturing of contact information, what else do you need to know when it comes to leads in your sales system? Tune in to find out.
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