The lead management process is designed to identify and qualify potential customers and ultimately convert them into paying customers. As a company, you guide them through the sales process in a targeted manner - from the very first contact. This approach is an essential part of marketing in a number of industries - especially in B2B.
Effectively converting leads into customers - stages of the lead management strategy
Lead management is the control of processes relating to the generation and further qualification of leads. It comprises several stages: The first step is to identify and qualify potential customers. Then they are provided with relevant information along their purchase decision process (lead nurturing) until they finally make a purchase or business decision. For example, they then purchase a specific product or sign a service contract. Ultimately, lead management is therefore aimed at developing new business relationships.
Lead generation: 4 best practices that attract attention
To attract prospective customers to your company's products or services, you can use proven inbound marketing strategies. These include:
1. user-oriented content marketing
Distribute valuable, relevant content that is consistent across channels and tailored to the needs, interests and problems of your target group. Align this content with their challenges and questions and at the same time point out solutions. This will attract your target audience, who will ideally become aware of you and appreciate your shared expertise.
2. SEO alignment
Continuously monitor and analyze the performance of your content to understand which of it is getting attention. The SERP ranking of your landing pages and, above all, interactions (clicks on CTA buttons, downloads, inquiries, etc.) provide information on this. Adapt your content strategy accordingly: for example, always work on a user-friendly website structure that also meets current search engine criteria
3. social media
Which platforms do your potential leads use? Be supportive and knowledgeable in your area of expertise. Optimize your profile, interact with your community and track their behaviour and interests with analysis tools to understand them better and act more confidently.
4. events/webinars
No better place to make personal contacts than at face-to-face (or at least hybrid) events. The aim here is to get in touch with your leads personally, collect their data, offer relevant information and demonstrate expertise in detail - for example, by describing illustrative scenarios and use cases.
Lead nurturing: Attract interested parties with relevant knowledge
Leads are generated from the moment they have made themselves identifiable, e.g. when they have handed over their data in exchange for an e-book. Now it is important to slowly build a business relationship with them - by feeding them with suitable content that matches their customer journey. Make learning objectives tangible, show them how they could benefit from certain products or services. Without becoming too promotional and pushy - this route requires a lot of tact. You should understand your leads' needs well and really only provide the information and answers they need.
In the course of lead nurturing, you deepen the relationship with your prospects through each stage of the sales funnel. Email marketing is one of the most common practices here - by sending personalized and targeted emails, you can engage with your leads while serving their interests. Segment your audience to ensure that every piece of content in an email is relevant and encourages recipients to take action.
Lead qualification through lead scoring: Evaluate interested parties and treat them according to category
An important step within lead management is lead qualification: this refers to the classification and evaluation of leads. This serves to determine whether they have the potential to become paying customers. Depending on how far they are placed in the so-called "sales funnel", the theoretical model of a sales funnel, they are then given more or less active attention by marketing or sales.
A proven practice here is lead scoring, a method for evaluating and prioritizing leads based on their engagement (e.g. clicks in emails or on landing pages) and measured interest in products or services. Traditionally, they are assigned points (scores) for certain actions. The higher the total, the higher they are prioritized, as this is where the greatest sales potential lies. Find out more here.
The sales funnel is a visual tool that shows the path of a potential customer from the first contact with a brand or product through to the purchase. It illustrates the process from lead generation to the conclusion of a purchase, through the phases of "awareness" - "interest" - "decision" and "action".
Marketing automation and CRM as the technical basis for lead management
Marketing automation software provides the technical basis for lead management; it maps the processes along the sales funnel. Thanks to automation functions, the software also saves time on repetitive tasks such as sending emails or social media posts. It also allows large amounts of data generated by campaigns to be managed and evaluated for the optimization of measures.
CRM systems supplement marketing automation with functions for sales. Leads are automatically registered and segmented, allowing sales managers to act in a more targeted manner. Automation can speed up the sales process and improve efficiency. The best-known platforms for CRM and marketing automation in Europe include HubSpot, Evalanche, Microsoft and Salesforce.Conclusion: The goal of lead management
Lead management serves to increase the conversion rate, boost customer satisfaction and sales efficiency and ultimately increase your company's turnover. In addition to these end goals, the process itself can also be seen as a goal: The key here is to design it so efficiently that it identifies and qualifies leads in the best possible way and ultimately converts them into paying customers. Marketing automation - in conjunction with CRM systems - provides important support here.
