Inbound Sales

KyleJepson
HubSpot Employee
HubSpot Employee

How do you qualify leads?

How do you uncover your leads' needs and goals? Have you ever had a conversation where you did an especially good job getting your prospect talking? Share your stories in the comments below!

 

*To learn more about this, check out the Understanding the Buyer's Context lesson via HubSpot Academy. 

464 Replies 464
namefave
Member

How do you qualify leads?

Ask about their needs, budget, decision-making authority, and timeline. Focus on leads that match your solution and show interest.

0 Upvotes
stiwari99
Participant

How do you qualify leads?

  • Qualifying leads involves evaluating whether a lead is a good fit for your product or service and determining their likelihood of becoming a customer. Here’s a structured approach to qualify leads:
  • 1. BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline)
  • Budget: Does the lead have the budget to purchase your product or service?
  • Authority: Is the lead the decision-maker or will they need to consult with others?
  • Need: Does the lead have a real need or problem that your product can solve?
  • Timeline: What is the lead’s timeline for making a decision or purchasing?
  • 2. CHAMP (Challenges, Authority, Money, Prioritization)
  • Challenges: What challenges or pain points does the lead face, and how urgent are they?
  • Authority: Is the lead the right person or part of a group that has decision-making power?
  • Money: Does the lead have the financial resources to buy your product?
  • Prioritization: How important is solving their issue compared to other priorities?
  • 3. SPIN Selling (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-Payoff)
  • Situation: Understand the lead’s current situation to better assess their needs.
  • Problem: Identify any problems or challenges they are currently experiencing.
  • Implication: Discuss the consequences of not solving the problem.
  • Need-Payoff: Highlight how your product or service will solve their problem and provide value.
  • 4. Fit-Based Qualification
  • Demographic Fit: Does the lead fit your ideal customer profile (industry, company size, location)?
  • Behavioral Fit: Has the lead shown interest in your solution through actions like visiting your website, downloading resources, or requesting a demo?
  • 5. Lead Scoring
  • Assign scores to leads based on actions they’ve taken (e.g., website visits, email opens, downloads).
  • Leads with higher scores are more likely to convert, making them “sales-ready.”
  • 6. Sales Development Representative (SDR) Conversations
  • Have your SDRs engage in conversations to uncover critical information. Through these interactions, they can assess if the lead is ready for the next step in the sales process.
  • Key Tools and Resources:
  • CRM: Use tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive to track interactions and lead status.
  • Marketing Automation: Systems like Marketo or Pardot help score and qualify leads based on interactions.
  • By applying these methods, you can better identify leads that have the highest potential for conversion, ensuring you're focusing on the right opportunities.
MOlmi
Member

How do you qualify leads?

It's essential to gather extensive information from a customer to understand their potential for fostering a robust relationship with you. By engaging with customers through thoughtful questions, building rapport, and earning their trust, you can assess the potential influence of their business.

kayugarimba7819
Member

How do you qualify leads?

To uncover the clients needs, its advisable to encourage them to talk first, Ask questions like what is their goals and what are the challenges they are facing in achieving the set goals.

Ask about the consiquenses of their actions or inaction.

Ask about what they intend to achieve by ovrcoming those challenges.

NMinneci
Member

How do you qualify leads?

To uncover leads' needs and goals, I ask open-ended questions that encourage them to share challenges they’re facing and what solutions they’re considering. I once had a conversation where I asked the prospect about their biggest hurdles, which led to a detailed discussion about their goals, allowing me to better understand how to tailor my approach.

marcoorozco23
Member

How do you qualify leads?

You need to get as much information as possible information as possible from a customer to know the potential they might have to build a strong relationship wih you. You get to know customers and measure the potential impact of their business by asking questions, establishing a relationship, and gaining their trust.

0 Upvotes
AH57
Member

How do you qualify leads?

After doing a ton of background research on the company, I like to ask a ton of open ended questions along with targeted questions.  This allows the lead to drop other useful nuggets that may help me on my journey on securing the business and closing the deal.  

0 Upvotes
Gabriel_Feu
Participant

How do you qualify leads?

Rapport, warning shot, step back, questions to understand the goals and problems, and present the solution.

bPrincipe
Participant

How do you qualify leads?

Agreed!

0 Upvotes
BSnowden
Member

How do you qualify leads?

Questions, questions, questions! With a prior understanding of the lead's company I ask targeted questions to get them to open up about their needs and goals and then questions to help them understand more about how their current, or non-existent, "solution" is not helping them realize their objectives and then more questions to steer the conversation in the appropriate direction. I use the 80/20 rule...listen for 80% of the conversation and speak 20%.

0 Upvotes
lmald037
Member

How do you qualify leads?

I qualify leads by asking open ended questions that focus on their challenges and goals. One time, I asked a prospect about their biggest roadblock, and they opened up about issues they were facing. That led to a great conversation where I could show how our solution fit perfectly with their needs,  It’s all about listening and letting them do the talking.

0 Upvotes
Anaisschuh
Member

How do you qualify leads?

Qualifying leads is always an important and difficult task to tackle. Connect and building rapport is where it's at. Once you can do that, you have the trust from your prospect to truly uncover their needs and goals.

0 Upvotes
EHubbl1
Member

How do you qualify leads?

Qualifying leads is all about understanding their needs, challenges, and goals. I find that building rapport first makes it easier to dive deeper into their situations, allowing me to ask the right open-ended questions. This approach helps me figure out if our solution is a good fit for them.

0 Upvotes
TMthethwa
Member

How do you qualify leads?

IIt is through a mere connection; you may be having a conversation with someone, and the next thing you know, you share one or two interests. You can then relate to family, sports, or any commonality.

0 Upvotes
GJohnson15
Contributor

How do you qualify leads?

I qualify leads by looking for our ICP (Ideal customer profile). I do a little homework into the company when they seek us out or we seek them out to see if their company will be a good partnership for us. Then when it comes to the initial meeting I can ask clarifying questions and deep dive into the challenge to find if we're the best solution for the customer.

Ideal customer profile(s) can save you from making a poor sale that you regret in 3 months after you have sunken costs and wasted labor hours.

JGorman2
Member

How do you qualify leads?

build a rapport and get an uderstand of the consumer needs

0 Upvotes
OOladunjoye
Participant

How do you qualify leads?

ICP'S eliminate the stress of engaging with uninterested clients, enabling sales professionals to focus otargeted, high-potential prospects. 

This ensures more efficient and purposeful approach to Lead qualification.

0 Upvotes
OOladunjoye
Participant

How do you qualify leads?

When qualifying leads, I prioritize building a genuine connection before diving into solutions. I take off the "sales hat" and engage prospects on a human level, seeking to understand their challenges and industry dynamics. This approach helps me gain deeper insights, which then allows me to offer tailored solutions that truly align with their needs. It’s all about human connection first, and value-driven solutions second.

PThakar
Participant

How do you qualify leads?

I believe understanding the lead's challenges and pain points after building a rapport with them is a great way to uncover if the lead qualifies as a potential customer or not. It gives the salesperson a clear picture if the solutions being offered are going help the lead solve its problems or not.

newazuae
Participant

How do you qualify leads?

In order to build a lead creating a rapport is very crucial because that way the prospect is able to open about their challenge and also trust that your solution for them would be helpful. Also getting some infos about your prospect before actually having a conversation with them gives you an edge to knowing how to properly attempt to meeting their needs.

0 Upvotes
GOODYTALKS
Participant

How do you qualify leads?

In order to build a lead creating a rapport is very crucial because that way the prospect is able to open about their challenge and also trust that your solution for them would be helpful. Also getting some infos about your prospect before actually having a conversation with them gives you an edge to knowing how to properly attempt to meeting their needs.

0 Upvotes