We have discovered that our MQL reporting is inaccurate in that it doesn't count prospects that are already listed as MQLS. For example, if a lead came in 6 months ago, was followed up by sales, and they determined there isn't a near-term opportunity, it would stay listed as MQL. So if that same lead contacted us this month for pricing, for example, it should be a new MQL, but our report wouldn't catch it. I'm considering adding an element to the behavior scoring that would roll it back to a lead based on certain factors. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on this?
My recommendation is never to move a contact backwards through lifecycle stages and instead layer on Lead Status to indicate more granularly where the MQL is at in the process, and incorporate this field into reporting. The reason being to not disrupt your current monthly reporting because when you move a lifecycle stage backward, you clear the lifecycle stage date stamp (i.e. became an MQL date) and remove them from any reports looking at specific time periods. In other words, if you moved the lead who became an MQL 6 months ago back to a lead, they would no longer appear in your MQL report for 6 months ago.
In the example you provided, when the contact first entered the database and met the MQL criteria:
lifecycle stage = MQL
lead status = new
Once Sales reviewed the MQL and determined there isn't a near-term opportunity but there is future potential, they would update the lead status = marketing nurture. If Sales determines the MQL isn't qualified/good fit and never will be, then they should update the lead status to "disqualified."
I'd then recommend setting up a "Re-engaged" lead status based on specific criteria such as pricing form submission, contact us form submission or any other actions that your company would deem an MQL. This lead status would be set via a workflow with specific enrollment triggers aligned to the criteria your team defines as an MQL.
Finally, I've recommend setting up an MQL dashboard that includes multiple reports:
Net-new MQLs (lifecycle stage = MQL and lead status = new)
MQLs to nurture based on sales review (lifecycle stage = MQL and lead status = marketing nurture)
Re-engaged MQLs (lifecycle stage MQL and lead status = re-engaged)
Disqualified MQLs by sales (lifecycle stage = MQL and lead status = disqualified)
If you're looking to report on specific time periods when MQLs hit these different lead status, I'd recommend creating custom date stamp properties for each lead status and setting up workflow automations to set the date stamp property based on the day the lead status is updated.
This will give you much more granular and actionable data that you can segment your database off of and dig into to see what MQLs are being created new vs. those that are re-engaging. You can then trigger notifications to Sales based on those that re-engage (i.e. fill out the pricing form) after they previously deemed them needing more nurturing.
Happy to chat through this more and provide any visuals that will help you in getting this set up, if you choose to go this route.
Personally, I roll MQLs back to Leads. Perhaps my reporting isn't quite as mature as what you guys have going on here. But, we use MQL as a way to identify Leads that *might* be ready for sales outreach via lead scoring & automation vs. having sales call Leads and determine whether or not they are MQLs.
I have a MQL/hot lead contact view that automatically populates with MQLs and other leads that seem like they might be "hot" based on specific behavior. AEs use the view as part of their prospecting efforts and know that this list is a "higher propensity" to be open to scheduling a meeting with them.
If/when they do get a meeting with them, sales determines whether or not they're ready to move forward and sets them as either a SQL or Oppty depending on timing.
MQLs are automatically rolled back to Leads after 90 days if we haven't been able to get them to engage with a sales conversation and/or self-activate with a free trial.
I don't really report on MQLs for our business because it seems like a bit more of a vanity metric. I report on demos/meetings marketing campaigns & SDRs are able to book for sales and pipeline contribution.
Agree with this! We have many programs and types of products so we roll folks back when we offer them a new service. Can't think of a better way than what's outlined here. Open to ideas.
My recommendation is never to move a contact backwards through lifecycle stages and instead layer on Lead Status to indicate more granularly where the MQL is at in the process, and incorporate this field into reporting. The reason being to not disrupt your current monthly reporting because when you move a lifecycle stage backward, you clear the lifecycle stage date stamp (i.e. became an MQL date) and remove them from any reports looking at specific time periods. In other words, if you moved the lead who became an MQL 6 months ago back to a lead, they would no longer appear in your MQL report for 6 months ago.
In the example you provided, when the contact first entered the database and met the MQL criteria:
lifecycle stage = MQL
lead status = new
Once Sales reviewed the MQL and determined there isn't a near-term opportunity but there is future potential, they would update the lead status = marketing nurture. If Sales determines the MQL isn't qualified/good fit and never will be, then they should update the lead status to "disqualified."
I'd then recommend setting up a "Re-engaged" lead status based on specific criteria such as pricing form submission, contact us form submission or any other actions that your company would deem an MQL. This lead status would be set via a workflow with specific enrollment triggers aligned to the criteria your team defines as an MQL.
Finally, I've recommend setting up an MQL dashboard that includes multiple reports:
Net-new MQLs (lifecycle stage = MQL and lead status = new)
MQLs to nurture based on sales review (lifecycle stage = MQL and lead status = marketing nurture)
Re-engaged MQLs (lifecycle stage MQL and lead status = re-engaged)
Disqualified MQLs by sales (lifecycle stage = MQL and lead status = disqualified)
If you're looking to report on specific time periods when MQLs hit these different lead status, I'd recommend creating custom date stamp properties for each lead status and setting up workflow automations to set the date stamp property based on the day the lead status is updated.
This will give you much more granular and actionable data that you can segment your database off of and dig into to see what MQLs are being created new vs. those that are re-engaging. You can then trigger notifications to Sales based on those that re-engage (i.e. fill out the pricing form) after they previously deemed them needing more nurturing.
Happy to chat through this more and provide any visuals that will help you in getting this set up, if you choose to go this route.
Hi, I really like the process that you laid out. We are trying to develop a strategy for managing our MQL data and this helps in many ways. I do have a question about how we could document how the lead was converted to an MQL. THis will help us understand what is working and what is not working. One of the issues that we have is that we have a Strategic Relationship Manager that we need to be able to track the leads that he is converting into MQLs so that he receives credit for these conversions. Any thoughts ? Thank you so much for your insight!
Once Sales reviewed the MQL and determined there isn't a near-term opportunity but there is future potential, they would update the lead status = marketing nurture. If Sales determines the MQL isn't qualified/good fit and never will be, then they should update the lead status to "disqualified."
In order for this to work in our environment, this would need to be automated. If it's manual, it will only get done sporadically. Any suggestions?
What is the sales team process today for identifying when there isn't a near-term opportunity vs. disqualified? How do you know on the marketing side when they've made this distinction? In your original post you mentioned that Sales is already doing this but I'm curious on the specifics of how.
@MikeMitchell-DR Right, based on your original post, how would you know on the marketing side when they have reviewed an MQL and determined there isn't a near-term opportunity? Are they verbally communicating this to you right now?
It seems there is some sort of feedback loop happening today if you're aware the MQL doesn't have a near-term opportunity and should be recounted as an MQL when they complete a pricing request. That's what I'm hoping to better understand to give you the best advice on how to automate Lead Status based on the team's current process.
There is a chance your team will need to adjust their process which will take training and change management to accomplish so you have the most accurate data to report on.
