Jun 29, 20219:13 AM - edited Aug 12, 202111:05 AM
Key Advisor | Diamond Partner
Help! I’m being qualified!
We’ve all been there, you’re in the process of buying something - typically in real life - and you suddenly realise you’re in a lead qualification process. What are some of the best (and worst) experiences you’ve had as a lead being qualified? No shaming of people or brands please - it’s just for fun (and for us to learn).
Whilst walking past a beauty salon I was offered a sample, and took it. I had time to spare, and curiousity to play with, so I was ready to be drawn in to the store. What I didn't expect to get was a valuable lesson on handover from marketing to sales as an unqualified lead. The sales woman dropped me like a hot potato when she realised I was not going to spend hundreds of dollars on her beauty products. She had a series of qualifying questions, and was getting visibly more, and more annoyed as my "wrong" answers piled up.
This experience might have flitted out of my memory, but something about it stuck with me. Taking the sales enablement course, and this module on MQLs has given me that "aha!" moment. Better late than never, ey?
To determine when leads are sales-ready, leverage your champions. They can offer valuable insights into the organization's priorities and plans. When the timing is right, present a compelling use case, and you’ll significantly increase your chances of success.
I most commonly feel like a lead being qualified when I enter a cologne/perfume store and begin to browse. It's just a matter of seconds before I'm swarmed by sales folks pushing the latest product at a good price (Even though I'm not in the market to buy). Just browsing. Thats the physical aspect.
In the digital world, when I'm chatting with anti-virus support , they always like to upsell or merge my current plan. As a marketer, I like these strategies to be frank.
Help! I'm being qualified! You know, despite being labeled as 'qualified,' I still find myself scratching my head over a lot of things and discussions. Haha! It's like, I get the gist, but perfecting those quizzes feels like a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes it's clear as day, and other times, it's a total head-scratcher. But you know what? I'm slowly but surely getting the hang of it, even if it's a tad confusing at times. It's all part of the learning process, I guess. Embracing the confusion with a bit of humor definitely helps!
A recent bad experience was calling a florist to ask about a service for an upcoming wedding (100% qualified) to then being told I had to send an email, which led to an email reply of 15 qualifying questions (many of which I told to the person who answered the phone). Needless to say, I didn't bother with that company and moved on.
Same wedding: the caterer I called not only emailed to schedule a time to talk when I was available, but made slight adjustments to the menu and was totally willing to go 'outside the box' a bit to accommodate a special request. They were over my desired budget by about 15% but I'm happy to spend it because they were so easy to work with and willing to be flexible.
Just a follow-up question after taking the quick lesson Developing a Lead Qualification Framework - What are the best practices to set up HubSpot so as to make the best use of the lead qualification framework? Please advise!
This whole thread of responses is so interesting to read. I sometimes forget that I am myself am a lead for some other person or brand, and if just I observe my own responses on their lead nurturing process, I can better understand consumer psychology, and apply those realisations in my business process too. One conclusive thing that I've realised is nobody ever likes to be sold. They want to be consulted. Especially in my industry i.e. real estate. I have learnt that they need to feel that they are making the decisions themselves. They don't want to feel like they're being convinced. They want to feel the authority. It's their win, and as a agent my duty is to make them feel that they were worthy of winning.
The best experience i've had was by a small company that guided me and just called to inform me. From form, to call, to demo everything was smooth and invited I wanted more at each stage.
Worst experience I had was with a medical company that wouldn't stop calling me they were relentless and it got to point where I had to block them.
I download white papers like they're going out of style, so I'm constantly in dozens of nurture campaigns. 🤣 You can see over time what the strategy is in their sequences, which helps provide me with ideas about which techniques might be effective for us. When I do take a call from a vendor, I'm upfront about our budget and outlook right away, so we don't waste each other's time in the qualification.
My most recent experience with this was with my car insurance: I was unhappy enough with my current provider that I reached out to a firm I'd been a customer of, years before. I gave them all my information, told them I was interested in paying a year up front to save the 1.5% or whatever on the rates and could they please send me a quote.
In other words: Not only a hand-raiser, but an excellent fit, 100% qualified and ready to buy on-the-spot.
The next email I received was a temporary insurance slip for the wrong vehicle, wrong VIN and a quote very, very different from what was said on the phone.
Ended up renewing with my current company that I was/am not satisfied with and will sign up with a completely different provider, next year.
If you're going to show your potential customer that you didn't listen to a darned thing they said: That "potential" will turn into "Not until the heat death of the universe will I buy from you".
I've come across quite a few cases I would term as worst from "Hand Raisers" because of the urgency from the marketing side, but were not Sales ready. In most cases window shopping or not ready for a purchase.
Best have been the ones who were an ICP and Sales ready, although theres been negotiaion on capability and costs.
Funny you should mention that because I have definitely told somome that was trying to solicit me on LinkedIn that I am not their target buyer and therefore not a qualified lead haha!
Being asked "What's your budget" in the early stages of my due diligence. That just sends the signal that they only want my money. I usually walk away from these folks because I'm looking for a trusted advisor that will help me during my fact-finding exercise. Those that use the consultative method will get more info from me that will help them qualify me. Asking for budget from the start turns me off.
something that is a bit annoying when you receive too many emails but they do not have good content and it is very repetitive to receive the same email several times a day
