You follow all the methods correctly for sales lead generation. Still, you aren’t satisfied with the consequences.
The MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads) are not converting into SQLs (Sales Qualified Leads). So, what can you do about your low lead-to-opportunity conversion rate? This post will tell you some effective tactics to improve the rate. Let’s continue.
B2B sales procedures are difficult, involving numerous stakeholders and taking a long time to make decisions. In addition, it is challenging to determine what is effective and what is not. Thankfully, here are five ways to track lead sources to turn them into sales-ready prospects.
What denotes the lead-to-opportunity conversion rate?
A lead is essentially a sales lead at the top of the sales funnel but hasn’t been qualified and turned into an opportunity.
On the other hand, when a lead is qualified and meets the requirements to go into the sales pipeline, it becomes an opportunity that bears enough value to be your future paid client.
Lead to opportunity conversion rate = (leads converted into opportunities/total leads) x 100.
For instance, if your sales rep successfully converts 20 out of 100 leads into opportunities in a month, the lead-to-opportunity conversion rate for that month becomes 20%.
What are the ways to improve the lead-to-opportunity conversion rate?
Score and rank your MQLs
Create a system to rank and score your MQLs so you can allocate resources more effectively, allowing your inside sales team to concentrate on the best possibilities. The sales team can identify the leads that need further prospecting and qualifying if you have a ranking system in place.
A CRM can help score cold leads originating due to mass sales lead generation. You can put the unfit ones into a marketing nurture program or deprioritize MQL follow-up. Remember that MQLs are not your key marketing statistic.
Identify the optimal sales engagement model
Next, it’s time to choose the most effective strategy to communicate with the MQLs on your list after scoring them. By establishing an account’s budget, authority, need, and timeline (BANT), you can frequently define your SQL.
Then specify the standards for evaluating prospects after determining the details you need to know about each qualified lead. Don’t miss out on even a tiny detail before passing them to an AE or Sales Development Rep (SDR) for the final conversion.
Choose a sales cadence model that works
You may minimize engagement gaps by using a suitable follow-up strategy that helps you decide whether to engage with calls, follow-up emails, and supporting marketing/sales content. For example, you can go from a reactive stage to actively leading prospects through the sales process by establishing a sales cadence model.
Also, a CRM platform is one of the most important things, enabling you to log every interaction. For example, it allows you to ensure that several sales representatives are not reaching out to the same prospect simultaneously.
According to a study, the best sales cycle is six touchpoints over three weeks, with follow-ups occurring three or four days apart (source).
Prioritize website CRO
Very few businesses use a CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) methodology for their websites. B2B marketers invest significant time, energy, and resources in top-of-funnel initiatives to increase website traffic and boost sales lead generation. They must turn those visitors into potential prospects (from leads to opportunities) and put them in the sales pipeline to earn a profitable ROI. That’s why B2B firms need to optimize their conversion rates much as B2C enterprises do.
Since different stages of the buying process call for different strategies, when developing your CRO approach, buyer personas and related marketing strategies can assist you in accomplishing tasks accordingly.
Implement SMART goals
Many sales teams undervalue the significance of their targets’ specificity and time constraints. According to the Salesforce analysis, 13% of leads convert to opportunities, and the conversion takes 84 days on average (source).
To conduct and validate experiments, accomplish incremental progress, and adapt internal techniques to realize long-term strategy, give your team weekly, quarterly, and annual SMART targets. The SMART goal is the acronym for being specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Slight increases in the conversion rate may impact your sales revenue exponentially. Tracking your lead-to-opportunity conversion rates helps you evaluate your sales processes more efficiently. Once this conversion rate increases, closing sales, as a result, will improve. After all, you can’t afford to lose business when you have the chance to win.
