Lead Generation

Companies of all sizes use lead generation to ensure they are regularly attracting new potential buyers into their sales funnel. In this article, you’ll learn more about what lead generation is, proven strategies for small businesses, and which software tools will keep your sales pipeline consistently full of opportunities.

What Is Lead Generation?

Generating leads is the first stage in the sales process where a potential customer (qualified or not) starts their customer journey by being added into the sales funnel. Its success depends on a business employing a number of activities that can create brand or product awareness, such as advertising, marketing, or conducting direct sales activities.

While a business can generate leads through several strategies, the best processes also include steps that gauge the buying interest of a person or organization to ensure that only the best leads move to the next stage in the sales pipeline. This is known as lead qualification, which involves organizing generated leads into one of four categories depending on their interaction, interest level, and where they came from.

Types Of Leads 

The four main types of leads include:

  • Unqualified lead (UQL): Any contact who could be a good fit for your business but has not expressed interest or connected with you yet. When you purchase a lead list, those are unqualified leads.
  • Marketing qualified lead (MQL): Anyone who has expressed some level of interest in your business by interacting with a marketing campaign. Examples include clicking on an email link, submitting a web form for a special offer, signing up for your newsletter, downloading something, or engaging with a social media campaign.
  • Sales qualified lead (SQL): Someone who has expressed a high degree of interest in your business offerings by requesting pricing, signing up for a free trial, agreeing to a presentation, or talking with a sales rep.
  • Product qualified lead (PQL): A lead who has used a product through a free trial or free-forever plan and has expressed interest in becoming a paying customer. For example, when someone uses a software free trial and reaches out to a sales rep about a feature or pricing, they have become product-qualified.

 

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