Lead Qualification (Scoring) and NurturingTips and Tricks

Presented by: Derek Grant, SVP, Sales

I’m Derek Grant

• I manage sales at Pardot

• Motto:Be Brief, Be Brilliantand Be Gone

Introduction

Lead Qualification (Scoring)Identify Exceptional Prospects

Does This Sound Familiar?

• 80% of all leads never have a meaningful conversation with a sales professional

-Forrester

• Only 17% of leads convert to qualified opportunities

-Bridge Group

Should All Leads Go To Sales?

The Grim Reality• A large number of

assigned leads should have never crossed over to the Sales team

• 70% of mishandled leads will buy from a competitor within24 months

Practical Steps• Define “Marketing Qualified

Lead” (MQL)• Have a Service Level

Agreement (SLA)• Measure and Improve

Qualification Leads to:• Prompt follow up• Higher conversion rates• More closed deals

The Need for Objective Qualification

Have You Tried?

• BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline)

• Explicit Qualification

• Implicit, Activity-based Qualification

• “Eyeball Approach”

Traditional Lead Qualification

Example of Implicit Qualification

Activity Value

Form / Landing Page Submission +50

Email Open 0

Email Link Click +3

Page View +1

Pricing Page View +25

Search +3

Opportunity Created +100

Interest v. Intent

Interest (Researching)Views 25 PagesDownloads Two

WhitepapersAttends a Webinar

Intent (Buying)“Contact Me” Form

Searches forCompany Name

Product Trial

Exceptional Prospects

Implicit – What they do

Explicit – Who they are

Finding the Right 20%

Implicit Explicit

Lead NurturingStay Top-of-Mind With Prospects

• 9% higher averagedeal size

• 23% shorter deal time

The Value of Your DB• Each lead has a cost• Time erodes the value

The ROI is Staggering

Segments, Personas & Interest• No “One Size Fits All” content• Prospect v. Customer-Focused • Granular segmentation is key

Rule: If the message “fits” everyone, it probably isn’t specific enough for anyone.

Rule 1 – Know Your Audience

What’s Your Goal• Begin at the end • “Mission Statement”• Education• Green to MQL• Brand Building

Example• Nurturing during a product

trial should convert prospect to customer

Rule 2 – Start With the End in Mind

Start• Not Yet an MQL• Non-responsive to Sales

Stop• How was “Success” defined?

Transition• Start a more specific one

Rule 3 – Know When to Stop & Start

Send at the right times• Suppress weekends or

after hours• Send during business hours

improve response rates

Frequency• Stick to a cadence• Don’t be a nuisance

Rule 4 – Be Mindful of Timing

Go Green with Content• Multi-use content• Dust off old content• Blog Post

Don’t get too specific too soon•Whitepapers = General, Broad•Webinars = Feature Specific•Case Studies = Pain points, ROI•Opportunities = Eliminate Risk

Rule 5 – Send Appropriate Content

Rule 6 – Mix It (Content) Up

Rule 6 – Mix It (Content) Up

Examples of NurturingPractical Campaigns For Any Organization

Premise• Retain early stage leads as

marketing assets• “Put the pebble in the shoe” Strategy• Heavy HTML from Marketing@• Whitepapers, broad webinarsGoal• Create an MQL

Educate Non-Sales Ready Leads

So They Don’t Want to Talk• Recycle non-responsive leads• Automation can reclaim Strategy• Revert to broad content

(Whitepapers, Webinars, etc…)If Successful Sales Engagement• From “Assigned User” & Light HTMLIf No Sales Engagement• Heavy HTML from Marketing@Goal• A more responsive MQL

Recycle Dormant Leads

Stay Top-of-Mind • Stay in touch• Non-responsive leads• Re-acquainting the prospect with

key featuresContent• Light HTML from the sales repGoal• Faking sincerity until re-engagement

Stay Top of Mind

Try it before you buy it…• Product trials• Consistent messages• Defined end pointContent• From Marketing@ & Heavy HTML• “How To” videos, KB articles,

ROI info• Align timing with trial timelineGoal• Convert from tire kicker to customer

Automate Trial Messaging

They Bought From Who???• Nurture Closed / Lost Opportunities• Prospects using a competitive

productStrategy• From “Assigned User” • Light HTML• Wait several months to start• Align timing with contract termGoal• Another chance to make a first

impression

Re-Engage after a Loss

DODoDo

• Use segmentation & personas

• Start with the end in mind

• Be mindful of timing

• General to specific

• Know when to stop

Don’t• “Nurture” your entire

database

• Send “one size fits all” content

• Assume that newsletters nurture

• Do it manually

Do’s and Don’ts

Questions

Derek GrantSVP of Sales

derek.grant@pardot.com

@derekgrant

Pardot950 East Paces Ferry RdSuite 3300Atlanta, Georgia 30326

404.492.6848877.3B2B.ROIwww.pardot.com

Contact Information