Bring in more revenue with less resources. That sounds like mission impossible. Unfortunately, it’s the mission statement
of many businesses today.

This “more with less” mantra is particularly harsh on a B-to-B sales team. They understand that lead qualification is the key to optimizing their sales efforts. But how can the sales team possibly keep on top of lead volume with limited resources? The answer to that quandary can be found in the way your business defines and approaches qualified leads.

Remember, all B-to-B leads are not created equal. Some accelerate the sales process quickly into the express lane. Other leads wind slowly to a dead end. The key is to identify which B-to-B leads hold the most promise early on, and then maximize their profit potential.

Here’s how to do it.

Today, leading business-to-business firms are discovering new ways to use direct marketing to supplement and strengthen their sales efforts, particularly with limited resources. A carefully planned direct communications campaign can help identify your hottest prospects, accelerate the adoption process and break down barriers to selling.

Profiling qualified leads.
The first step in developing your lead qualification strategy is to consider the key factors that define a qualified lead for your business. In order to accomplish this, you must develop an actionable profile of a qualified lead.

Establishing the profile of qualified leads often involves an open collaboration between sales, product marketing and marketing. This collaboration should consider four distinct sets of criteria to help determine the value hierarchy of your leads:

1. Profile the characteristics that are drivers in prospect marketing.
   These characteristics may be factors that you cannot easily obtain on the open market, but may be important drivers from a sales and marketing perspective. This includes traits such as role in the decision-making process, current product usage, and what products prospects are actively considering.
2. Determine the characteristics of a lead that is ready to buy.
   This considers where a prospect is in the decision-making process and better gauges the buying cycle
   time frames.
3. Profile those characteristics that make customers most profitable.
   The long-term potential of a customer can be factored into the equation. For example, even if a lead is ready to buy, their lack of long-term potential as a customer may offset the readiness and de-prioritize their ranking.
4. Identify the characteristics that are most indicative of primary decision-makers.
   This helps sort through the responsibilities and roles of different people in the puzzle.