REFINED TRADE SHOW LEAD QUALIFICATION PROCESS CREATES MORE SALES OPPORTUNITES

THE CLIENT CHALLENGE

Our client was investing a lot of money into trade shows without a measurable (or guaranteed) ROI. Leads collected at the trade shows were largely unqualified because the details gathered weren’t sufficient to glean the customer’s level of purchasing intent. Leads were then passed to the sales team, who knew that the leads were unlikely to convert sales.

THE GOALS

• Refine current lead qualification process
• Introduce a lead scoring system to assign grades to each potential lead
• Identify “hot” leads to pass to sales team
• Identify “warm” leads to nurture for future sales
• Save company time and money

PAIN POINTS

• No qualifying details—sales team cannot determine high-priority leads
• Wasted time—low-quality leads took valuable time from sales team, costing the company ROI and opportunity for pursuing better leads
• Poor process for lead generation—trade show lead gen efforts weren’t producing leads that were valuable to the sales team

THE RESPONSEPOINT SOLUTION

Reinvent the Lead process—ResponsePoint began by taking a deep look at the client’s process and identifying the issues, then developed a customized lead qualification plan, enabling the sales team to work with stronger leads.
Qualification comes first—Before leads were handed to the sales team, follow-up calls were made to determine the Quality Level of each lead.
A grade of A, B, or C was given to every lead based upon their attributes and potential.
A—Highly qualified lead with intent of purchasing within 90 days
B—Strong interest in product, not looking to purchase within 90 days
C—No apparent intent to purchase (lacked interest, wrong timing, budget restrictions, no purchase authority)

THE RESULTS

Using 4,732 leads gathered at more than 17 events, ResponsePoint used the new lead qualification system and determined:

• 310 leads (7%) were given an “A” Quality Level and immediately funneled to the sales team
• 635 leads (13%) were given a “B” Quality Level and categorized in the marketing database for a nurturing campaign
• 3,787 leads (80%) were given a “C” Quality Level and immediately taken out of the lead process and were removed from all nurturing processes
• End cost per “A” lead was $55.07, saving the client money and time, and improving company ROI

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY

Though trade shows offer a seemingly deep well of leads, having a strong qualification process in place is vital to avoid wasted time and money. 80% of leads being disqualified shows the importance of lead qualification as a measure of discernment for any generation efforts.