Can lead qualification be fully automated?

Our MD, Andi Catt, gives her thoughts on it right here...  

I was recently interviewed on the subject of ‘process in lead qualification’, and the interviewer and I ended up discussing whether a lead can be qualified without human intervention. 

I believe it is possible, but that human intervention adds a layer of valuable context that is really hard to achieve with marketing automation alone. 

The lead dilemma 

A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is generally defined as an individual who has interacted with your marketing materials so as to indicate interest. Often these interactions are scored and those leads which reach a certain scoring threshold are designated as sales qualified and are then passed to the sales team.  

A sales qualified lead (SQL) is generally defined as a lead which has demonstrated intent to buy.  

In my experience, many organisations run with relatively lean sales teams and prefer to keep the team focused on the bottom of the sales funnel, engaging only those who have demonstrated intent to buy, managing live opportunities and closing deals.  In those instances, using only a scoring system to designate leads as SQLs can lead to disappointment. And this can be the root of friction between sales and marketing.   

If sales are expecting to receive only leads who ‘have demonstrated intent to buy’ they will be unhappy if they have to filter through leads which, whilst ‘high scoring’, are not perhaps yet ready to buy and who need nurturing.  I have seen many occasions where sales start to criticise the quality of the leads they receive. They perceive that the leads are not up to standard and will disengage from the process. I have seen clients with literally thousands of leads untouched in the lead queue because the leads came from marketing and sales don’t value them, preferring to work on upselling existing clients or dealing only with prospects who have completed an RFP or requested costs.  

Those organisations will find that the addition of human intervention to the qualification process adds real value. It will, in all probability, reduce the volume of leads that go to the sales team but improve the quality immensely.  

Let me explain.  

If someone downloads a brochure, this is indicative of some interest, and if they then visit the website twice more, this is a good indicator that the interest is developing. But it is not possible to understand from these interactions exactly where the individual is on their sales journey. Are they simply scoping out the market to see what is available or are they building a short list?  

Likewise, if a prospect is downloading material that indicates they have technical questions, it is possible that they are in the final stages of their purchase decision-making, but it is equally possible that they are at the very beginning of that journey and are seeking to rule out products that do not fit their technical specification.  

Even when asked for a price, this is not a clear indicator of immediate purchase intent. it could be that the prospect is thinking ahead to next year’s budget for an upgrade of their current equipment, or they could have already created a short list based on technical specifications and just need costs to reach a decision.  

The best of both worlds 

In my view, which is admittedly a little biased, the best of both worlds comes from having great marketing automation, generating a high volume of MQL, and working with a team who can engage on a one-to-one basis to engage the prospect and effectively triage the lead. Using the very gentlest qualification questioning, it is possible to establish roughly where the prospect is on the buying journey and then provide the most appropriate level of support, referring those who are showing intent to the sales team and providing literature fulfilment and basic FAQ support and nurture for those who are not yet ready.   

By engaging prospects on a one-to-one basis earlier in their buying journey it is possible to provide a more contextual level of qualification, giving better quality leads to the sales team and using nurture to build a strong future pipeline.  

If you’d be interested in finding out more about how TCB support clients with multilingual lead qualification, drop me a line. 

Andi Catt