What Is Lead Management in CRM?

Lead management using a CRM platform can make almost any sales team better at converting leads into deals. We get a lot of questions from small business owners about lead management in CRM. Many people ask, “What is sales lead management in CRM” or as some people ask “What is customer lead management”. In this article, we’ll answer these and many similar questions.

Lead Management Definition

A lead is a person or business who may become a customer or a client. Companies use a variety of methods to generate leads including advertising, direct marketing, networking, outbound calls, website inquiries, email marketing, and social media marketing, etc. The sales process begins when a sales executive qualifies and places the lead data into a company’s sales pipeline. He then contacts the lead through email/call/personal visit etc., to understand his requirement, informs the prospective customer about his product/service, and eventually persuades him to buy the product or service. The lead-to-customer conversion process may happen instantly or may take days, weeks, or even months, depending on various factors such as the lead’s decision-making process, buying need and urgency, etc.

The entire process from finding or generating a lead to pursuing and completing a purchase is defined as Lead Management.

What Is Sales Lead Management And Why It Matters?

The definition of lead management above pretty much explains what is lead management. The entire process from getting a business inquiry to converting that inquiry into a purchase is called sales lead management.

Good lead management will help you determine where your leads are coming from and which leads are converting. This will help you track sources with higher conversion potential so you can focus your efforts and spend your resources appropriately.

An effective Lead Management is important to you because-

• A lot of effort and resources go into generating leads.
• Wastage of leads means lost sales opportunities.
• Lead management drives conversions.
• Lead management helps you automate many of your tasks and save hours of repetitive work.
• It drives efficiency in Sales Teams.

And more important lead management!

Steps for setting up successful lead management

Setting up a robust lead management process is the first step towards your success. Here’s how to do it-

Step 1: Identify Your Leads

• Who are your potential clients?
• Where to find them.
• Build your buyer persona, including their needs and wants, and the ways they engage (online/offline) with your company.

Step 2: Build a Lead Scoring System

• Assign points based on lead source, buying stage, industry, and revenue potential
• Add points that have positive scores and subtract from negative ones
• Categorize your leads based on their potential of conversions, for example, high, moderate, and low

Step 3: Create a Lead Nurturing Process

• Plan lead nurturing process for each lead type identified in the above process
• Your lead nurturing process must factor in buying stage of the lead, their information needs, and buying urgency

Step 4: Assign Leads to the Sales Team

• Assign leads, that are ready for your Sales pitch, to your Sales Reps
• Your Lead Management Software lets you automate this process
• Provide your salesperson with all the information they need to know your lead, their needs, and buying stage

Step 5: Evaluate & Optimize

• Periodically review your lead management process
• Check conversion rates and identify bottlenecks
• Tweak your lead generation process when required

Want To Build A Powerful Customer Lead Management Strategy That Converts Leads Better And Faster?

We have written an eBook to help small business owners like you manage your leads effectively and convert more of them into paying customers.