Lead
Also known as: prospect
A lead is a company or person interested in purchasing a product or service. Often, a lead refers to a specific request, such as a request for more information or a quote. It can also refer to a prospect who, because of certain actions or contacts indicating interest, is considered a potential customer by the provider.
How do you bring in leads?
For example, leads can come in through an information form on one's own website. As long as there is no customer yet, this is referred to as soft conversion. The warmth of a lead is often expressed in a score, based on behavior and actions by the prospect, which in turn is used to choose an appropriate approach. Many organizations classify leads according to customer journeys.
Different Types of Leads
Leads can be divided into 3 different types, namely: cold, warm and hot leads. By knowing the characteristics of each type of lead, you can target their needs more specifically and tailor your sales strategy accordingly.
- Cold leads: These are leads that are still in the 1st stage of the buying process. This lead has not yet had active contact with your company and the level of interest in your service or product is still unknown. Only the contact information of this lead is known.
- Warm leads: A warm lead is a contact that meets the basic requirements of your ideal customer profile and already shows some interest in your products or services. Unlike cold leads, this person has already had a conversation or (online) meeting.
- Hot leads: These are the most valuable leads. They fit completely within the ideal customer profile and have a high level of interest in your service or product. Generally, it requires the least amount of effort to convert this lead to a customer.
What is the value of a lead?
The value of a lead to a business can be calculated based on the probability of conversion and expected revenue. This virtual value is also used as a basis for billing ads. Paying for online advertising based on a fee for each new lead(CPA) is done in affiliate marketing, among other things. There are companies that specialize in selling leads they collect through their own websites, this is called lead generation.
