Lead qualification is essentially the foundation of your entire sales process (well, apart from closing deals, of course).
Through lead qualification, you get to determine whether the prospects you have are suitable clients for your business, and at the same time, it only allows your ideal customer personas to come through.
Without it, you could be wasting resources on people who don’t even need your services. Yikes.
But here’s the thing, creating a custom lead qualification framework is tricky.
After all, how exactly do you set a scoring system to help you know which ones are worth pursuing?
We got you! With our AI prompt, we’ll guide you through building a lead qualification framework with ChatGPT for your business.
Why Build a Custom Lead Qualification Framework?
What’s the importance of having a custom lead framework and why should you build one?
As we mentioned before it’s to identify which of your prospects are suitable for your business. This is critical because there is a likelihood that those prospects that you can target convert into actual sales.
- Improves Sales Efficiency
With a lead qualification framework, you can focus your sales strategy with the most promising leads in your pipeline. This will prevent you from spending (and wasting) too many of your resources without having a fruitful outcome.
- Increases Conversion Rates
Since you are specifically targeting leads that fit your ideal customer profile (ICP), your chances of converting these leads to sales are much higher. This helps your sales team to engage with prospects who have a genuine interest in your solution, leading to more meaningful results.
- Data-Driven Decisions
By refining your qualification process for leads, you can make better informed decisions. This helps you decide if a lead is worth pursuing, and whether to invest further resources into nurturing them.
- Customization and Flexibility
A custom framework gives you the flexibility to adjust qualification criteria based on industry trends, customer behavior, and other factors unique to your business; with this adaptability, your strategy will remain effective and relevant even when dealing with dynamic changes in the business landscape.
The Prompt
This prompt is a pretty long one and will require your inputs in full detail. This esnures that the framework produced for you is fully detailed.
“I am a [your role, e.g., “sales manager, marketer”] at [your company name] in the [your industry, e.g., “B2B SaaS, retail, healthcare”] industry. I need help developing a Custom Lead Qualification Framework to assess and score leads effectively for our business, similar to BANT, MEDDIC, or FAINT, but tailored to our needs.”
Step 1: Understanding My Business and Sales Process
Before creating the framework, consider these details about my company and lead generation process:
Our Products/Services: [Insert brief description of your products or services, e.g., “We offer cloud-based data analytics solutions”].
Our Sales Cycle: [Insert the typical length and structure of your sales cycle, e.g., “Our sales cycle typically lasts 3-6 months with multiple touchpoints”].
Target Audience/Clients: [Insert the type of clients or industries you serve, e.g., “We target medium-sized healthcare organizations”].
Step 2: Custom Framework Criteria
Based on this information, create a custom lead qualification framework by identifying the key criteria for scoring leads. Include at least 3-5 essential criteria that are most relevant to our business goals. For each criterion, suggest what details I should track or ask the lead:
Budget Alignment:
Is the lead’s budget in line with our product pricing? [Insert how pricing typically fits with leads’ budgets, e.g., “Our pricing starts at $10k/year, so we look for clients with $20k+ budgets for data solutions”].
Scoring: [Assign a scoring scale, e.g., “Score 1-10 based on fit”].
Need Urgency:
How urgent is the lead’s need for a solution like ours? [Insert details on what defines urgency in your industry, e.g., “Organizations needing real-time data solutions for compliance are high-priority”].
Scoring: [Assign a scoring scale, e.g., “Score 1-10 based on urgency”].
Authority and Decision-Making Power:
Does the lead have the authority to make or influence purchasing decisions? [Insert how your company typically assesses authority, e.g., “We look for VP-level or higher decision-makers”].
Scoring: [Assign a scoring scale, e.g., “Score 1-10 based on decision-making power”].
Timeline for Purchase:
When does the lead intend to make a purchase? [Insert the importance of timing, e.g., “We prioritize leads looking to buy within the next 3-6 months”].
Scoring: [Assign a scoring scale, e.g., “Score 1-10 based on timeline fit”].
Potential Lifetime Value (PLV):
What is the potential revenue this lead could generate over time? [Insert potential value metrics, e.g., “We calculate PLV based on contract size and renewal potential”].
Scoring: [Assign a scoring scale, e.g., “Score 1-10 based on revenue potential”].
Step 3: Building the Custom Framework
Based on these criteria, build a custom lead qualification framework with scoring categories:
Budget: [Score 1-10]
Need Urgency: [Score 1-10]
Authority: [Score 1-10]
Timeline: [Score 1-10]
Lifetime Value: [Score 1-10]
Total Possible Score: 50
Step 4: Action Plan Based on Scores
Based on the lead’s total score:
High-Potential Leads (e.g., 40-50): [Insert next steps, e.g., “Prioritize immediate outreach and schedule demo”].
Moderate-Potential Leads (e.g., 30-39): [Insert follow-up actions, e.g., “Nurture with targeted content and check-in after 2 weeks”].
Low-Potential Leads (below 30): [Insert long-term strategy, e.g., “Move to long-term nurture or disqualify”].
The Output
Now that you’ve seen the prompt, let’s take a look at it in action.
I am a Sales Manager at CloudPrime Solutions, a leading provider in the B2B SaaS industry. I need help developing a Custom Lead Qualification Framework to assess and score leads effectively for our business, similar to BANT, MEDDIC, or FAINT, but tailored to our needs.
Step 1: Understanding My Business and Sales Process
Before creating the framework, consider these details about my company and lead generation process:
Our Products/Services: We offer cloud-based data analytics solutions that help businesses visualize and optimize their operational data, improving efficiency and decision-making.
Our Sales Cycle: Our sales cycle typically lasts 3-6 months with multiple touchpoints, including product demos, consultations, and legal reviews before closing deals.
Target Audience/Clients: We target medium-sized healthcare organizations that need secure and reliable data solutions for regulatory compliance and operational improvement.
Step 2: Custom Framework Criteria
Based on this information, create a custom lead qualification framework by identifying the key criteria for scoring leads. Include at least 3-5 essential criteria that are most relevant to our business goals. For each criterion, suggest what details I should track or ask the lead:
Budget Alignment:
Is the lead’s budget in line with our product pricing? Our pricing starts at $25k/year, so we look for clients with $50k+ budgets for comprehensive data solutions.
Scoring: [Assign a scoring scale, e.g., “Score 1-10 based on fit”].
Need Urgency:
How urgent is the lead’s need for a solution like ours? Organizations facing upcoming compliance deadlines or operational bottlenecks are high-priority.
Scoring: [Assign a scoring scale, e.g., “Score 1-10 based on urgency”].
Authority and Decision-Making Power:
Does the lead have the authority to make or influence purchasing decisions? We focus on VP-level decision-makers or higher in IT, data, or operations departments.
Scoring: [Assign a scoring scale, e.g., “Score 1-10 based on decision-making power”].
Timeline for Purchase:
When does the lead intend to make a purchase? We prioritize leads who plan to buy within the next 3-6 months to align with our sales cycle.
Scoring: [Assign a scoring scale, e.g., “Score 1-10 based on timeline fit”].
Potential Lifetime Value (PLV):
What is the potential revenue this lead could generate over time? We calculate PLV based on contract size, renewal likelihood, and potential upsell opportunities.
Scoring: [Assign a scoring scale, e.g., “Score 1-10 based on revenue potential”].
Step 3: Building the Custom Framework
Based on these criteria, build a custom lead qualification framework with scoring categories:
Budget: [Score 1-10]
Need Urgency: [Score 1-10]
Authority: [Score 1-10]
Timeline: [Score 1-10]
Lifetime Value: [Score 1-10]
Total Possible Score: 50
Step 4: Action Plan Based on Scores
Based on the lead’s total score:
High-Potential Leads (e.g., 40-50): Prioritize immediate outreach, schedule a demo, and move to the proposal phase.
Moderate-Potential Leads (e.g., 30-39): Nurture with targeted content such as case studies or whitepapers, and follow up after 2 weeks to reassess interest.
Low-Potential Leads (below 30): Move to long-term nurture campaigns or disqualify if misaligned with our business priorities.
As you can see, with the questions we’ve provided, ChatGPT has set a custom scoring system based on your organization’ss
ChatGPT gave us a detailed scoring system and what action to take based on these scores. This makes it easier for you to decide what your next move would be and to make a more informed decision when it comes to your sales strategy.
Common Pitfalls in Lead Qualification
- Over-Qualifying Leads
Filtering out low-quality leads is necessary, however there is also such a thing as “too much”. By being too rigid when it comes to your leads, you could easily miss out on other opportunities.
After all, with the right approach, you can convert other leads that may not necessarily meet your criteria, but still have the potential.
- Inconsistent Criteria
Having an inconsistent criteria can make your strategy ineffective or confusing. This is why it’s important to be as detailed as possible with our prompt because it will give you a clearer and more consistent framework to use.
- Ignorant Feedback from Sales Teams
At the end of day, the sales team are the ones on the front lines. Their insights are the most realistic and valuable ones because they get to interact with prospects and leads.
Make sure to regularly check up with them and see how else you can refine your lead qualification process to better align with consumer behavior.
Key Takeaways
Without a solid lead qualification framework, your sales effort might not be utilized in the best possible way and that leads to a loooot of waste.
It may seem daunting when you take a look at it, but with our guide, you’ll be crafting your lead qualification framework in no time.
But remember now, this framework is only as good as the way you use it. You’ll need to pair it with an efficient and actionable strategy to make it work.
Now that you understand the importance of customizing your lead qualification process, are you ready to take your sales to the next level?
Read more: Types of Lead Qualification Methods & Frameworks: ANUM, BANT, ChAMP, FAINT, MEDDIC, NOTE