It’s very easy to get confused over enquiries, leads and opportunities so before I explain how to qualify them let me just clear this up.
Enquiry: somebody has made contact because they want something (it could just be information).
Lead: a qualified enquiry – they want to buy something.
Opportunity: they are giving you the chance to sell them your offering.
Now, let’s talk about qualifying enquiries to turn them into leads.
We use a simple term to do this – BANTM: –
- Budget: they now have enough money to buy your offering (if not, then when?)
- Authority: they can make the purchase (if not, then who can?)
- Need: they have a real need they want to satisfy – not a tire-kicker.
- Timing: they want to buy now (if not, then when?)
- Match: your product is a good match for their needs.
When you can put a tick next to each of the above you have a lead.
Next time somebody is banging on about the number of leads they’ve just generated ask them how many are BANTM qualified. That should be fun.
