During theLead to Opportunitystage, the focus is on ensuring that the marketing leads generated are of high quality and have the potential to convert into actual sales opportunities.
The first step in this stage is to qualify marketing leads. This involves evaluating the leads based on various criteria such as their level of engagement with the company's marketing materials, their demographics, and their firmographic data.
Lead scores are assigned to determine the level of interest and potential of the leads, and they are then categorized into lead stages such as contacts, prospects, and qualified leads.
Once the marketing leads are qualified, they are handed over to the sales team for further qualification. The sales team evaluates the leads based on their readiness to purchase and their fit with the company's products or services. This involves further lead scoring and assessment to determine which leads are most likely to convert into opportunities.
The leads are categorized as marketing qualified leads (MQL) and sales qualified leads (SQL) based on their level of engagement and readiness to move through the sales pipeline.
The goal of the Lead to Opportunity stage is to prioritize and focus the sales team's efforts on leads that have the highest potential to generate revenue for the company.
By identifying and qualifying leads effectively, the company can ensure that its sales resources are allocated to the most promising opportunities, increasing the chances of successful conversions and ultimately contributing to the company's bottom line.
Let's look at the following image:
You can see in the preceding image some of the applicable solutions and business usages of this Lead to Opportunity stage:
- Based on the contacts and interaction scoring, generate different leads in the SAP Emarsys.
- Execute tactics to retarget customers (such as with abandoned shopping carts) and remind them about the offer with SAP Emarsys.
- Hand over the marketing leads (MQLs) for example, those that exceed a certain threshold to the sales team, SAP Sales Cloud.
Let's take a closer look.
Lead to Opportunity Stage
Summary
The Lead to Opportunity stage in the Lead to Cash process involves qualifying marketing leads, handing over leads to the sales team, and evaluating the potential of these leads.
This includes evaluating lead scores and assigning them to various lead stages, such as contacts, prospects, qualified leads, and marketing qualified leads (MQL) and sales qualified leads (SQL). Once leads are qualified, they are then handed over to the sales team for further assessment based on their readiness to purchase and fit with the company's products or services.
Overall, the focus is on identifying and prioritizing leads with the highest potential to become paying customers and moving them through the sales pipeline.
Further Reading
For additional information on this topic, refer to: Lead to Opportunity.