Suppose you want to grow your business as a medical device distributor or as a sales rep; you need to have a predictable sales pipeline. Likewise, if you are working in marketing or sales for a medical device company, one of your goals is to help your sales force build a strong pipeline.
In my years in Medtech, I found out that Sales Lead Qualification is a vital process companies should use to determine which prospects are the best sales targets and is a critical part of a well-constructed sales strategy.
Unfortunately, not everyone who expresses interest in your product or service is ready to purchase or will eventually purchase your product.
In my opinion, lead qualification is a step that many sales organizations fail to perform effectively in the medical device business. To avoid this common pitfall, you should develop and implement a reliable lead qualification process.
This article will explain how that process works and describe common strategies for lead qualification.
What is Sales Lead Qualification in the medical device business?
According to Wikipedia, a qualified sales lead is an organization or potential client who has expressed interest in the products or services of the seller.
The keyword here is qualified, and it has deep significance.
Sales Lead qualification is a fundamental tool to efficiently and effectively allocate sales effort and marketing resources.
Basically, Sales Lead Qualification is the process whose purpose is to determine which prospect is most likely to make a purchase. It’s an integral part of the sales funnel, which normally includes several leads and converts a fraction of them to actual sales.
Sales Lead Qualification is based on a multistep process involving the sales and marketing departments of the company.
For example, during a congress, a course, a marketing event, a webinar, a live surgery, social media, through the website, or whatever means, somebody from the company team should collect the lead contact information and briefly assess (pre-qualification) if the lead fits basic requirements.
Afterward, the sales rep should contact the prospect and discuss the request. Based on the outcome of this conversation, the sales rep will be able to decide whether to follow up or avoid pursuing.
What is a qualified sales lead?
To qualify a lead, the sales rep needs to gather enough information necessary to make the correct decision. Qualification requires asking the lead a few questions to determine if the prospect matches the criteria; to be considered an opportunity and therefore convert into a sale.
A qualified lead doesn’t mean an imminent sale, but at some point, the lead should be in a position to purchase the object of the initial request.
Sales Lead Qualification methods controversy
There are several methodologies for Sales Lead Qualification that can be applied to the medical device sales process. There have been some critics of the criteria used in these methods, as they see it as too rigid and not easily applicable.
I’m pragmatic, and every company should find its own method and balance the different criteria according to its needs and specificity.
The key elements in the process of Sales Lead Qualification are the principles and not the methodologies, practices, and scores. Hence, any method should be adapted to the company’s reality and should distill common aspects that a sales rep can look for to make informed decisions.
How to qualify a sales lead?
BANT is a commonly used framework in BtoB sales and marketing across industries. It was invented by IBM in the 1960. Although it cannot address every situation, BANT is a good base to start with.
BANT
The BANT framework focuses on four characteristics:
Budget: Is a budget available for the product or service? Can the prospect afford to buy the product or service?
Money can be a critical factor for disqualifying the lead. Hence, product prices must be compatible with the budget allocated by the prospect.
Authority: Who makes the final decision to buy in the organization? Who are the stakeholders?
This element is especially important for substantial capital equipment sales. In this case, there are usually several individuals involved in the decision-making process, and it is fundamental to know their role and the implications.
Needs: Does your solution meet the needs of the prospect? What are the needs of the different stakeholders?
The need for a product or service is probably the main qualification criterion. The need could be evident or latent. However, if the product does not convince the user who has one or more requirements that your product cannot satisfy, the lead is disqualified.
Timeline: How ready is the prospect to buy? What is the prospect timeline for the purchase?
Purchase timeframe is another important criterion for lead qualification. Urgency is particularly important on some occasions. However, on other occasions, the sales rep needs to be patient and nurture the lead during the long process so as to convert the opportunity into a sale.
Other Sales Lead Qualification frameworks
Over the years, other methods to qualify sales leads have been developed and optimized. In my opinion, the difference between BANT and the other methods is not substantial.
Here, I’ll explain some of these other methods:
CHAMP
CHAMP: Challenges, Authority, Money, and Prioritization.
The CHAMP technique identifies prospects’ challenges as a first step and then determines whether it fits with the product or service being offered.
It helps the sales rep in disqualifying leads who don’t need your product. If the product is extremely innovative and the leads do not understand what it is, CHAMP could be a good approach.
MEDDIC
MEDDIC: Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Pain Point Identification, Champion.
MEDDIC works well for a sales rep that has a relatively low volume of high-value sales, such as big capital equipment with service contracts.
FAINT
FAINT: Funds, Authority, Interest, Need, and Timing.
Like the BANT model, FAINT prioritizes budget and buying authority as the primary factors and the interest factor.
Conclusions
As discussed before, in my opinion, sales lead qualification is more about the principles than a specific methodology.
The second part of this article will describe how to implement the BANT framework through qualifying questions, lead organization, and categorization.
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