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April 14, 2012
When is a Lead a Lead? The Difference between Interest and Intent
By:
No.
If we called you right now to book an appointment to discuss our sales consulting services, would you accept?
No.
Why not?
You are interested in our sales consulting firm’s content (thank you). However, you are not intending to buy from us today.
Have you ever:
After doing each, are you a lead?
No.
Why not?
You are interested in the educational material in the webinar/eBook/white paper. You are not intending to buy.
The ten “follow up” calls/emails by the sales rep made your week, didn’t they?
When is a lead a lead?
A lead is a lead when a prospect moves from interest to intent. Interest is simply defined as someone who is casually interested in reading about your point of view on a subject. Intent is simply defined as someone who is actively trying to solve an urgent problem by researching possible solutions.
Here are some quick signs that a prospect is only interested:
Here are some quick signs that a prospect is intending to buy:
Key Take Aways:
Do:
1- Publish educational content often.
2- Analyze which traffic sources produce prospects who are intending to buy.
3- Reverse engineer the “path to purchase” of your current customers.
Don’t:
1- Publish self-promotional content of great value to you but of little value to your readers.
2- Be a pest by calling prospects that fill out a form who are just casually interested.
3- Try to go from a first date to getting married unnaturally.
© 2017 Sales Benchmark Index (SBI)
A Business Strategy Consulting Company
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Dallas, TX 75201
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© 2018 Sales Benchmark Index (SBI), B.V.
A Business Strategy Consulting Company
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Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1072JA