Let’s start with the basics The answer will likely be a combination of demographic information: Lead qualification where they live, their job function, age, gender, industry etc. Most of us agree that not every person who completes a form on And their psychographic information: their typical pain points, our website should be considered a marketing ‘lead’. aspirations, daily routines and so on. Contacts who share their personal information with us might do so For example, a lead for a commercial interior design company for a variety of reasons. targeting professional services business might be: Depending on the industry a business is in, we might find people Demographics download our content or sign up to a webinar for reasons other than being a potential buyer. • Office Manager/General Manager/Managing Director For example, a student might download a guide whilst researching • Located in the UK the topic for their studies. • With more than one office space or more than 200 employees • In the professional services industry A person in a country we don’t service might sign up to watch a Psychographics webinar. Or a competitor might join our mailing list in order to keep an eye • Reluctant to host client meetings at the office due to dated on our direct marketing approach. interior - opt for nearby cafes instead. • Focused on improving employee mental health and wellbeing. Which is why lead qualification is so important. • Want to be known as a fun and trendsetting place to work. • Need to present a consistent, holistic brand across multiple We need to understand whether those within our database are offices. genuine potential customers. It doesn’t stop at simply understanding what a lead looks like either. Will they buy our product next week, next month, next year, or ever? Both marketing and sales need to be involved in deciding what To know the answer, we need to ask the question: makes a lead for the business. What does a lead look like to our business? We also want to know whether a lead is ‘marketing-qualified’ or ‘sales-qualified’. marcloudconsulting.com 5