on email drip sequences but don ’ t invest money into direct mail or telemarketing to them to get an appointment booked .
Qualified Leads Sometimes called “ marketing qualified leads ,” these are individuals who make the cut from raw lead to qualified , usually determined by a set of characteristics and traits that give them a higher probability of becoming a client . Those characteristics may include ( but are not limited to ) geography , type and size of company , title of the person ( which may determine authority to buy ), number of employees , lead source , etc . Essentially , they “ look good on paper ,” but we don ’ t know for sure whether or not they are truly interested in buying at this point . Obviously , you want to put your full effort into following up with qualified leads versus treating all leads as equally important , particularly if you are short on resources , people , and time . It ’ s not uncommon for up to 50 % of all raw leads generated to be unqualified for one reason or another .
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT INBOUND LEADS : As you do marketing , you ’ ll find that not all qualified leads are ready to meet and discuss the option of you becoming their IT company . Those are still leads and should be put into a drip marketing system to nurture them along until they are ready to make the decision . That may be one month from now or one year from now . The problem is that most MSPs do not value these leads and fail to follow up . This is a huge , expensive mistake . Often , these leads will buy within the next six months to a year , but if you don ’ t keep marketing to them , they forget about you and may end up engaging another MSP later on .
Appointments Set Or FTA ( First-Time Appointment ) Sometimes called a “ sales qualified
lead ,” this is a qualified lead who has been vetted by a sales rep ( usually by phone , but it could be at an event , trade show , self-booked from your website , etc .), and an appointment has been scheduled . This means the prospect is interested enough to meet with a consultant ( sales rep ) to discuss outsourcing their support to you or buying what you sell . This is the stage where a package I call a “ Shock-and-Awe ” box would be used to presell the prospect and prepare them for the initial consultation ( appointment ). If a prospect is “ just looking ” and doesn ’ t want to schedule an appointment , simply keep them in your CRM as an unconverted lead , where you continue to send drip marketing campaigns and other promotions .
Appointment SAT A prospect is put into this stage when the initial appointment ( FTA ) is completed . Not all prospects who schedule an appointment will keep them , which is why we track this metric ; I want to make sure a high percentage of prospects who schedule an appointment are actually keeping them . Why do they cancel after booking an initial appointment ?
Sometimes prospects simply change their mind . In other cases , unexpected events happen that derail them from the buying process , and they cancel the appointment , requesting a callback a month or two later . Sometimes they were never that interested to begin with , but an energetic telemarketer talked them into booking the appointment , which they later regret ( and cancel ), and this is why we track this metric . We recently fired an appointment setter because they were setting appointments that didn ’ t stick ( only about 30 % actually sat ). That ’ s highly unproductive and worse than setting no appointment because it takes a spot on my senior sales rep ’ s calendar that could have been filled with a productive lead . After meeting with the prospect and determining the opportunity is solid , move the prospect to the “ Proposing / Negotiating ” stage . If it ’ s not , then move them to the “ Lost ” stage for reporting . Unless you determine they will never do business with you , or it ’ s someone you don ’ t want as a client , keep them in your CRM as an unconverted lead . Otherwise , add them to your Avoid list .
Proposing / Negotiating A prospect is put into this stage after the first appointment is completed , you have determined there is an opportunity , and you are in the process of quoting and closing them . During this stage , you would be conducting your technical audit or assessment , gathering intel to propose a solution , and / or negotiating the terms of the agreement . During this process , you should be discussing the price and terms of the solution you are selling .
Not all prospects will make it to the next stage , which is “ Contract Sent .” That ’ s okay ; you want to avoid wasting time putting together a proposal for a prospect who won ’ t buy or can ’ t buy . If they don ’ t buy , they are moved to the Lost status and put back into unconverted leads , or they are marked “ Unqualified ” if you determine they just aren ’ t a right fit for you . If they are truly unqualified , suppress them from campaigns that actively attempt to get an appointment with them . You may leave them in a drip campaign if you choose .
Contract Sent A prospect is put into this stage after you ’ ve sent the final contract and are expecting a signature and a check . Over 90 % of these should close .
Closed ( Won / Lost ) If the sale closes , you put them into a “ Won ” status and update their “ Person Type ” to “ Client ,” removing them from all prospecting campaigns . ( You should have different campaigns specifically for clients .) If they don ’ t close , they are labeled with a Lost status and put back into your prospect list for additional drip campaigns as an unconverted lead .
Summary Of course , you might want to track more than what I ’ ve outlined above , but I wouldn ’ t suggest tracking less . By knowing the averages in each of these areas , you can work backward from a sales goal to know exactly how many new clients you need , then how many FTAs and how many leads your marketing must produce in order to hit the goal . n
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1 • MSPSuccessMagazine . com | 11