"Lead" refers to the initial contact between a prospect or potential new customer and a company. The potential new customer has become aware of the company's online marketing activities, for example.
In order to find out more about the company's product range or services, the prospect has voluntarily provided the company with his or her contact details. The probability of acquiring new customers for the company increases with the number of leads generated.
Therefore, a lead is initially "a file" with contact information and an expression of interest. Later, this file is supplemented with a history of what has happened with this lead. For example: The potential customer was called, an offer was made to them, they accepted the offer, and purchased the product.
As this file changes, leads can be classified into three levels.
Lead levels
Every potential new customer comes into contact with the company with different levels of information about the product or service. These phases are described as follows:
Early stage leads
Here, the potential new customer is in the information phase about various companies in a subject area. The initial contact with the company usually takes place through the company website. With the product solutions contained therein and further re-marketing measures, specifically sought-after information is displayed during the subsequent search process. At this stage, the lead is usually not yet ready to make a decision in favor of a company.
Mid-stage leads
The potential new customer has an existing wish and is specifically looking for a solution. Here, the customer knows what he wants, but not the different solution approaches that are offered. The companies support the customer with high-quality information or solution approaches such as a free trial version of a software.
Late stage leads
The potential new customers have already explicitly analyzed and compared the companies that are suitable for a solution. There has been a possible contact with other companies, and the customer service is trying to pass the lead to the sales department. The likelihood of reaching a final decision and generating revenue is very high.
Since a large number of files quickly accumulates, this information must be managed. For this purpose, special software is used, the so-called customer relationship management software (CRM software). LEVETO currently offers four different editions of CRM software.
