The 411 on lead qualification

Many call center services rely on lead qualification. Here’s why you should not take this service for granted.

Lead generation and qualification are two common business process outsourcing (BPO) services that should go hand-in-hand.

While lead generation builds interest about your products, lead qualification feeds on this interest and prepares clients for a potential sales pitch. These verified leads are then given to telemarketers and telesales personnel so they can reach possible clients who already displayed their willingness to hear more about the product and actually make a purchase. This service is therefore pivotal in telemarketing as it increases the likelihood of making a sale and improving an agent’s sales cycle.

Without qualified leads, your agents could be wasting their time pursuing dead leads. Furthermore, consistently going through rejected calls could dampen your agents’ morale and cause them to lose focus, which inevitably could spell disaster for your company.

How lead qualification works

The process of qualifying leads differs from one company to the other. Some companies merely hand out phonebooks to their employees, instructing them to make random calls to listed numbers. Aside from wasting a large chunk of the employee’s time, this also requires them to accomplish the delicate task of pitching to potential clients when they may not even have prior sales experience. Of course, this is not the only random-based method practiced by traditional companies. While the methods may differ, the outcome is the same: these companies try to randomly reach out to people with the hopes of piquing their interest.

On the other hand, most contemporary companies opt to enlist the services of BPO companies such as Open Access. With an invested third-party provider handling your lead generation and lead qualification needs, your employees are then able to focus on their strengths and would no longer have to beg people not to hang up the phone. Many BPO firms have a pool of talented agents at their disposal, ensuring that you will get your qualified leads.

If your success is measured by the number of sales you make, then it is imperative that you have qualified leads to ensure that you’re calling the right people. The next step you should make is to tap the right BPO partner.