"sales process" - Describe your Lead Status & Lifecyle Stages
January 11, 2024
by a searcher in Boston, MA, USA
When it comes to sales or prospecting, whether you buy businesses or sell a service, what does your lead status/lifecycle stage system look like?
What is your description of Lead Status, and Lifecycle Stages?
How do you discern the two?
and more importantly, What does your process look like?
The reason that I'm asking is to maximize my process for M&A & would appreciate the feedback and advice from those in the same field.
many thanks in advance - Adam
from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Atlanta, GA, USA
They incorporate a ton of knowledge from separate sales books into that video.
Lead status and life cycle are for marketing, not sales. If you're applying it specifically to search, then leads and lifecycle are how you are creating Owner demand for them to sell you their company while not necessarily interacting with them. David's process above shows a typical Marketing -> Sales process for M&A.
Once they show intent (set up a call with you, etc) - then you are converting them from a lead and bringing them into your sales process.
from Colgate University in Charlottesville, VA, USA
1. Cold Lead (found info, and fits general criteria)
2. Contacted (In outreach sequence)
3. Responded
4. Intro Meeting Booked
5. Completed Intro Meeting
6. Interested in Selling
7. IOI Sent
8. LOI Sent
9. Transaction
Recommended reading:
1. https://www.asimplemodel.com/financial-curriculum/private-equity/sourcing-transaction/funnel
2. https://www.fullfunnel.co/blog/demand-gen-for-private-equity
3. Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount