Lead management using a CRM platform can make almost any sales team better at converting leads into deals. We get a lot of questions from small business owners about lead management in CRM. Many people ask, “What is sales lead management in CRM” or as some people ask “What is customer lead management”. In this article, we’ll answer these and many similar questions.

What is Lead Management Definition

A lead is a person or business who may become a customer or a client. Companies use a variety of methods to generate leads including advertising, direct marketing, networking, outbound calls, website inquiries, email marketing, and social media marketing, etc. The sales process begins when a sales executive qualifies and places the lead data into a company’s sales pipeline. He then contacts the lead through email/call/personal visit etc., to understand his requirement, informs the prospective customer about his product/service, and eventually persuades him to buy the product or service. The lead-to-customer conversion process may happen instantly or may take days, weeks, or even months, depending on various factors such as the lead’s decision-making process, buying need and urgency, etc.

The entire process from finding or generating a lead to pursuing and completing a purchase is defined as Lead Management.

What is lead management?

Lead management is a systematic process in which incoming leads are qualified, analyzed, and nurtured so that they can be converted into new business opportunities. In a typical sales process, leads from multiple channels enter your lead management system, and the sales-ready leads are converted into deals. You need to have a lead management platform in place if you want to make the most of prospects who are interested in your product or service.

Oas36ty CRM has been consistently rated as the best lead management solution by both customers and experts. With a comprehensive set of lead management features for businesses of all sizes and types, your sales reps can now convert more leads in less time, and with less effort. From lead generation to conversion and analysis, take a look at some of the popular ways that you can find sales success with Oas36ty’s lead management system.

By definition, lead management is the acquisition of potential customers before guiding them from the top of the sales funnel towards a purchasing decision. Lead management can be broken down into six key steps...

• Lead capture
• Lead enrichment
• Lead qualification and lead prioritisation
• Lead distribution
• Lead nurturing
• Lead conversion

Lead management can be considered successful after two things have occured. That is, when you establish a robust connection with potential customers that entered your sales pipeline and when they make a purchase from you, choosing your solution over a competitor.

Why is lead management important?

Lead management has a number of benefits for any business, large or small. Here are some of the most prominent ones…

Helps to establish an immediate relationship with leads. Get in touch with leads entering the sales pipeline as quickly as possible before moving them down the funnel.

Helps stay in touch with leads all the time. Effective lead management ensures constant, relevant communication; a key influence for clients choosing a service.

Aids efficient lead tracking. Know exactly who your leads are, where they come from, what they respond best to, and how well they convert.

Saves your business time and money. Good lead management spares sales reps time and effort on unqualified leads that don’t convert. Focus on the hot leads.

How does CRM help manage leads effectively?

• Effective lead management can set you apart from competition and boost sales.
• Still, in an era of rapid technological advancement, manual lead management no longer suffices. To really grow your business in a modern, organic way, you should arm yourself with reliable software to take care of the lead management process. It’s easier than you think.
• CRM is the perfect solution for lead management, enabling you to capture leads, enrich them, qualify them, distribute them among sales managers, and nurture them more effectively. As a result, this lead management tool means your business enjoys a higher conversion rate.

Benefits of Lead Management System with Inbuilt Cloud Telephony

Automation of Lead Generation

An efficient lead management system automates lead capture, qualification, and distribution, thus ensuring that no opportunity slips through the cracks.

Increased Productivity & Efficiency

Automation of tasks and optimized workflows help your team operate at peak efficiency. The system allows you to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time engaging with prospects.

Lead Tracking and Analysis

Gain valuable insights into lead behavior and engagement patterns. Track interactions across multiple touchpoints, identify opportunities for optimization, and make data-driven decisions.

Workflow Automation

Streamline your processes from lead capture to conversion. Automate follow-up emails, schedule tasks, and trigger notifications based on predefined criteria. By standardizing workflows, you ensure consistency and maximize efficiency across your organization.

Personalization and Segmentation

Deliver personalized experiences that resonate with your audience. Segment leads based on demographics, behavior, and interests, and tailor your messaging accordingly. By speaking directly to the needs of your prospects, you increase engagement and build stronger connections.

Streamline the Sales Process

• Streamlined Sales Process starting from the integrations to capturing to tracking to distributing and nurturing.
• The process won’t be this simpler and easy to follow up if there was a separate tool for communications.
• Track the lead's current status with the help of communication history.
• Communicating with the lead became simpler with just a click in Lead Management Software Oas36ty AI CRM.

Call Recording for Better Personalization

• Sales agents can listen to the lead conversations to get a complete idea of their pain points and requirements.
• This will help them to improve their approach towards the lead.
• Whereas, with other Lead Management Software where the calling system is integrated and not inbuilt in the system recording the calls is not possible.
• It’s also extremely difficult to track the recordings on your phone. But in the system lead details, call history, recording and everything is aligned.

Keep a Track of Your Engagement with the Leads

• Email updates, Follow-ups with the leads are showcased on a single screen. Avoiding the drift from one application to the other.
• The entire process of the lead capture to the conversation is shown.
• Managers, Sales executives can track upcoming, completed meetings or calls in the Tasks section.
• Documents shared through Email are also available on the same platform.
• Timely reminders on upcoming task and a filter option are available to track any specific task.
• Track Incoming, Outgoing, Missed calls from the Call log section.

Provide Timely Response to Your Leads

• Auto-call feature to follow up with the lead timely within 5 seconds.
• Get your hands on SMS/Email/WhatsApp on a single tab instead of multiple services thus resulting in time-crunch
• Recurring Task Reminder feature to remind the lead about a meeting or upcoming task that can be set for a period of time.
• Oas36ty AI CRM integrates with the calendar in order to keep you updated and up to date with meetings and major events.

Integrations For Zero Lead Leakage

• You might consider not just Email, SMS, WhatsApp for generating leads.
• There are plenty of platforms from social media, Calling Solutions and Marketplace’s that can triple the number of leads you currently acquire.
• Analyze where most of the leads come from and integrate with Oas36ty AI CRM Lead Management Software.
• On the other hand, if you already have a calling solution, we’re open to providing our Lead Box by integrating with your choice of a third-party application.

Sales Automation for Workflows

• With Oas36ty AI CRM automating the selling process you can create your own workflows.
• Workflows that matter and are suitable for your business internal operations and for the employees.
• These workflows make you bring closure to your leads with a variety of automated communications like Call/WhatsApp/Email/SMS.

Reports to Measure Productivity

• Lead Reports can also be viewed to have a glance on leads like the number of leads converted, number of open leads and hot leads.
• Henceforth increasing the conversion rate.
• Assess the productivity of sales agents through the Productivity Report.
• You can check the call reports regarding the incoming, outgoing calls.

Step By Step Lead Management Process

Businesses follow this set of processes to successfully achieve their sales targets. And Oas36ty AI CRM can make this process easier.

Step 1: Capture Lead

• You can capture leads not only from Email, SMS, Missed Call, Website but also from social media, Ads, Market-places, Third-party Websites.
• It’s possible in Oas36ty AI CRM through Integrations.
• You don’t have to look for a developer to integrate. You can integrate APIs, Webhook APIs with zero technical expertise and with ease.
• You can integrate Shopify, Justdial, 99cares, housing.com, India Mart, Trade India, Facebook and many other such websites to generate leads.
• After successful generation of leads, an ideal tool captures them into a single place called as Lead Box in Oas36ty AI CRM.
• Oas36ty AI CRM captures the entire lead profile that is needed for the sales team to move forward.

Step 2: Track Lead

1. When leads are inside your Lead Management System Software. It’s time to get to know them and their business.
2. It’s pretty much easy with the details available in the Lead Box.
3. It has information such as Customer Name, Company Name, Type of Business, Location.
4. With this information, the sales team can understand the type of customer and what he/she needs help with.
5. The process will become simpler when they contact the customer and cater to them with a personalized pitch or the product they are actually in need of.
6. Tracking will also provide a simple time for Sales Executives to prepare a suitable pitch.

Step 3: Distribute Lead

1. Now that the customer, type of business, and their requirement is captured and analyzed. Leads will be passed on to sales agents.
2. The procedure for segmenting leads to pass onto these agents might differ from organization to organization.
3. For instance, in Oas36ty we segment them by the source of the lead. This means leads generated from Facebook goes to Agent1 and leads generated from Email goes to Agent2 and so on.
4. This process is also auto-assigned to prevent lead leakage or a longer response time.

Step 4: Nurture Lead

1. This is the final and crucial step in the Lead Management process.
2. Lead nurturing is the process of enlightening and building relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel.
3. You can educate the lead about the value your product brings through Email Campaigns, SMS, promotional Offers.
4. It is also important to keep in mind that your sales team is paying attention to the lead’s pain points and requirements.
5. It is in this step that sales agents qualify the lead after walking through their requirements. And understand if they are hot, warm, cold, junk leads and take action accordingly.
6. Sales agents also provide guidance and assistance to build trust, increase brand awareness and follow up with them until leads are sales-ready.

How to Create an Effective Lead Management System?

• Capturing Leads: Capturing leads requires identifying and gathering information about individuals or organizations that have expressed interest in your products or services. The primary goal of lead capture is to convert these prospects into actionable opportunities for sales and marketing teams to pursue.
• Lead Tracking: Lead tracking systematically monitors and analyzes prospects' interactions and engagement with a company's marketing and sales team efforts. It involves capturing data points such as website visits, email opens, content downloads, social media interactions, and responses to communication channels like phone calls or live chats.
• Lead Qualification: Lead qualification is assessing the readiness and suitability of potential leads before they are passed on to the sales team for further engagement. The goal of lead qualification is to ensure that only high-quality, sales-ready leads enter the sales pipeline, thus maximizing the efficiency of the sales process and increasing the likelihood of conversion.
• Lead Scoring: Lead scoring is a methodology sales and marketing teams use to evaluate and rank leads based on their likelihood of becoming customers. In this process, a numerical value, or score, based on various attributes and behaviours, helps prioritize leads for follow-up and nurturing efforts.

Lead Management Integration with Oas36ty

Oas36ty allows businesses to easily integrate the CRM of their choice with our tele calling platform. You can import leads through any CRM or manually import them into our platform. Once the leads are imported, our lead management system takes over and smoothly guides your leads through our tele calling platform and toward conversion. Let's understand what Oas36ty has to offer when it comes to lead management.

• Duplication Check (DND): Once leads enter our system through customer CRMs or manual imports, they go through a checker system. This ensures we adhere to calling regulations. We check for duplicates and DND numbers to ensure no one gets spammed.
• Lead Prioritization: We accurately segregate leads on the basis of age, demographics, geography, profession, product interest, etc. We also use concepts such as Last-in-first-out and First-in-last-out to maintain workflow and desired turnaround times.
• Workflow Automation: Once the leads are prioritized according to their segmentation, they flow through our workflow system. Oas36ty's workflow system is highly customizable and can be configured on multiple touchpoints as per the requirements of the business.
• Lead Matching: One of the key processes that helps us increase our conversion rates is our lead matching system. Here, we match leads according to the skills of the agents. This way, we optimise the chances of success.
• Connectivity & Lead Conversion: At Oas36ty, we try to maintain a connectivity rate by ensuring our resources are utilised efficiently, and our lead conversion rates are high. We achieve this by removing spam numbers with the help of our systems and performing tests to figure out the best time and day to approach leads. If the connectivity rate falls below a certain limit, our system will automatically detect the fault and try to fix it accordingly.
• Track Complete Lead Cycle: Our systems allow businesses to track the entire lifecycle of a lead from the time their contact details were acquired till the time they became a paying customer. This allows businesses to understand trends and figure out which strategy to apply to increase lead conversions.

What is the best lead management software?

Here are some of the best lead management software:

HubSpot CRM:

• Offers inbound and outbound communication features.
• Clean dashboard with advanced analytics. The free version has limited features; a premium subscription is needed for advanced functions.

Zoho CRM:

• Cloud-based with a focus on data analytics and security.
• Competitive pricing is suitable for small to medium businesses.
• Advanced features are limited to higher-tier plans; customization can be complex.

Pipedrive:

• Allows customization and creation of multiple pipelines.
• Provides AI chatbots for customer conversations.
• Lacks advanced features such as lead scoring.

Zendesk:

• All-around solution with productivity tools and data analytics.
• Features locked behind expensive plans.
• Comprehensive service but may require significant investment.

Monday CRM:

• Offers customizable templates and collaborative features.
• The per-user pricing model may become costly.
• Suitable for lead generation, marketing, and sales pipeline management.

Salesforce:

• Feature-rich CRM with extensive capabilities.
• Expensive for small businesses; high setup and implementation costs.
• Offers 360-degree packages with ancillary tools like marketing and sales solutions.

Copper:

• Excels in seamless integration with G-suite.
• Offers key CRM features and a user-friendly interface.
• Focused on G-suite integration; may require assistance for other platforms.

Bitrix24:

• Online CRM with integrated sales tools and automation.
• The free version offers decent features, and advanced features in higher-paid versions.
• Collaboration features are available even in the free version.

What are KPIs for lead management?

Key performance indicators (KPIs) for lead management are metrics used to measure the effectiveness and success of your leads, as well as promotion and qualification efforts. These KPIs provide information about the performance of the management process and help businesses identify areas for improvement. Some of the lead management KPIs include:

• Lead generation rate: Measuring the number of leads generated over some time shows how marketing campaigns and strategies will attract leads.
• Lead Quality:  Assess lead quality based on demographics, behavior, and engagement to ensure the sales team targets suitable leads who are likely to change.
• Conversion rate:  It shows the effectiveness of the sales process in converting into revenue by calculating the percentage of customers who successfully turn into potential customers.
• Lead Velocity: Track how quickly leads come through the sales pipeline, showing how you can quickly convert and identify opportunities in your sales process.
• Cost per Lead: Help businesses measure the effectiveness of marketing and advertising-related investments in lead generation by measuring the cost required to generate leads.
• Lead Engagement Metrics: Includes email open rates, click-through rates, and web-sharing metrics to provide insight into lead engagement and interest rates.
• Sales Lifecycle: Help departments increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the sales process by tracking the average time it takes for a potential customer to succeed through the sales channel and become a customer.
• Churn Rate: Measure the rate of churn or withdrawal from the sales process before conversion, highlighting areas that need improvement in leadership and strategy tracking.
• Return on Investment (ROI): Helps businesses evaluate the benefits and effectiveness of sales practices by calculating the return on investment compared to operations management.

FAQ’s

What is a lead management?

Lead management is defined as the process of capturing, qualifying, and nurturing leads, then handing them off to the sales team. While it may sound simple in practice, many organizations don’t have any formal lead management system in place.

Done right, lead management systems can fill your pipeline with qualified, informed buyers while helping the sales and demand generation marketing teams gain a deeper understanding of what buyers are looking for.

Is CRM and lead management the same?

While there are similarities between the two types of software, they're not the same. Lead management software generates fresh leads that you can then turn into customers, while a CRM helps you manage the entire customer journey.

What does the lead system do?

A lead distribution system allows you to track, route and sell all of your incoming leads to your network of buyers in real-time. Sophisticated lead distribution software even comes with features such as phone routing, a form builder and even affiliate management tools.

What is the full form of lead CRM?

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a technology for managing all of your company's interactions with current and potential customers. The goal is simple: improve relationships to grow your business. CRM technology helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability.

What is the purpose of a lead management system?

Regardless of whether you're a B2C or B2B company, you likely have lots of leads in your sales pipeline. Lead management is a system for organizing those leads within your company's sales funnel so you can know how to better tailor your tactics to engage and encourage sales.

What is lead management system in banking?

Lead Management System is a process of capturing leads, tracking their activities and progress towards the interest of your product then engaging with them and finally closing the deal. Step by Step Lead Management Process.

Where can I get leads from?

• From Email, Website, SMS, Calls.
• Social media such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram.
• Market Places such as India Mart, Trade India, 99acres, Housing.com, Shopify.
• Third-Party Applications such as Justdial, Sulekha, Shopify... and many more applications.

How leads are brought into Oas36ty AI CRM Lead box?

From Email, SMS, Website, Calls, Third-party Applications, Marketplaces, and Social Media.

How to manage leads in BPO and call centers?

Managing sales opportunities for BPOs and call centers involves creating transparent processes, implementing a CRM system, and providing training to agents. This process includes lead capturing, qualification, performance, and tracking, all of which help improve lead management and ensure consistency in lead retention.

Businesses can centralize data, track interactions, and automate tasks using a CRM system, improving efficiency. Train call agents and BPO staff on management best practices so they have the knowledge and skills necessary to communicate effectively with buyers' qualified leads and know how to use CRM tools.

What are CRM leads?

CRM leads are potential customers or prospects who have expressed interest in a company's products or services and are managed within a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

These leads are generated through website inquiries, social media engagement, email subscriptions, or offline events. Once captured, CRM leads are categorized, tracked, and pursued by sales and marketing teams to guide them through the sales funnel toward conversion.

What are lead management processes?

Here are some of the processes associated with lead management.

• Lead Generation: Sales and marketing activities that initiate lead generation are different from the process of capturing and tracking leads. Several methods must be used to integrate the manufacturer's work with sales. An integrated platform that includes essential elements like location and event name.
• Potential Customer Tracking: Tracking involves monitoring a variety of activities of potential customers, such as the pages they visit on the web, their interactions with emails, and their responses to communication through phone calls, text messages, or channels such as WhatsApp. This tracking is essential to remember the details when you return.
• Lead Qualification: Many sales (about 67%) are lost due to a lack of effective leads. Improper lead qualification occurs when a lead who is not ready to sell enters the funnel. Therefore, potential customers need to be qualified according to their needs, purchases, and products that will meet their needs.
• Lead Distribution: Distribution strategies assist in this process and allow routing to the right vendor based on predefined criteria such as geographic region or product interest. Leaders ensure coordination and collaboration, ensuring that all team members have access to critical management information.
• Lead Nurturing: Lead nurturing is developing relationships with potential leads and converting them into qualified leads.

What is the difference between lead and customer?

A Lead represents a potential customer who has first shown interest in the product or service offered by a business but has yet to make a purchase. Leads typically get the product idea through various marketing channels, such as advertisements, promotions, or website visits.

Customers like to pay customers by purchasing the business's products. When potential customers complete a transaction, they become customers and interact with the industry as buyers. The customer has gone through the entire sales process, including awareness, evaluation, and decision stages, and has committed to purchasing the product or service. Customer satisfaction and retention are top priorities for businesses trying to maximize the value of their customers.

What are the benefits of managing leads?

Furthermore, lead management gives businesses valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. Companies can better understand their target audience by analyzing lead data and tracking their interactions with the industry. This allows for more personalized marketing and sales efforts tailored to meet potential customers' needs and expectations.

What are the benefits of implementing a lead management system for small businesses?

Adopting a lead management system provides many benefits to small businesses:

• Organizational development: Helps businesses centralize lead information in one place, making it easier to manage sales overall. Checking applications and control processes throughout the process saves time and reduces manual work, allowing small businesses to focus on various activities and increase efficiency.
• Better track and monitor: With social media management, small businesses can track and monitor interactions and network engagement and better understand behavior and preferences.
• Improving Costs of Sales: A lead management system helps small businesses focus on those most likely to convert by providing top-notch leads as a preliminary process, such as ratings or engagement levels for leads, thereby improving sales efficiency and driving sales growth.
• More accessible communication: Functional management systems improve communication and collaboration between sales and marketing teams by providing a platform for data sharing, tracking of interactions, and post-transaction collaboration.
• Customer Development: It can help small businesses deliver a better customer experience and increase customer loyalty, satisfaction, and trust by ensuring timely communication and coordination.