There is a difference between a Lead and a Prospect. It’s not just a case of ‘you say to-MAY-toe and I say to-MAH-toe’. Although it might seem like semantics, there is a distinction. Okay, so we’re all beavering away developing our Content Marketing strategies (you are, aren’t you?) The truth is, click conversions give you prospects. They don’t give you leads. I hope I haven’t burst your balloon? Don’t mean to be a party-pooping Negative Nancy (now that’s a buyer persona I’d like to explore). Here’s my arguably hair-splitting definition of Prospect versus Lead.
Defining a Prospect
A Prospect is someone who has responded to your marketing and may fit your targeted buyer persona. If that prospect comes to you in response to some form of content marketing (a click conversion) then well done! You’ve just demonstrated that you’re hitting the right notes in terms of that part of your marketing. Now here’s the tricky part. If you don’t now switch into selling mode, they will stay a prospect…a prospective customer.
How this differs from a lead
A Lead on the other hand can be distinguished by having expressed a need for your product or service. Just clicking through and submitting an online inquiry isn’t quite there yet…much as we’d like it to be that simple. The other thing that makes someone a lead is that they have expressed interest in finding out more about your offering.
Why it matters
In classic “Consulting-Speak”, it goes something like this: A rigorous and reliable process of opportunity identification needs to be enforced to recognise the distinction and inform the actions that will move the opportunity from Prospect to Lead. Here it is in plain language. In order for the next type of ‘conversion’ to take place (getting that prospect to become a lead) then something else needs to happen that rhymes with convert!
Converse.
Yes, a conversation needs to happen and the right questions need to be asked. The only way to find out if your prospect has a genuine need and is interested in finding out more about your product or service is by starting a conversation with them. This just reinforces my philosophy that all sales comes down to conversations with purpose. What do you do once you’ve started that conversation? You work towards making them a qualified lead. But that’s another article!
