Lead scoring & MQL Models are dead

Huuuh??? You might think right now…. But before you start writing a comment you disagree, take a moment and read the article ;)?

Lead Scoring & MQL's by themselves simply do not work anymore. Obvious for some of you. And not for others.

But in fact, many B2B companies still use a 10-year-old lead gen process and put acronyms before people, and leads before revenue.?

Instead, we need to:

1. ?Change MQL to MQA
2. Add Account Scoring/Account Engagement to our funnel
3. And add lead scoring as a layer on the top to get a detailed view of every person in the MQA.??

Because, in real life, sales teams don’t close leads; they close accounts.?

B2B companies have traditionally been focused on leads and MQL's – scoring a lead through the funnel until it has reached a pre-determined score that suggests the lead is ready to be handed over to sales.?This misalignment is, without doubt, the number one reason for the disconnect (and low trust) that exists between the two.??

Lead scoring and MQL's do not work simply because:

We are not selling to individuals. We are selling to a company - > An account

Therefore, it’s much more important to measure, track and understand:

1. Company changes

2. Trigger events within your ICP?

3. Analyze your existing client base to understand CLTV, and take a moment to understand when they are buying more from you, why, and so on.?Rather than focus on MQL's and the contact data.?

You can also be more personal in the outreach, content, and marketing campaigns by doing so.?

If we take a few steps back, marketing and sales over the last few decades have been defined by three eras:

• Brand Era
• Demand Gen Era
• Revenue Era

Each is shaped by the technology, trends, and people of their time. So when 2020 forced people home, the need to meet buyers on their terms rapidly sped up digital transformation for B2B companies.

Buyers now want the same conveniences in their buying experience, in B2B like they do when ordering a book on Amazon or a ride on Uber. And this shift has ushered us into a new era of B2B marketing and sales – In the Revenue Era, the customer is at the center of everything. This means marketing and sales teams need to be aligned around customer lifetime value and revenue goals.?

I do think the marketing team should have a revenue-based KPI, not activity-based, to make sure both sales and marketing are working towards the same goal. Closing that specific account.

#MQLisDead #sales #marketing

Emma Wallin - Country Manager Monta AS