Q1: What is a Sales Funnel?

Ans. Sales funnel refers to the process through which a company finds, qualifies and sells its
product to the customers. It is a concept of marketing which displays the path that is
followed while making a purchase. It is a process by which a company observes,
prepares and sells its respective products to the buyers. A best sales funnel gives
salespeople an insight into their potential customer’s thought process, challenges,
decisions.

Awareness

Interest and evaluation

Decision

Action

Sales funnel has 4 stages, which are explained below:

 Awareness - In this stage, the company promotes their product. This may be from ads,
banner, social message or word of mouth. In this particular stage, the buyer faces a lot
of challenges and becomes aware of the issues. They try to figure out possible solutions,
opportunities and even look for products and services.
 Interests and evaluation - When the leads are once generated, the second step is
followed which is the interest step in which the customers learn about the company, its
products and services offered and what are the offers it provides. Here, the buyer
actively searches for the requisite product. In this stage customers do the comparis on,
look for price and see the alternative options.
 Decision - In this stage, the potential buyer pays all the attention to the small detailing
regarding the offer, the packages it provides and other things included, so that he/she
can make a final call whether to buy the product or not.
 Action – In this stage, the potential prospect becomes a customer of the product by
purchasing it and becomes a part of the business ecosystem. Here money is transferred
to the company and in return, they deliver the product.

Q2: Explain the process of Lead Generation for an Ed-tech company like Extramarks.
Ans. Lead generation, the advertising procedure of animating and catching enthusiasm for
an item or administration to build up a business pipeline, permits companies to sustain
focuses until they're prepared to purchase. Lead generation can be helpful for any kind
or size of business, and both B2C and B2B spaces. 60% of advertiser's express that lead
generation is a key agony point for their organization. Deciding a decent lead is more
intricate than simply focusing on individuals who downloaded your white paper, and,
significantly, your agents don't burn through their time cold pitching unfit leads when
there are approaches to limit the pool.
Types of lead generation are following:

 Pay Per Click Marketing: PPC is a limited time strategy present all over. This is the
place for a short video or a slide and shows up inside the edges of a webpage for
consumers to click on. The substance of the promotions must be connecting with and
intended to get the consumer to click since that click sends them to your webpage. PPC
works by getting it's subsidizing from the clicks themselves. Each time a consumer
clicks on your promotion, you pay the organization setting them on the webpage.
 Social Media: Social media marketing, or SMM, is a type of web marketing that
includes making and sharing substance on social media systems to accomplish your
marketing and marking objectives. Social media marketing incorporates exercises like
posting text and picture updates, recordings, and other substance that drives crowd
commitment, just as paid social media publicizing.
 E-mail Marketing: Email marketing is the demonstration of sending a business
message, regularly to a gathering of individuals, utilizing email. Email sent to a
potential or current client could be viewed as email marketing which includes utilizing
email to send ads, demand business, or request deals.
 SEO: SEO was one of the principal marketing channels to open online which is
probably the most grounded type of computerized marketing accessible. SEO manages
search engine results. Online consumers use search engines continually, most
reflexively going with an organization that shows up on the primary page of results.
Albeit 94% of those outcomes are natural, SEO can get your organization closer to that
first page by expanding your positioning. This implies your business will have a
superior shot at being highlighted first than others.
 Webinars: It is used for various types of online conferencing and services including
digital marketing webinars and webcasts.
 Cold Calling: Customers have had no earlier contact with the salesperson leading the
call in cold calling. It is an endeavor to persuade possible customers to purchase either
the salesperson's product or service.

Q3: What is a Cold Lead, Warm Lead and a Qualified Prospect?

Ans. A sales lead is any potential sales contact, individual or entity that express interest in
your goods or services. They came in contact with your business with or without the
intension of buying from you.
 Cold Lead: Cold leads are generally the individuals or entities who never contacted
your organization or show any kind of interest in your offerings. Cold leads have to be
handled with care over a longer period to obtain sales.
 Warm Lead: A warm Lead refers to the people or companies who have shown interest
in any of the product or service offered by your company. They generally follow your
company in the social media platforms or they might get a referral from a friend or a
previous client of your company. Warm Leads show more interest to learn more about
your product and offerings. They are much more valuable than the cold leads and likely
to be converted to a final consumer.
 Qualified Prospect: Qualified Prospectus are the leads who are more close to the
completion of the sales cycle. They are highly interested in the product or service
offered by the company. They tend to engage immediately with the organization. They
don’t require any kind of nurturing. We have to manage and handle them properly till
the end of the sales cycle. Qualified Prospects are more important leads as compared to
Cold and Warm Leads.

Q4: What conditions should a Lead fulfil to be categorized as a Qualified Prospect?

Ans. A lead is generally someone who is attracted or interested in the particular things that
one provides, it may be product/service but the reason is not known. You never know
when the sales are likely to happen. But certain things makes a lead to qualify as a
Prospect. They are-
 There should be a proper both way communication between the lead & the party. It
ensures that both parties are ready to carry forward with the deal and the lead has real
potential.
 The lead must have the potential to buy from a business and grow into a customer
since the trust & two-way communication process have strengthened.
 The lead when shows extreme interest towards our goods/services, responses to the
mails, calls & meetings positively, it can be said that he has become a prospector to be
prospect.
 For some businesses, a lead is a prospect if the lead qualifies the organisations need in
terms of purchases, revenue generation etc. if they do not find the leads meeting their
criteria’s or needs, there is no point in continuing the business. The reverse is the same
in some cases too.
 Another thing that can convert a lead to a prospect is the immense trust in the party and
the organisation. This makes sure that the potential prospect would not leave, at least
soon.

Q5: What all should you plan for before visiting a Prospective Customer?
Ans. We should plan as per the below steps, before visiting a prospective customer.
 Don’t target everyone : Before attempting to visit a prospective customer I have to
make the target of making the proper database of the customer to whom I will visit
and to whom I approach. I have to minimize my customer base and be so specific that
from some of the specific customer I can make my target sell and generate my
revenue within my customer base. Because after all any company can’t please every
customer. I should be specific and focus on the niche customer base rather than the
broad customer base.
 Make your marketing entertaining: While attempting to visit my prospect customer
I should be more creative while designing my marketing strategy because it will
further create the attention of the customer towards my products.
 Provide free resources : By providing the free resources to the potential customer of
my product then my product will be more appreciated and will create a specific test of
my product in their mind so that they can’t switch to other product.
 Create a strong digital profile : In today scenario the importance of the digital profile
is more relevant because more and more people are not getting connected by this
platform and it is the easiest way to trace the consuming behaviour. Apart from this,
this will also help me to create more potential customer by cross contacting.