Best Lead Management Software

What is Lead Management Software?

Lead Management software analyzes, qualifies, and cultivates incoming sales leads so they can be converted into new business deals. It is a critical subset of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and a part of Marketing Automation. It is also known as customer acquisition management, contact management, or prospect management. Sales Pipeline software and Sales Intelligence software are related categories. Lead generation and lead capture capabilities are often included within lead management software.

Lead management systems bring in leads that have been captured from a variety of sources such as:

• Campaigns

• web forms and web cookies

• purchased lists

• social networking

• Emails

• Chat

• quote requests

It moves the leads through qualification and nurturing until they are ready to be turned over to a sales rep to close the deal.

The platform collects intelligence about leads, scores them, and tracks them. The leads are categorized; sorted by legitimacy and priority. For each category, guidance is provided on the best way to follow up with the lead and convert them into customers. This information allows marketers to understand which tactics bring in the highest quality leads, which sales strategies are effective, and which stages each lead must pass through before becoming a customer.

Lead Management Software Features

Most lead management platforms will include the following features:

• Campaign Management

• Customer Interaction Tracking

• Automated Data Collection and Management

• Forms

• Customer Profiles

• Lead Capture and Source Tracking

• Lead Qualification and AI-Powered Scoring

• Lead Segmentation and Prioritization

• Sales Team Routing Rules, Distribution, and Tracking

• Lead Nurturing

• Prospecting Tools and Sales Tracking

• Analytics / Forecasts / Reporting / Custom Dashboard

• Third-Party app integration

Depending on the product, lead management may be cloud-based or web/browser-based. They are generally supported by Windows, Mac, Android, Linux, and iOS systems.

Lead Management Software Comparison

To choose the appropriate set of tools, first assess the complexity of your sales process, the number of leads generated, the size of your sales team, and the opportunities for future growth.

Before purchasing lead management software consider whether your requirements dictate that it be part of a CRM system, a marketing system or work best as a standalone option.

For businesses where the customer relationship ends with a sale, a pure lead management system is sufficient. For businesses where it is important or necessary to continue the customer relationship after the sale, a CRM system would be a better choice. Lead management software may also be a better fit for smaller businesses that aren’t yet ready for a larger and more complex CRM system.

If you’re considering leveraging your CRM system as a lead management tool as well, note that some CRM systems are especially geared towards and effective for sales, while others are tailored to support specific industries.

Evaluating which of the many available features are required will narrow your product choices.

Factor in training, ease of use, and the amount of time it will take to get up and running with the software. Cloud-based options are usually quicker to implement.

Pricing Information

A basic subscription plan ranges from $12 to $40 per user, per month, when billed annually. Advanced versions with greater functionality and CRM capabilities can cost up to $200 dollars a month, per user.

Some vendors require that you request a pricing quote, others offer free trial or limited capability free versions.

Support is usually included in the pricing; however, some vendors require an additional fee for premium support.