3 Criteria to Upgrade a Lead to an Opportunity (And They’re Not What You Think), from Hubspot Blogs.
What is a sales opportunity, and when do you know it’s not a lead anymore?
There is no single, universal definition. However, some common misconceptions deserve to be clarified because the concept of an opportunity impacts your sales process, your ability to qualify, and your alignment with Marketing (if you can’t agree with Marketing on what an “opportunity” is, you’ll have all kinds of challenges in scaling your sales). In this article, I am writing about a first stage opportunity, immediately after it’s converted from a lead — the true starting point of your selling process.
Even a brand new sales rep knows that a “sales opportunity” is when you are working with a qualified prospect who has a good chance of becoming a customer. But what does “qualified” mean, and how do you know the chance of a deal is not imagined? After all, typically only 10 to 15% of B2B sales opportunities become deals.
This might seem like a picky point, but the definition of “sales opportunity” at your company has significant bearing on forecasting accuracy. If each rep has a different conception of what entails an opportunity, they’ll move leads through the CRM sales stages at wildly varying paces. With such inconsistency across your sales team, good luck projecting revenue with any hope of accuracy.
