Lead generation is the lifeblood of any business. If you’re not generating enough leads, your business will struggle to grow and remain competitive.

Before you blindly try out a bunch of lead-generating strategies, it’s helpful to perform some preliminary data analysis. One statistic you need to know is your lead velocity rate.

What Is Lead Velocity Rate (LVR)?

Lead Velocity Rate (LVR) is a metric that measures the rate at which a company’s sales leads are increasing or decreasing over a specific period. It provides insights into the company’s ability to generate new leads and grow its business.

Knowing your Lead Velocity Rate is important because it helps you understand the health of your business and whether it’s growing or declining.

How To Calculate Lead Velocity Rate

To calculate Lead Velocity Rate, you need to determine the difference between the number of leads generated in the current period and the number of leads generated in the previous period.

Then, divide that number by the total number of leads from the previous period and multiply by 100 to get a percentage. The formula is as follows:

((Current Period Leads – Previous Period Leads) / Previous Period Leads) x 100 = Lead Velocity Rate

Lead Velocity Calculation Example

Let’s say a software company has 500 free trial sign-ups in their pipeline this month and had 420 sign-ups last month, which is an increase of 80 sign-ups. Plugging those numbers into the Lead Velocity Rate formula, we get:

((500 – 420) / 420) x 100 = Lead Velocity Rate

Crunch those numbers and you’ll find that their Lead Velocity Rate is roughly 19%.

Boost Your SaaS Sales Funnel With These 4 Optimization Methods

So now you’ve calculated your Lead Velocity Rate… what now?

Once you know your LVR, you can use it to forecast future growth and set realistic revenue targets. You can also identify areas where you need to improve your lead generation efforts, such as increasing the number of marketing campaigns or improving the quality of your leads.

Here are 4 strategies to optimize your sales funnel and increase speed to lead:

Develop a pipeline velocity strategy

A pipeline velocity strategy helps you identify the key stages in your sales funnel and optimize them for maximum efficiency.

Start by mapping out your sales process and identifying any bottlenecks or areas where leads are dropping off. Then, focus on improving these areas by streamlining your processes and using automation tools to speed up the sales cycle.

To streamline the lead generation process, consider using tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Leadfeeder, or HubSpot Sales to automate lead capture and prospecting.

If you want to improve the outreach process, try SalesLoft or Hubspot Sales to automate your email and phone outreach – allowing you to create and send personalized emails at scale, track engagement, and automate follow-up tasks.

Always, always, always collect data along the way and routinely analyze it to determine the best times to follow up with your leads, and adjust your approach accordingly.

Increase the number of qualified leads

To increase the number of qualified leads in your SaaS sales funnel, focus on optimizing your marketing and lead generation efforts. This may include creating targeted marketing campaigns, optimizing your website for search engines, and leveraging social media to reach your target audience.

Something to consider is partnering with other companies or industry influencers to expand your reach by tapping into new audiences while boosting your credibility, and generating more qualified leads.

Shorten the length of the sales cycle

With a short sales cycle, you close deals faster and improve your overall conversion rate. To do this, focus on identifying areas where the sales process is taking too long, and streamline these areas using automation tools and other technology. As an example, if it takes you too long to answer leads, consider investing in automation systems to reach out to prospects faster.

Sometimes, more is less. Bear with me – additional resources, provided they are useful, can actually help prospects move through the sales funnel more quickly. The goal is to convince someone who’s on the fence. Here are some examples:

• Whitepapers and eBooks – High-quality written info that addresses your prospects’ pain points or provides solutions to common problems can be a great way to move them closer to a sale. Make sure to include a call to action that directs prospects to the next step in the sales process.
• Case Studies and Testimonials – Sharing case studies and testimonials from satisfied customers can help build trust and credibility with prospects. Consider creating case studies that highlight the success stories of your customers, and make them easily accessible on your website or through targeted email campaigns.
• Interactive Tools and Calculators – Interactive tools and calculators can be a fun and engaging way to provide value to prospects while also moving them closer to a sale. For example, a mortgage company could create an online calculator that helps prospects estimate their monthly mortgage payments based on various factors.
• Webinars and Demos – Hosting webinars and demos can be an effective way to showcase your product or service and educate prospects about its features and benefits. One great webinar can be and often is more effective than 100s of emails. Make sure to follow up with attendees after the webinar or demo to keep the conversation going and move them closer to a sale.