lead trajectory

A lead trajectory is a projected path of a lead or potential customer as it applies to a goal, such as signing the customer up for a service or making a sale. Using various analytical models, sales professionals track the progress of gathering potential customers and moving them through various stages toward an end goal.

Typically displayed in graphical format, a trajectory may be created to determine how many leads have been generated, converted or advanced. In addition, sales professionals may choose to track whether the leads are new, qualified, unqualified or canceled.

Some factors that sales teams track include number of leads over time, leads to date, average lead goal, lead source (for instance, was the potential customer discovered through outreach efforts such as email campaigns, social media or cold calls) and lead aging (the amount of time that has passed since a potential customer has shown any sign of activity). In most cases, once a predetermined amount of time has gone by, the lead is considered cold or cancelled.

Using this metric, sales professionals can adjust their goals over time and look for patterns that improve their sales methods or areas of weakness.