Qualification + Lead Flow

✅ Lead Qualification

Before investing time in a full sales call, every lead must be qualified. This protects your calendar and ensures you're spending time with prospects who are actually ready to buy.

🚦 The Two Hard Rules

A lead must meet both of these requirements to move forward to a sales call:

Requirement

Why It Matters

✅ Must have an active AgencyZoom account

We build inside AZ — we cannot help agencies without it

✅ Must have a budget of $5,000–$15,000

Our services start at $5k — unqualified budgets waste everyone's time

If a lead doesn't have AgencyZoom or doesn't have the budget — do not schedule a sales call. Politely let them know they aren't quite ready for us. Help them schedule a call with AgencyZoom directly using this link > https://calendly.com/az-demos/accelerated-automation-agencyzoom-demo

We get credit for agents that sign up so it's important you help them schedule a call.

📋 Qualification Questions

These are the questions every lead must answer before a sales call is booked. They come through our qualification form automatically, but if you're qualifying someone live (inbound call, FB message, etc.) ask these in order:

#

Question

What You're Listening For

1

Which AgencyZoom account level do you have?

Any active paid plan — if none, disqualify

2

How long have you had AgencyZoom?

Context on their familiarity — newer = more education needed

3

Why have you reached out to us?

Their motivation — referral, ad, YouTube, etc.

4

What do you want help with?

Their pain point — use this to match the right package

5

What is your timeline to complete this project?

Urgency — helps prioritize hot vs. cold leads

6

What is your annual agency revenue?

Helps determine package fit and upcharge applicability

7

How many employees do you have?

Determines complexity and package scope

8

Do you have a budget of $5k–$15k for this project?

Hard gate — must be yes to proceed

Round Robin Assignment  Qualification Routing Form

You'll also have a personal qualifcation routing form you can use for your own assigned leads. 

📞 Qualifying a Lead Live (Inbound Call or Message)

If a prospect contacts you directly — by phone, email, or social — use this framework:

Your job during inbound contact is to qualify and schedule, not to sell.

✅ DO:

• Ask the qualification questions above

• Schedule a sales call if they qualify

• Be warm, confident, and brief

❌ DON'T:

• Answer detailed questions about how the tech works or integrates

• Go deep on pricing before a formal sales call

• Try to sell on the spot

If they ask technical questions before the call:

"That's a great question — and honestly that's exactly why so many agencies work with our team. Our sales specialists will be able to walk you through all of that and make sure everything is set up correctly for your specific agency. Let's get a call on the calendar so we can give you the full picture."

If they push for a technical answer and you don't know:

"Honestly, I'm on the sales side and not a technical expert — I'd hate to give you the wrong answer. Let's get you on a call with the right person."

🚫 How to Disqualify Gracefully

If they don't have AgencyZoom:

"We specialize exclusively in AgencyZoom implementation, so we'd need you to have an active account before we could help. Have you had a call with the AgencyZoom team yet? 

No: 

I can help you schedule a call now, let me pull up their calendar. (schedule their call and set your follow up task for the day after)

Yes: 

What's holding you back from signing up?  (some agents won't sign up without also choosing a consultant to set it all up becuase they know they don't have time, so if their decision is pending our services then you can schedule a call) 

If they don't have the budget:

"Our projects start at $5,000 — we do offer financing with affirm or kalarna, would that open up your budget if you could make payments? 

No:

We want to make sure it's the right investment at the right time for your agency. If the budget opens up down the road, we'd love to reconnect.

Yes:

Get them scheduled

📝 After Qualifying — What Happens Next

1. Lead qualifies → Schedule a Sales Call via Calendly (not directly on the calendar)

2. Log all qualification notes in AgencyZoom on the lead's record

3. Make sure the lead is assigned to the correct producer in AZ

4. Move the lead to the appropriate pipeline stage

👉 See the Lead Flow page for how leads are routed through Calendly and assigned in AgencyZoom.

This page covers how leads move through AgencyZoom from first contact all the way to closed — and how to manage your daily activity inside the CRM.

🔁 Pipeline Overview — Stage by Stage

1. 🟢 New & Interested

A lead drops in and is assigned to you automatically via round-robin.

Your job: Place the very first phone call ASAP (speed to lead).

• The automation will assign you a task: "New Lead — Place First Call"

• Call + email the lead

• Goal: qualify and schedule OR qualify and remove

If you reached them: Qualify using the qualification questions and schedule their Discovery Call.

If you didn't reach them: Complete the first call task, then move the lead to →

2. 📞 Qual + Schedule + Calling

This stage signals that the speed-to-lead call has been placed and you are now actively working to qualify and schedule.

• A new task will be assigned: "Qualify and Schedule"

• Keep this task open until the goal is achieved — do not close it early

• If you leave a voicemail or speak with them but don't schedule, edit the task and add a note — don't close it

• Automated email campaigns are running in the background to this lead

⚠️ Out-of-office replies: If you receive one, go back into the lead and reset the automation start date to when they return.

3. 💬 Contacted

Move here once the lead has responded to an automation or you've spoken with them — but they aren't scheduled yet.

• Goal: get them to schedule their first call

• Continue working toward booking the Discovery Call

4. 📅 Scheduled First Call

Calendly + Zapier will automatically move the lead here once an appointment is booked.

• If it doesn't update automatically, manually move them to this stage

• A tag "Appointment Scheduled" will be added — this pauses the automated campaign

• Close any open tasks from the previous stage when you move them

5. 📊 Met With

Move here immediately after running the call if the lead showed up.

Met with Lead Training Video Walk Through  Updated 3/26/26

• A task will be assigned: "Determine Next Steps"

• Ask yourself: Do they need a second call? Is a proposal ready to send? What happened and what's next?

If they didn't show up or need to reschedule → move to No-Show / Reschedule stage (automation will prompt them to rebook)

6. 📞 Second Call Needed

Use this stage if the lead needs another meeting before a proposal can be created.

• If they have already scheduled the second call → add the tag "Second Call Scheduled"

• If they have NOT scheduled yet → drop into this stage without the tag (automation will encourage them to book)

🆕 New reps and custom projects: If you determine a lead needs a Custom project (not Sprint or Scale), schedule a 45-minute custom sales call with Mariah (or the designated custom call rep). Attend this call to start learning the custom process.

7. 📝 Create Proposal

Move here once you've determined the right product fit.

This stage should be empty at end of day. Every lead you met with should have their proposal sent same day — no later than next business morning.

💡 The longer the gap between the call and the proposal, the harder it is to close. Strike while the iron is hot.

• Tag the lead before dragging to Proposed: Sprint | Scale | Custom

• You'll see a reminder in front of the Proposed stage

8. 📨 Proposed

• Open the lead → click Email Templates

• Select the template matching your recommendation (Sprint, Scale, or Custom)

• Send the Scope of Work — the template includes the payment link

• Log the quote under the Quotes tab in AgencyZoom:

  • Carrier: Accelerated Automation

  • Policy Type: your product

  • Cost: project amount

• Add a Next Expiration Date on the lead card:

  • Sprint/Scale with a stated timeline → use their timeline

  • Sprint/Scale with no stated timeline → 30 days

  • Custom → set based on the proposal and workload

9. ⏰ Expired Quote

Triggered automatically when the expiration date passes.

• Lead receives an automated message that their quote has expired

• They can still move forward — but you need to verify capacity, adjust timeline, and send an updated SOW

• Do not leave expired quotes sitting — follow up and either re-engage or move to leads not closed

10. 🔒 Pending Closed

Use only when a lead has verbally committed to purchase and will close within 30 days.

• They said "yes" but payment hasn't happened yet (waiting on a bonus, loan, etc.)

• This stage shows projected revenue

• If their timeline is more than 30 days out: do NOT leave them in the active pipeline — Smart Cycle them (see below)

11. ✅ Sold

Drag and drop once payment is received.

• Automation takes over from here: Monday task created, LaunchBay portal created

• You or an Account Executive (if that role is filled) will receive an onboarding task for the new client

🔄 Recycled & Cold Lead Pipelines

Leads Not Closed

• Leads that didn't close get recycled every 3 months for up to 18 months (6 total cycles)

• Automated campaigns continue running

• When a lead re-engages or responds → pick them up and work through the exact same stage process — just stay within the Leads Not Closed pipeline

• Do not move leads between pipelines — this breaks data. Always Smart Cycle instead.

Leads Never Contacted

• Leads that never engaged with any communication

• Hit an automated campaign once per year for 5 years

• If they engage → work them in this pipeline using the same stage process

• Same rule: do not move to another pipeline

📅 Smart Cycling

Use Smart Cycle when a lead is interested but their timeline is more than 30 days out.

1. Leave a follow-up task open with your notes and the future date to call

2. Smart Cycle the lead so it moves to Leads Not Closed

3. Pick it back up when the task fires

This keeps your active pipeline clean and your task list accurate.

✅ Daily Lead Management — Working Your Task List

Your task list in AgencyZoom is your to-do list for the day. Every active lead you're engaging with must have an open task representing your next physical step.

The rules:

• Every active lead = an open task

• The pipeline stage = where they are in the process

• The task = what YOU will physically do next

• Notes = what you already did

Automation handles a lot in between your steps — but you are responsible for keeping tasks current and accurate.

👥 Lead Assignment & Round-Robin Rules

Leads come in and are assigned round-robin based on availability. Here's how to handle edge cases:

Situation

What to Do

Lead assigned to you, lands on your calendar, no prior contact

It's your lead — work it

Lead assigned to Rep A, lands on Rep B's calendar, no prior contact

Reassign to Rep B — don't disrupt the client

Lead assigned to Rep A, Rep A has been actively working it, then books on Rep B's calendar

Rep A can call the lead and move the appointment to their calendar

You're struggling to connect or build rapport with a lead

You can hand it off to a teammate or bring in Mariah — do what's right for the client

The goal is always to do what's best for the client and the company. When we all win, we all make more money.