Quoting is not qualifying. We often must remind salespeople that "You are not a Quote Jockey. You don't make commissions on quotes. You don't need the practice of quoting. You don't need to help the current vendor by supplying the buyer with your information. You don't need to make the buyer smarter. And you don't need to waste your time, your effort or the resources of your company quoting on something that you have less than a good chance of selling."
So, stop quoting and start qualifying prospects who fit the profile of your ideal client. Start qualifying these prospects for "severe mental anguish" - the motivation to buy your product or service. Start qualifying them for their motivation to leave their current vendor relationship. Start qualifying them for their sense of urgency and ability to invest the resources required to buy.
How do great salespeople do this? Here are four tips on qualifying prospects more effectively:
Tip 1: Know Who You Should Be Selling To
If you don't already know who you should be selling to, you need only look as far as your book of business (or the book of the most successful salesperson you know) and determine which clients make you the most money. Typically, 20% of your clients account for 80% of your revenue.
Tip 2: Ask for Introductions, Not Referrals
Select 5-10 of your clients, provide them with your target prospect, and ask them if they know anyone who looks like that and, if so, ask them for an introduction. If you want to learn a very comfortable way to do this, watch our Sales Brew on Getting Introductions. This will help you clearly understand the difference between asking for a referral and an introduction.
Tip 3: Qualify Prospects for Severe Mental Anguish
Once you have a list of prospects and appropriate decision-makers and you get the opportunity to meet, you must begin qualifying for severe mental anguish - the prospect's motivation to buy your product or service.
This is tricky. You will have to get past the surface discussion that invariably happens at initial sales meetings. You will want to drill down past the first indication of a problem (pain indicator). Most salespeople, when they uncover the initial indications of a problem, stop digging and go immediately to their solution and begin pitching. At this point in the relationship, this is inappropriate since you don't yet know if the problem is big or bad enough to motivate the prospect to take action or if they even have a budget.
Drill down. Gain more information. Ask great questions so that they continue talking about the problem. Get them emotionally involved.
This takes practice. Here is another tip to qualifying prospects: the Rule of 3R. This means asking the Right question, the Right way, at the Right time. If you learn how to do this, you will help the buyer discover that they have a problem and that they want to fix the problem. Then they will ask you if your product or service can make the problem go away. This is a much better way to qualify a prospect, to help them self-discover.
A Sample Approach to Qualifying Prospects
Here is a sample approach for qualifying prospects (this needs to be planned, not canned). Once you ask your initial question that gets a pain indicator response, e.g., "I'm unhappy with...?", you say the following:
-
"Tell me more about that." Ask in a nurturing way and then don't say anything. Let them respond.
-
"And?" Ask like it's a question - they will keep talking.
-
"How long has that been a problem?" Don't step over your own question. Ask it and don't say anything. Let them think. Don't be tempted to talk just because there is silence.
-
"What has your current vendor done to help you with this problem?" If they say "Nothing," then you should respond with, "Hmmm, I wonder why."
-
If they indicate that the current vendor has done something, you should respond with, "How is that working?" Keep in mind if it were working, you wouldn't be there.
-
"How much will it cost if you don't fix the problem?"
-
"Is the problem bad enough for you to undo your current vendor relationship?"
-
"Do you want to fix the problem?" Assume they say "yes."
-
"Are you sure?"
-
"Suppose (magic word) we could fix the problem, what would happen next?"
You must have the ability to listen carefully to what the prospect is saying because that will lead you to your next question and will help you get closer to the emotion associated with the problem. Remember, you are trying to get to real emotion because this is what will motivate the prospect to buy. And, if there is not enough emotion, you don't have a real prospect.
Of course, qualifying for money is equally important, and you will want to make sure there is a budget for solving the problem.
Tip 4: Know When to Walk Away
Tip 4 is the most important tip on qualifying prospects: if you are unable to qualify a prospect for mental anguish to solve a real and immediate problem with real available money, then it's time to move on to the next prospect. Don't waste your time trying to create a buyer where none exists. Sure, you can ask and add them to your database to stay in touch, but they do not belong in your pipeline.
Unfortunately, most salespeople keep non-prospects in their pipelines when they should be eliminating them. These non-prospects take up time and energy that should be directed to finding new contacts, qualifying real prospects and selling.
Managers, use these tips on qualifying prospects at your next sales meeting. Drive a discussion and do some role play around those drill-down questions. Your #1 job is to help your salespeople become more effective in qualifying and closing more business.
