Only after qualifying a lead (sales contact) will you know whether it is worth investing time and effort in trying to sell. In practice, you are passing the leads through a sieve.
Simple and logical, right? Not for inexperienced salespeople who tend to jump straight to the sale without first qualifying the contact.
And then the problems begin…
What happens when you don't qualify leads?
1. Wasted time
Without qualifying leads, the obvious and direct consequence france business email list is that you will waste a lot of time trying to sell to many contacts who cannot or will not buy from you. If you invested this time in leads with real potential to buy, your results will be different.
2. Missed opportunities
Time wasted on bad leads takes away from the time needed to invest in good leads. Especially those more difficult opportunities that you need to pursue more than others. Without qualification, you can't assess whether it is in fact a golden opportunity that is worth the extra effort.
3. Bad business
Failure to qualify can result in a successful sale, but bad for all parties involved: an unhappy customer who is persuaded to make a bad purchasing decision, and bad for the company who will burn extra energy dealing with the situation.
4. Not knowing the best way to sell
Without qualification, you fail to understand the main pain points, the decision-making process, the alternatives and the profile of the contact and the company. Without this information, it is very difficult to properly direct the sales pitch.
How to qualify leads?
Qualifying involves asking the right questions to the contact. I’ve already talked about the BANT methodology for qualifying leads , but you can also organize the process into 4 main areas to ask questions.
If you can answer most of the questions below, you'll have a good idea of whether the prospect is qualified or not.
1. Customer profile
How closely does it fit your ideal customer profile?
How big is the company?
What is the industry and geographic region?
What solutions have they already used?
What is the ecosystem like in which they are inserted?
2. Pains
What are the customer's pain points?
What are the needs of the contact, the team and the company?
Are there set goals or expected results?
How will meeting or failing to meet goals affect the contact, the team, and the company?
3. Decision-making process
How do they make decisions?
How many people are involved?
Which departments are involved?
What is the typical purchasing process like?
What is the average purchase time for a similar product?
Is there a deadline? What is it?
4. Competition
What other alternatives are also being considered?
What other solutions have they worked with?
Is any in-house solution an alternative considered?
Why would they choose alternative A, B or C?
How NOT to qualify leads
While the most common problem is that salespeople don't qualify their leads, there are also those who misuse the qualification process.
For example, you should not bombard the contact with questions. Qualifying is not an interrogation. The conversation is an exchange of information between the parties, so it should be fluid and the questions should happen naturally as a way for you to understand the contact better and help them achieve their goal.
Red flags in the qualification process
When qualifying a lead, the following signs indicate that something is wrong:
Inconsistencies
Sometimes the person’s answers don’t seem coherent, or don’t fit well with other things they’ve said. Often, they’re not being completely honest with you. Who hasn’t talked to a potential client with astronomical goals but who, in reality, has a team of only 2 people and still makes very little money?
Attention to context
In addition to what the prospect says, pay attention to how he says it. If he says he’s super excited about the solution, but his tone of voice is monotonous, he’s probably not that excited. Instead of questioning him about whether he’s not being completely honest, try to encourage him. Questions about potential difficulties and impact on the business can help.
The Reluctant Prospect
What happens when a prospect avoids giving concrete answers? Vague answers like “I don’t know” don’t help qualify the prospect and can mean one of two things: you’re talking to the wrong person or they don’t trust you. At these times, it can be helpful to be more direct:
“Our customers are long-term partners. To achieve this, we need to be very transparent. Only then can I really understand if and how we could help you, or if another type of solution would be more suitable for your objective.”
Your qualification process is going well if…
Your salespeople are productive
Your customers are satisfied
The sales cycle is short
Sales forecast is improving
However, if you or your team are still wasting a lot of time with a large majority of unqualified leads, then your lead generation strategy is probably too broad and poorly targeted .
At Econodata, we generate business leads , targeted at the target market of each of our clients.
It is up to our client to prospect and qualify leads to achieve productivity and results. And to also generate the necessary feedback to generate new leads with even more assertiveness.
Request a sample of companies for your target market
This article is based on the excellent book Ultimate Guide to Startup Sales written by Close.IO CEO Steli Efti, which I highly recommend.