Qualifying Your Sales Prospects
by Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA)
Depending on how your salespeople sell, either face-to-face or over the telephone, at some stage in the process they’ll need to qualify existing and prospective customers to move forward in the sales process.
Here are some tips your reps can use to qualify prospects and move forward:
Set an objective for the call
At the beginning stage of the process, set a specific measurable objective before you pick up the phone or schedule an appointment.
Qualify to find the decision-maker
Are you speaking to the right person? Within an existing account, your contact may not be the individual who will be making the final decision.
Qualify for motive
In order to buy your product or service, your rep needs to qualify the prospects’ or customers’ need, and proceed to help them find a suitable solution.
Qualify for means
If your rep has determined the prospects’ or customers’ motive to buy, they will then need to ask questions about money.
Companies buy because your company’s product or service will benefit them in some way. By asking qualifying questions, your rep will uncover what they do, what their key management issues are, and identify a way your product or service will help.
Once your rep uncovers information about the decision-maker, motive and means, he or she can then translate the benefits in terms of return on investment and payback time. This is what will catch the attention of the key decision-makers.
The Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA) is a national association comprised of nearly 30,000 business travellers in the sales and marketing professions. CPSA members enjoy special rates on hotels, car rentals, airport parking, insurance, and much more.
Depending on how your salespeople sell, either face-to-face or over the telephone, at some stage in the process they’ll need to qualify existing and prospective customers to move forward in the sales process.
