How much time to you spend pursuing opportunities that never come to fruition. What if you could avoid the potential losers and focus on your high probability prospects?
It’s All About Qualification
It’s All About QualificationUnless you can check off all four of these qualification categories, your opportunity will NEVER bare fruit.
It’s critically important to be aware of this critical checklist of deal makers.
The 4 Critical Qualifying Factors
It doesn’t matter how influential you believe you are or now compelling your offering might be. The absence of any of these four factors is a deal breaker.
1. Access to the Decision Maker
Unless you have an opportunity to personally meet and influence the primary hiring decision maker (with buying authority), there is little or NO chance that you will make the sale.
2. Problems / Challenges to be Solved
While you may believe that your product or service is too good to pass up, the buying decision maker(s) must know that they have a need that you can fill. No need = No deal.
3. Money / Budget
Your product or service has a market value. It also has a value for your prospect’s situation. Is there a budget? What is it? What should it be to assure their needs are fulfilled?
In the fact-finding/qualification process, you likely need to help the decision makers to quantify the value of your offering by making a business case that helps them them the discover their ROI for choosing your offering. If the return on investment is compelling enough, a decision maker with bottom line responsibility will frequently find funding.
4. Timing
What is the opportunity cost of maintaining the status quo for the prospect? If they can afford to wait, they likely will. How might you help them to figure this out?
Close-ability
Your high probability opportunities MUST have all four elements. If any or all are missing, you will need to determine the probability for checking off each element. If the probability is low, your time is better spent pursuing sales opportunities that have a real chance of closing.
