Most salespeople can’t tell the difference between a SUSPECT and a PROSPECT!
A
suspect
is a company or person who would
seem
to have the right demographics and psychographics to be a prospect, but has yet to be qualified. Some suspects do not become prospects. A
prospect
is a company or person that
has three qualities
:
- Pain:
They have a problem that your product or service can resolve. If they are buying what you sell from a competitor and there is some dissatisfaction, they have pain. If they are satisfied, they are not a prospect. (No pain, no change.)
- Resources:
The have adequate resources (money, etc.) to buy and implement your product or service.
- Authority:
They have the authority to make the decision to buy your product or service.
The only way your can effectively qualify a prospect is to ask questions.
There are no shortcuts. You have to do it. Yet when it comes to qualifying, salespeople take shortcuts. Qualifying a prospect can be “risky!” After all, the more questions you ask, the greater the probability that you will discover something that might
disqualify
the prospect. Then it’s back to the task of more prospecting. So salespeople choose not to ask the hard questions, making assumptions instead. Every time your assumption is wrong, you diminish your chances of making the sale.
Here are a few of the most common assumptions:
- Everybody needs what I sell. (Yes, and everybody needs a refrigerator, but if yours works okay, will you buy another one?)
- Anybody who buys from a competitor is a good prospect. (Try selling somebody who is really happy with your competitor.)
- When they hear my sales pitch, that’ll get their attention! (They’ve heard it all before.)
- She said she was the decision maker – it must be so. (How many times have you bought that line 100% and found out it was a lie?)
- The problem must be serious; I’m sure they’ve got to do something. (Unless they told you that it’s serious, this is a very bad assumption. It’s easier and less threatening for the prospect to maintain the status quo. That’s why 25% of the proposals salespeople present are never acted upon.)
Self-Study Assignment:
How effective are you at qualifying your prospects? Think about some of the deals you’re currently working on. Do you have a really good understanding of their pain, resources, and authority? If not, make a list of the areas where you need to do a better job and try to be more thorough on your next call.