Don't let prospects "lead" you astray...

No matter what business you're in, qualifying leads is imperative to having a profitable business. Nearly everyone, at one time or another, has fallen into the trap of courting a client that either doesn't have immediate need for your product or service, doesn't have the power to make the purchasing decision, is just window shopping or doesn't have the money.

Valuable time and effort that can be spent on closing sales is spent on courting those who will never buy.

Find out how to quickly qualify sales prospects by asking four simple questions...

In other words, does the company have a current or near-term need that you can uniquely fulfill?

If the answer is "no," then you've qualified your prospect right away. The client is a long way off from buying and is only in the early stages of the buying cycle. Getting to "no" at this stage will save you time and money. You don't want to ignore the client, but you certainly don't need to be at their beckoned call they way you would with someone who is ready to buy.

If the answer is "yes", move on to question 2.

2. Is this person the one who can make the buying decision?

Oh, we've been here ourselves. We once courted a client in the Midwest who wanted to do a huge project and bent over backwards with proposals and presentations. Nothing would come of them. Then we'd go off and work on other projects and he'd loop back around in a couple months wanting more information. This lasted almost two years. The only problem was he was at too low a level in the organization to make the buying decision but we were blinded by the prospect of a lucrative sale. If you don't know how decisions are made or who makes them in the organization, then your likelihood of closing the sale is slim.

Find out who the decision makers are and how the process works. Then focus on the person or persons that can make the purchasing decision. If you're working with someone at a lower level in a large organization, see if you can involve their boss in meetings as well. If they can't ever attend, then that may be a sign that there hasn't been buyoff at a higher level or the project simply isn't a priority.

A prospective customer who admits they have a problem you can solve may still be a long way off from buying because they don't have "immediate need." Prospects can be simply in the information gathering stage with no intent to act. Tire kickers are a dime a dozen, but that doesn't mean they ever buy. Recognizing a problem exists and deciding to take action are two completely different phases in the buying cycle separated by the all-important "intent to act." Mistaking desire for intent is one of the most costly mistakes you can make in the sales cycle.

Once a prospect has formed intent to act, he or she will be ready to move fast. Studies have shown that an intent to act outside of six months from "true need" is no real intent at all. So identify a compelling event (a tradeshow, product launch, close of a budget cycle, major expansion, etc.) and use it to establish the six month window of opportunity where the intent to act solidifies.

A prospect that has intent to act and has the resources allocated to the project is a prospect who is ready to buy. At this point, the question isn't "how much?" but "has money been set aside?" If your prospect has intent but has not allocated funds, then your objective is to help with setting the budget before you make your proposal. Give the client a budget range and get approval for that range. Then deliver a solution within that range.

Price should never be an obstacle. Make sure of this by ensuring that funds are allocated and that at least one option within your proposal fits in that range. Proposals should be presented only to decision makers who are ready to buy. Don't waste time putting together a response to a sales request just because a prospective client asked for one. These are rarely, if ever, acted upon. The opportunity may appear to slip away from you, but it was never there to begin with. Only when these criteria are met should you make your final pitch for the sale.

Qualifying prospects using these four questions will save you time and money. And you can spend more time courting business from those that are ready, willing and able to buy from you.