Qualifying Leads in the Sales Process
In a perfect world businesses would have unlimited quality leads to offer their products and services to. The reality is that a majority of leads will be eliminated in the qualifying stage of the sales process. How does one determine if a lead is qualified or not? Although there are numerous definitions of a “qualified lead,” here is my definition. A “qualified lead” is someone that has the opportunity, need and authority to do business for the firm. I consider everyone a straight forward lead or prospect until I am able to qualify them.
Five critical questions
The following five questions need to be answered to qualify a lead.
- Does this person have the authority to make a decision?
- Does this person have a true need for our products or services?
- Is there a reasonable timeframe to make a purchase?
- Does this person have the budget available for our services?
- Is there significant value ($) for our company?
Not all 5 of these questions need to be answered “yes” to qualify for continued work. I take into consideration that if they are lacking in one area, but are qualified in the other areas, I can still work with them. For example, if they have qualified in all the areas other than being the decision maker, that is ok. This person has shown that this company will be a qualified lead if he/she can point me to the decision maker.
When to wait
On the other hand, if one or two of these areas is significantly lacking, then I will have to make a decision to hold off on this prospect until I can qualify them at a later date. For example, no matter how much they need our services and how much value the engagement would be, if the timeframe is a year off; then I will wait to fully qualify them at the appropriate time.
The great thing about using these questions to qualify leads is that you are able to narrow your focus and apply your time toward working with qualified leads that will generate revenue for your company.