OK, now I want you to pay very careful attention….
I’m going to give you, right now, the real secret to what it takes to qualify a lead. Before I do, though, let me back up just a minute. Here’s how all this came about. I’m involved with a company for whom I critique cold calls. These are qualifying calls. We’ve written the scripts for these reps, put in all the qualifying questions, and now I’m listening and seeing how well they are executing the task.
Here’s what I’m finding:
1. Start the Process
The first thing these reps are doing is defaulting back to the way they’ve been doing it for the last several months (or years). In other words, they haven’t begun using the new scripts and new proven techniques word-for-word yet. And that’s OK. It’s a process.
The good news is that once they do, they will immediately begin qualifying better, understanding true buying motives, and they’ll begin understanding who isn’t likely to be a buyer. That will save them a lot of time.
2. Here’s the Real Secret
After they begin to get comfortable with the scripts and start asking the key qualifying questions, what will come next is the secret to qualifying the leads. And here’s what it is: While I’m listening to these calls, I’m dying for the reps to ask the things that I would be asking that would tell me if I’m dealing with a prospect who might actually buy in the future, or someone who is likely not to buy on the follow-up calls. And here are the things they (and you) should be asking of all of your prospects:
- “How often do you check (prices, rates, suppliers, services, etc.) with other companies like mine?”
- “Have you found that you can get better (service, pricing, rates, etc.) from another company?”
- If so: “Did you go with that other company?” (or – “Did you give them a try?”)
- And if not: “Oh, why was that?”
- “What would you need to see from our (company, information, service, etc.) that would motivate you to actually try someone different?”
- “What part of the decision process are you involved in?”
- “What happens next after I give you a (competitive quote, price, service analysis, etc.)?”
- “If you like what you see, what would be our next step?”
- And then my favourite – a trial close! You absolutely must say this at the end of all qualified calls: “_________, let me ask you, if you like what (we can offer you, pricing, service, availability, whatever is appropriate for your product or service), can you see anything that might stand in the way of us doing business together? You can use many different trial closes here – just pick one that matches your product or service the best.
This is the real secret to qualifying a lead. Yes, you need to ask the other important qualifying questions too but after you do, you need to find out if you’re really dealing with a buyer, and asking these types of real questions is the way to do just that. Compare these questions, and the kinds of answers you’ll get from them, with the kinds of questions you or your team are currently asking.
If you’re far off from them (in other words, you don’t ask them at all), then you need to incorporate them today. Not tomorrow or next week, but today. I guarantee that when you begin to get the real answers to these real qualifying questions, your sales career will begin to change dramatically (and so will your company). This is how you move from the bottom 80% into the top 20%.
Don’t take my word for it. Try it and see for yourself. If it works, all you have to gain is extra sales a month.
