Qualifying - Are You Talking Yourself Out of Meetings & Sales?

Salespeople need to be masters at using their time effectively. We can’t waste time chasing deals that are dead, attending meetings that are useless, (or don’t apply to us) filling out paperwork that doesn’t truly serve a purpose or anything else that prevents us from seeing more prospects, taking care of our current customers and regularly closing more business.

One of the ways that many salespeople protect their time is by qualifying prospects over the phone before setting an appointment. Is this a good idea? In theory, it absolutely is. Would you want to go to an appointment only to find out the prospect doesn’t fit your customer profile? If the possibility of a sale doesn’t at least exist, you’d be foolish to waste your time (and the other person’s) by meeting with them. How do we find out if a potential customer fits our profile? We ask qualifying questions. So far, so good.

In my experience as a trainer, coach and observer of professional salespeople, however, more often than not salespeople ask too many qualifying questions. Typically salespeople ask lots and lots of questions to determine if they should invest some of their valuable (and irreplaceable) time to meet with a possible new customer. They ask question after question after question, waiting to hear the one reason why they shouldn’t meet. It often seems like they’re trying to ask everything under the sun but, “Will you buy from me?” over the phone. Of course, in a perfect “sales world” you WOULD be able to ask someone if they’ll buy from you before you take a first appointment but so far I haven’t figured out how to do that. So why are salespeople asking so many questions? To protect their valuable time.

Here’s the problem: Good things can potentially happen when you put yourself in front of a prospect but nothing happens if you don’t. (Obviously, inside sales are an exception to this rule) Personally, my goal is to put myself in front of as many people as possible who could potentially do business with me. Do I want to waste my time or want you to waste yours? Of course not. But by asking too many questions I believe you might be talking yourself out of sales visits that could bring you sales and money.

I’ve worked with hundreds of companies over the years, in almost every industry and have yet to find a product or service that needed to ask more than two qualifying questions before setting a first appointment. (The exception to this would be one where you have to travel by air or drive more than 90 minutes) Personally, and I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, I ask NO qualifying questions when setting a first meeting UNLESS I have to travel more than 90 minutes. I clearly let people know who I am and what I do when I set an appointment. If I tell you, on the phone, that I’m a sales consultant and trainer and would like to meet with you to discuss those things, when I get to your office are you going to tell me you don’t have any salespeople? Pretty unlikely, so in my case I don’t need to qualify. But I’m not saying that you shouldn’t. What I’m saying is, boil it down to the one or two questions that make sure the prospect is truly a prospect and then GO MEET THEM!

I once worked with a group of financial representatives from Smith Barney teaching them how to get more appointments. During the session, a rather prosperous looking gentleman raised his hand and said, “Jeff, I’ve been doing this a long time and have been very successful. I ask about time minutes worth of qualifying questions before I’ll set a meeting to make certain I don’t waste my extremely valuable time. In fact, I won’t work with anyone unless they have a half million dollars they can invest with me right now.” He went on to share a laundry list of questions that he asks people before he’s willing to meet with them. Each and every question was designed to give him very valuable information that would help him sell the person on investing with him. Should the rep ask those questions? Absolutely, but he should ask them in-person, after meeting them and establishing rapport. The questions he was asking were crucial to his sales process but not his qualification process. After a brief conversation he realized the one, and only, question he needed to ask was, “If you like what I show you, and of course that decision would be yours and yours alone, are you currently able to invest $500,000 with me?” 6 months later I received a call from him telling me that his already successful career had skyrocketed, as he was taking more meetings, seeing more people and closing more business.

What about you? Are you asking too many questions and talking yourself out of appointments and sales? Figure out what things you absolutely MUST know before you’re willing to set a first meeting and ask those. Save the rest for when you’re in front of your prospects. I’d rather “waste” my time sitting in front of a prospect that might not be a perfect fit than sitting in the office doing paperwork. Even if they’re not right for me, or I’m not right for them, perhaps they might know someone they can refer me to, right now, who has a need for what I offer.

As always, contact me if there’s anything I can help you with.

Make It Happen!

Jeff