Money or Budget
The first thing, and many times the only thing salespeople worry about, is whether or not the customer has the money or the budget.
While this is an extremely important part of the qualifying process, we would first ask you, the salesperson, a few questions:
Have you ever really wanted something you didn’t have the money for but because you really wanted it you were able to figure out how to get the money to pay for it?
Also, have you ever experienced a time when a company, seeing the value of the product or service you are offering, come up with the funding needed?
Or lastly, have you experienced a time when company management adjusts their budget to fund a product or service that would either save them money or help them make more money?
It’s guaranteed that most every company has answered yes to the above questions. Let’s face it; if a good business person thinks there is a possibility you could save them money or improve their ability to make more money, they will listen.
If you hear immediately from the client how they have no budget, re-word the above questions to fit that client and regain their interest. For example, if you have a client that is working with a tight budget, you may ask “if my product or service would provide a reduction in your production costs, saving money in your budget, would you be interested?” or “Would you consider my product or service if it would increase your company revenues by x% per month?” or “Have you ever adjusted your budget to buy a product or service that increased your monthly revenues (or decreased monthly costs)?” If the answer is yes to these questions, follow up on this interest and present exactly how your product or service will reduce their costs and/increase company revenues.
Need or Want
One of the most important parts in the qualifying process is finding out why the client would need or want your product or service from their point of view.
Too often salespeople tell the client what they need or want. This is a trap for salespeople because even though they are very well educated on the benefits of the product or service they are selling and have a very good idea of why the client should have them, this knowledge doesn’t necessarily lead to your client really knowing why they should need and want it!
The key to your sales prospects finding the money or the budget for your products or services is for you to find out why your sales prospects needs and/or wants your products or services in the first place. What problems are they trying to solve – ascertain what is causing them that specific pain. The sequence in which this is presented to the prospect is also a key point. In the qualifying step of the sale, the whole point is to find out what the client thinks.
What does the client need and want FROM THEIR POINT OF VIEW. It does not matter at this point what the salesperson thinks. For example, if you have children, you may have gone into their bedroom to find the room a mess. But from whose point of view is it a mess? If you ask the child, it is perfect, from their point of view!
The key here is to find out what the client thinks their needs and wants are. Then you will have a good chance in the next step of the sales process to position your product or service exactly with the clients’ needs and wants.
Timing
Find out the time frame you client is looking to purchase a product or service. This can make a big difference as to how fast they want to move. Knowing their time frame can also help you determine how you should approach this particular sale.
If the client is looking to purchase immediately, than your responses and service needs to be very fast so they don’t end up going elsewhere or getting upset with having to wait for you.
On the other hand, if the client is looking to make a purchase three months from now, then make sure you give them what they need within their time table. Also, find out why the client has the timetable they have. There may be specific reasons for this, such as a budget becoming available at a certain time or the labor needed to implement your product or service is not available until a certain time. Your job as the salesperson is to find out what it is so you fully understand the clients’ point of view regarding timing.
You don’t need to let the time table completely dictate your actions, but you should be aware of what your client is thinking with so you can use the information to help move the sale along effectively.
Past experiences with a similar product or service
Many salespeople talk about not wanting to know about their prospects past experiences as part of the sale. Salespeople would rather keep them buried because those negative emotions prospects have connected with those past experiences may affect the current sale.
While it is true that past experiences can affect the current sale, it is also true that if you don’t find out about them your current sale might get into trouble! Ask a question such as, “have you ever purchased a product or service like this in the past?” If the client says yes, find out all about it. If it was a good experience, find out what made it good, again from their point of view. If it was a bad experience, find out what made it bad, again from their point of view. Maybe it was a little of both. Either way, you must find this out so that you are able to then do something about it in the next step of the sale.
Do the Qualifying step thoroughly
It is vital that you do the qualifying step of the sale thoroughly. Many sales people are trying to rush through this step to “get to the close”. The professional sales person knows that the qualifying step is the step that is key to “closing the sale”.
We have emphasized over and over when training or coaching sales people that most everything you need to close the sale can be learned in the qualifying step, therefore it must be done thoroughly.
For example, in the section above regarding finding out all you can about their money and/or budget, and using this information to help push the sale along, can suddenly push the client from the “I need to wait 6 months until I get some budget” over to looking at adjusting their current budget or some other solution, but only if you provide them with a compelling argument to do so.
Another good practice is to find out if they have ever changed their budget in the past because of a great opportunity. Find out all about this. What product or service was it? What was the key reason they made the change? If you find out this information you can use it in your strategy moving forward in the sale.
Additionally, be very diligent about the tips mentioned in the Need or Want section shown above, such as really finding out why they decided to take a look at your product or service in the first place. Was there an event in the company that drove that interest or made it a priority or new goal? It can be many factors. The key for you is to find out.
Overall, by the end of the qualifying step, you should have 100% certainty on why your client should buy your product or service.
Ironically it will be based on the information you learned from the client, from THEIR POINT OF VIEW.
Knowing the client’s point of view in the qualifying step gives you the foundation necessary to transition to the next step in the sale and eventually enabling you to have a much smoother closing step.
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