Every organisation has a different way of helping their sales people sell more. My objective in this series of articles is to provide a few tips that I have picked up.
Unlike some sales trainers, I don't claim that this is going to make you a millionaire over night but they have helped me so why not share the love. That is unless you are competing against me in a tender situation, in which case ignore everything I say, in fact do exactly the opposite.
There are lots of methods of qualifying opportunities out there in Salesland, you may have your favourite. If you do and it works for you, then fantastic, you can stop reading and go and sell stuff. If you want to see a slightly different method or are new to sales then read on and hopefully it will help you. If it does let me know, if you think it is a complete load of tosh, then let me know.
Here is how I qualify opportunities, using 'FAINTS':
Finance
Your prospect may not have a formal budget. But
they need to have the necessary funds somewhere - even if it means reallocating
existing budgets from elsewhere. You need to be targeting organisations and
opportunities that could afford to invest in your solution if the
right business case were to be made.
Ask your prospect what their budget is and if there isn't one assigned, understand the process they need to go through to get it assigned. If they are woolly about their budget or ability to get one, then qualify out or agree to leave the opportunity until they can firm up these details.
Ask your prospect what their budget is and if there isn't one assigned, understand the process they need to go through to get it assigned. If they are woolly about their budget or ability to get one, then qualify out or agree to leave the opportunity until they can firm up these details.
Authority
You need to have a direct connection with an
individual (or a group) that has the authority to solve the problem and the
clout to find and approve the necessary funds. Promising opportunities that
offer no access or path to power are far less likely to
close.
You need to either negotiate access to power (this is often far easier to do at the start of the process than at the end) or think seriously about qualifying out. Ask them questions about who makes the decision and who can sign off what spend values.
You need to either negotiate access to power (this is often far easier to do at the start of the process than at the end) or think seriously about qualifying out. Ask them questions about who makes the decision and who can sign off what spend values.
Impact
It is not enough for your prospect to
agree that a need exists. They also need to acknowledge that not dealing with
the issue will have a measurable impact on their organisation in terms of
reduced revenues or increased costs.
If you can’t get your prospect to calculate and agree the negative impact of doing nothing you would be well advised to try harder or qualify out. This links well to Sales Value Propositions, that I will talk about at a later date.
If you can’t get your prospect to calculate and agree the negative impact of doing nothing you would be well advised to try harder or qualify out. This links well to Sales Value Propositions, that I will talk about at a later date.
Need
Impact really ought to come after need, but it would make for an inconvenient
and unpronounceable acronym. A need is a goal, issue or problem
that affects your prospect’s organisation and which you are well equipped to
solve.
There’s no way that an opportunity without a clear and acknowledged need ought to be able to pass qualification. Establish the affect of the goal, issue or problem on the prospect, their team and the business as a whole. If you can't identify the needs then you can't asses the Impact (see above).
There’s no way that an opportunity without a clear and acknowledged need ought to be able to pass qualification. Establish the affect of the goal, issue or problem on the prospect, their team and the business as a whole. If you can't identify the needs then you can't asses the Impact (see above).
Timing
Where’s the urgency to do something? Can you
identify (or help create) a compelling event that will force a decision?
Will sticking with the status quo result in a growing economic case
for change?
If neither a compelling event or a growing economic case for change can be established, you need to be cautious about your chances of closing. Opportunities without a compelling event tend to stick around in sales pipelines for far too long.
If neither a compelling event or a growing economic case for change can be established, you need to be cautious about your chances of closing. Opportunities without a compelling event tend to stick around in sales pipelines for far too long.
Solution
Imagine dealing with a CEO, who has a need, that is costing him dearly, he has allocated budget and a deadline he’s working to. Unfortunately his need is for a ‘coca cola vending machine’ and you sell Maxpax (do they still exist????).
This element seems obvious but many salespeople will try and push a product or solution that doesn't quite fit. If it isn't in your 'sweet spot' then recommend a company that does. You never know they may recommend stuff over to you at a later date.
Imagine dealing with a CEO, who has a need, that is costing him dearly, he has allocated budget and a deadline he’s working to. Unfortunately his need is for a ‘coca cola vending machine’ and you sell Maxpax (do they still exist????).
This element seems obvious but many salespeople will try and push a product or solution that doesn't quite fit. If it isn't in your 'sweet spot' then recommend a company that does. You never know they may recommend stuff over to you at a later date.
Next Time - Sales Value Propositions.
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