Disqualify More, Close More

It can be difficult to keep perspective on just how valuable your time is when you're engulfed in the day-to-day of sales life. Every small effort over the long term adds up, and one area where you're likely to dedicate unnecessary effort is prospecting. While cold calling may seem like a numbers game (the more calls you make, the more likely you are to secure a lead), with an influx of information now at consumer fingertips, this isn't necessarily true anymore. You can disqualify more prospects up front by doing your research before reaching out. Find out if they're the right fit for your product, and you'll save yourself time in the long run.

By taking the time to do this extra research, you may initially feel like you're not making as many calls as you should be. But by disqualifying more prospects up front, you'll actually end up closing more deals in the end. And that's what really matters.

Pre-Funnel Research

Before even adding a prospect to your funnel, dig in a bit. A good place to start is by talking to your company's marketing department. They likely have audience personas mapped out, complete with pain points, job titles, needs, and more. Use these profiles to start qualifying (or disqualifying) potential leads.

Another tip is to use LinkedIn to research potential leads. Check out their profile and see if they're in a position to make decisions about the product you're selling. If they're not, it's probably not worth your time to reach out.

Reasons to Disqualify

Too Many Competitors

The more vendors a prospect is engaging with, the higher the likelihood that they themselves have yet to narrow in on what they’re really looking for. This can then translate to a longer sales cycle and more time spent by you (and your team) going back and forth without an end date in sight. Don't be afraid to ask how many other vendors your prospect is currently engaged with. If the number is high, you may want to disqualify them. There's no sense in continuing to pursue a lead that's not going to result in a sale anytime soon.

Timeline

It's always important to establish a timeline for any potential deal. While padding the back end of your pipeline is nice, that won't help you hit quota this month. Be sure to determine what kind of timeline your prospect is working with. Is this something you need in 10 days, 10 weeks or 10 months?

Decision Makers

Remember when you were a kid and your best friend said you could have a sleep over on Friday? You got all excited...packed your sleeping bag, games and snacks. Except, when you showed up at their house that Friday it turned out that the slumber party was a no-go. They hadn't asked their mom!

Same goes for sales. You can have a phenomenal conversation with a prospective client that checks all the boxes. The deal is good to go...except they aren't actually the decision maker. Be sure to establish who is up front.

Budget

You can't close deals on an imaginary budget. No matter how much a prospect wants your product (and how badly you want to sell it to them), if the price doesn't fall within their budget...there is no deal.

So next time you're feeling like you're stuck in a rut with your prospecting efforts, remember to take a step back and consider the bigger picture. Disqualify more prospects initially, and you'll close more deals in the end. It's worth the extra effort!

Do you have any other tips for disqualifying prospects? Share them in the comments below!

Happy selling!