Prospecting and Qualifying

·       Prospecting: personal selling is a function of identifying potential customers.

·       Qualifying: determining that a prospect has the needs, income, and purchase authority necessary for being a potential client.

Prospecting

“To determine whether a potential buyer possesses the characteristics to become a profitable account.”

Classification of potential & current customers:

·       Suspect: a potential buyer that has not yet been qualified.

·       Prospect: a potential buyer who has met the minimum criteria of money, authority & desire to buy.

The potential buyer should receive benefits from the exchange and be accessible to the sales representative.

·       Customer: someone who has purchased from you.

·       Client: a partner – views you as a valued member of their business or family.

Purpose of Prospecting

·       To get an appointment.

·       Create new business opportunities.

·       Keep the sales funnel full.

·       Eliminate the up-and-down sales performance cycle.

Prospecting Activities to Achieve Goals

Seek to spend 100% of your time interacting with prospects that have a high probability of becoming clients:

• Prospecting activities should be related to the sales and financial goals you have set for yourself.
• Align the prospecting efforts with desired results.
• This involves identifying the best people to call at the right time with the best message.

The Importance of Prospecting

Prospecting is necessary for several reasons:

·       Customers switch to other suppliers.

·       Customers move out of your territory.

·       Customers go out of business.

·       Customers have only a one-time need for the product.

·       Relationships with some customers deteriorate and they stop buying from you.

Benefits of Prospecting

·       Generates a continuous flow of sales.

·       To Offset the loss of customers.

·       Helps to create a more productive selling environment for you.

·       To Provide a more enjoyable selling situation.

Qualifying Leads

·       Qualifying leads and prospects play a very significant role in selling.

·       Qualifying prospects mean determining if the potential customer both wants your product or service and can purchase it.

·       To be successful in prospecting, you must first identify or qualify your prospects.

·       One way is to ask yourself where you can find the greatest number of qualified prospects in the shortest period; your answer should point you in the right direction.

·       To be successful in qualifying prospects, you have to ask yourself some questions.

·       The business person who asks the right questions to the right individuals in the right places will always have plenty of qualified prospects.

How a Lead Becomes a Prospect

Salespeople must qualify a lead regarding four basic criteria that can be remembered by the acronym name, as follows:

• Need or want.
• Authority to buy.
• Money or ability to buy.
• Eligibility to purchase.

Two other qualifying criteria are:

• The accessibility of the individual 
• The potential profitability of the prospect over the long run.