Herman School of Business
Pre-Qualifying Leads...I bet you can't...
Why can’t we just go to the appointments where we can always close the sale? Wouldn’t that be far more efficient and make us so much more profit. Suppose we worked harder at pre-qualifying that lead and getting rid of the low probability ones that surely won’t close. I’ll tell you what…give me all the leads you want to throw away and I will out-perform you and make more money with your rejects than you make with the sure things you keep.
Bet me if you think I am kidding.
Of course it would be wonderful to spend all of our time just closing the sale and not actually chasing the sale. But that means you become an Order Taker and not a real salesman. My belief is that every aspect of the chase for those leads that don’t close adds something to your knowledge and helps you close more sales over time because you learn to deal with reasons why people say no. You learn more about your product, more about the value your company brings to the customer, and more about what the customer wants from those “no sale” appointments.
Now listen…my motto was always as follows: First you get the appointment…and then you decide if you want to go on the appointment. So, I do believe in a certain amount of qualifying before you spend time and money visiting the prospect. But, my qualifying has to do with whether or not the “suspect” meets the definition of one of our customers..period. I don’t ask if they are in a “buying” mood. Nor do I care if they have a budget for this expenditure. And I don’t care if they flat out say they won’t buy right away. If we have something they should be buying…and they are willing to give me the time to hear my pitch…I am going…and I am going to get the sale.
I honestly believed at every pitch I ever gave that the sale was mine…and no one else’s…whether I closed it that day or not. Every deal was “my deal” until you saw someone else advertising it. I believed this 100%. Every time. There were appointments that ended within minutes of my flying half way across the country…NO SALE…and there were some I walked away from knowing I didn’t ever want to do business with that prospect. But every trip taught me something. Every one. And I guarantee you there were shockers to me at some of the appointments…my first impression was, “Why am I here?” But because I was there and my Mantra was that the deal was mine…I worked hard to close it…and many times I did.
Pre-qualifying leads means you have a crystal ball. I didn’t have one. If you can see the future that well…start touting stocks for me. And please understand that the more times you hear NO the more you learn. Qualify the prospect enough to know they fit the definition of a customer for your business…but then accept the reality of the “numbers” in your industry and keep the appointments. I would rather see you establish the typical “closing ratio” for all salesman in your field and keep your personal score against those numbers rather than try to weed out the NO SALE leads, because I bet you can’t do it.
- Posted: 30 April 2008
- Comments: 0
- Category: Business success
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