For the traditionally-trained salesperson, the process of qualifying a prospect may seem like a roadblock to successful selling. During qualifying, the salesperson determines whether or not the prospect should become a customer, and the process often leads to closing the file on a prospect that isn't a fit. Mr. Traditional will say, "Close a file--never! I never let them get away. I keep calling, keep visiting, keep presenting, until. . ." Until what? It's pointless and often keeps you busy but unproductive, frustrated and poor.

A truly unqualified prospect will never become a client, and will never take the salesperson to the bank. What that prospect will do is take up the salesperson's valuable time, and valuable knowledge, time that should be spent on prospects that will make good clients. And, the knowledge you share with a qualified prospect will have a positive affect on your bottom line. You’ll have helped someone who really needs it and wants it, plus you’ll have fulfilled your personal goal and developed quality business.

People become disqualified for many reasons. They may have problems but don’t have the conviction to fix them. You may hear reasons and excuses like the timing's not right, I need to think it over, or I’m too busy to deal with it. Whether they are real or made up, fact is they are not committed to making the change. The other fact is you can’t be more committed to fixing their problem than they are.

By taking a prospect through the qualifying compartments of pain, budget and decision, you'll be able to spend most of your time with good prospective clients who are developing a solution to developing their business. And you can develop relationships with clients that take you to the bank.

Do you like chasing prospects who will never become clients?

Reprinted from The President’s Club Report, © Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2010 Sandler Training and Insight Sales Consulting Inc. All rights reserved.

John Glennon is the owner of Insight Sales Consulting Inc, the authorized Sandler Training Licensee for the Interior of British Columbia. He can be reached at jglennon@sandler.com or toll free at 1-866-645-2047.