What Makes a Qualified Prospect, Qualified? Part 1 of 4

By Ron LaVine, MBA
President of Accelerated Sales Training, Inc.

Have you ever asked yourself, what are the specific characteristics of a qualified prospect? What are the minimum pieces of information you need to know to determine if the potential for a sale exists? What pieces of information are required before you consider a prospect qualified? Am I using a consistent cold calling system to successfully obtain the information needed?

Here are the first of a four part blog on 17 areas with questions you may want to ask yourself so you can create a qualified prospect profile also known as an Account Sales Profile™.

1. Basic Demographics

Ask yourself "Which type of organization do I make the most money when I make a sale?" For example: Is it a company with 10 employees or 100 employees? Does the company have over $10 million in gross sales or over $100 million in gross sales? Are most of my customers in the Retail Industry or the Financial Industry? What types of organizations will provide the highest payoff in return for my limited amount of selling time?

In summary, what are the demographics of your most profitable accounts in terms of...

> Industry Verticals (such as Software, Printing, Frozen Foods, etc.)
> Total Gross Sales
> Total Number of Employees


2. Business Practices

How does the account currently conduct business?

Where is the Prospect now?

How did the Prospect conduct business in the past?

What is the Prospect's future strategic direction?

Where does the Prospect want to be?

How does the Prospect plan to get there?


3. Needs, Problems, Challenges, Critical Business Issues, Pains or Drivers

Is there a perceived or unperceived need for your solution?

What are the needs, challenges or problems the Prospect facing?

What is keeping them up at night?

What is required to solve the problem and does your solution fit the bill?

Is the Prospect actively searching for a solution, which you can provide?

Does the Prospect have any current or future business initiatives?

Has the Prospect expressed an interest in what you have to offer?

Does the Prospect have a compelling business issue that needs to be solved?

Is the Prospect using outdated products and services, which may need to be replaced?

Is there a need for a specific product or service but the Prospect can't afford the time or money or man hours to build their own solution?

Is the Prospect using some type of solution and not yet seeing business results?

Is the Prospect starting to look at competitors?

Has a specific person been assigned to find a solution to a specific need?

Does the Prospect have a serious intention to buy or are they just being time wasters or tire kickers or a just send me something?


4. Time-frames

What are the time-frames for...

The RFI or RFP or RFQ (Request for Information, Proposal or Quote)

Evaluation period

Decision date

Roll-out of a pilot solution

Implementation of an enterprise wide solution


5. Budget

Does the Prospect have a budget already set aside?

Can the Prospect get it from someone else's budget or next year's budget?

At what level are further sign-offs required? ($10,000, $50,000? 100,000?)

What amount is budgeted for a solution?

Is there a deadline where the Prospect will lose the budget or funding (usually in schools or government organizations)?

More on What Makes a Qualified Prospect, Qualified? next week.