Finding Real Prospects

If you're going to sell anything, you must deal with real prospects. Your challenge as a salesperson is to separate the real prospects from the unreal ones. Finding real prospects is not difficult but too few salespeople do it and end up wasting their time trying to sell to people who have no intention of buying. This is not good use of your selling time.

My associate, Paul Crozier, is very good at finding real prospects. He goes through lots of unreal prospects before he uncovers a real one. Paul is careful to qualify people early in the sale. He is constantly evaluating the sales situation to ensure that he is not investing his valuable selling time on a PWOT (Potential Waste of Time).

Why do so many salespeople spend time on PWOTs? In some cases they haven't learned to recognize one. In other cases, they don't have anyone else to talk to and would rather spend time with a PWOT than do cold calls, etc. A salesperson who falls into the latter category should consider another career.

Here are some clues to help you detect real prospects from the unreal ones.

UNREAL PROSPECTS -Unreal Prospects (UPs) disguise their lack of power. They often try to create the impression that they wield more influence than they really do.

UPs resent you asking questions. Your questions put them in danger of exposure.

UPs give vague or dissatisfying answers to your specific questions regarding their needs and intentions. It is not their intention to make it easy for you to sell to them.

UPs show little respect for your time and effort. These people will often fail to keep appointments, arrive late for meetings, hide behind their voice mail, and can't be bothered to return your calls.

UPs try to get you to alter your standard operating procedures on price, products, terms, etc. By muddying the waters, they delay the ultimate non-decision.

UPs will evade questions regarding money or funding.

These unreal prospects are not all bad or thoughtless people. Often they are fine individuals who simply can't say "no" to a salesperson because they don't want to hurt his or her feelings. Sometimes they are ego-driven individuals who live in a make-believe world of self-delusion.

So what does a real prospect look like? Here are some key characteristics.

REAL PROSPECTS -Real Prospects (RPs) don't mind you asking questions. They know you need to get certain information if you are to help them make an intelligent buying decision.

RPs are realistic about money. They are not trying to buy a million dollar's worth of business for a dollar. They understand the concept of cost versus value.

RPs know where the money is coming from and when it will be available. They know the difference between wished-for money and money in the bank.

RPs have a professional, business-like approach to their dealings with you.

RPs are clear about when they want to buy. They want results and they know that the sooner they make a decision, the sooner they will get them.

RPs value their time and yours. They will hesitate to give you an appointment if they feel it will be a mutual waste of time.

SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF So how do you separate real prospects from unreal ones. By qualifying them. There are at least four things you need to know to qualify a prospect.

1. Is there a need for your product or service?

2. Can the prospect afford your product or service?

3. Does the prospect have the authority to make the buying decision? If not, who?

4. When does the prospect intend to make the buying decision?

If qualifying is so simple, how come salespeople don't do it? I've gone on many sales calls in my capacity as a sales management consultant and, in my experience, there are four main reasons:

1. They don't know they're supposed to ask these questions. Hopefully, this article just took away that argument.

2. They don't know how to ask the questions. The best way to overcome this problem is to develop a series of questions that apply to your selling situation. When I make a sales call, I have a list of 14 questions that I want to get answered. I may not get them all answered on the first call, but at least I'm prepared to try.

3. They are uncomfortable asking the questions. This is particularly true for questions regarding money. Some salespeople simply hate asking how much the prospect is prepared to spend. They feel it's an intrusion of privacy when, in fact, they are doing the prospect a favour by making sure they don't waste the prospect's time trying to sell something that is out of financial reach or reality.

4. They forget to ask the questions. How many times have you left a prospect only to realize that you forgot to ask a key question? There isn't a salesperson who hasn't had that experience. I carry a written list of questions to every sale. I don't write out the whole question, just enough to act as a memory jogger. For example, when I glance down at the list and see, "Who else...', I'm reminded to ask, 'Who else, besides yourself, will be involved in making the final decision?' The words, 'How much...', remind me to ask, "How much have you mentally budgeted for the project?" It's simple, it's effective, and it works.

Real salespeople want to spend their time with real prospects so isn't it time to find out who's who and start qualifying your way to even greater sales success?

Brian Jeffrey (a.k.a. The Sales Wizard) is president of SalesForce Training & Consulting Inc.; author of The Sales Wizard's Secrets of Sales Management, a book full of common-sense techniques for managing the small business sales force; and publisher of $alesTalk, a newsletter for professional salespeople. He can be reached at 613-839-7355, fax 613-839-1842, or email: saleswizard@SalesForceTraining.com.

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