A new sales veteran pal of mine, Mel Harding, (on LINKED IN) VP Product Development of Occulus.com and I have been exchanging and participating in discussions on qualifying.
Everyone knows that they've heard the term "qualify" or told that qualify is part of the sales process. My definition lends it as a method to identify a quality sales prospect or lead to boost success ratio. Yet, I'm of the opinion its considered just more sales jargon with only the most dedicated sales professional or sophisticated sales organizations understand.
I can certainly appreciate why a website service such as "Occulus" would be started. For many of us that have worked for major sales organizations like Xerox, Digital, IKON, etc. these tools are developed for us and are part of the process/accepted practice.
Qualifying IS the one part of sales that IS rocket science! Think of it as another tool in your tool box along with cold calling, objections, closing, relationship selling, etc. You have to be able to more than simply understand not only who you are targeting or engaged in sales with, you have to RECOGNIZE who a qualified prospect/customer is. Check out their website www.occulus.com to get a feel for what I'm talking about. This is NOT to be confused with CRM systems which capture and communicate information about prospects/customers. The various methods of qualifications are about identification, understanding you/customers/competitors, diagnostics, formulas,etc. It can be simplified by asking if you know if you are talking to the key decision maker .... who have gatekeepers who's major priority is to keep sales people away. Talk about contradiction!
When I've worked with smaller companies and try taking them down the "qualification" path they think I'm over-complicating the sales process, not getting results fast enough and what the heck am I doing all this analysis for! Fortunately, others might say "I get it" whereas they don't. The quality of your qualification process will uncover a strong identification of prospects that can save a lot of time in the long run, increase your success rate PLUS make more lucrative successes than smaller hits most consider "results". That's why some organizations distinguish sales reps from mainstream to major accounts ... meaning the larger the revenue opportunity, the longer the sales cycle.
Another compelling reason for capturing a qualification process. This other company I worked for had a Sales Director with 20-30 years industry experience. This gentleman knew how to price based on who they were competing against, the time of year, even the sales rep. What do you think happened when he left? How would others know what he had in his head?
So, get that scientific brain working and start qualifying better. Also remember, the best opportunities are the ones that are found in unchartered territories. By careful examination and identification (i.e. qualification) you will feel more confident to go down the longer, windier path where your solution, service or product will fill a void. Otherwise, you best get your call activity way way UP in order to get those results!
Please comment or keep me posted on how you're doing in the world of business "optioneering".
Jeannette
Everyone knows that they've heard the term "qualify" or told that qualify is part of the sales process. My definition lends it as a method to identify a quality sales prospect or lead to boost success ratio. Yet, I'm of the opinion its considered just more sales jargon with only the most dedicated sales professional or sophisticated sales organizations understand.
I can certainly appreciate why a website service such as "Occulus" would be started. For many of us that have worked for major sales organizations like Xerox, Digital, IKON, etc. these tools are developed for us and are part of the process/accepted practice.
Qualifying IS the one part of sales that IS rocket science! Think of it as another tool in your tool box along with cold calling, objections, closing, relationship selling, etc. You have to be able to more than simply understand not only who you are targeting or engaged in sales with, you have to RECOGNIZE who a qualified prospect/customer is. Check out their website www.occulus.com to get a feel for what I'm talking about. This is NOT to be confused with CRM systems which capture and communicate information about prospects/customers. The various methods of qualifications are about identification, understanding you/customers/competitors, diagnostics, formulas,etc. It can be simplified by asking if you know if you are talking to the key decision maker .... who have gatekeepers who's major priority is to keep sales people away. Talk about contradiction!
When I've worked with smaller companies and try taking them down the "qualification" path they think I'm over-complicating the sales process, not getting results fast enough and what the heck am I doing all this analysis for! Fortunately, others might say "I get it" whereas they don't. The quality of your qualification process will uncover a strong identification of prospects that can save a lot of time in the long run, increase your success rate PLUS make more lucrative successes than smaller hits most consider "results". That's why some organizations distinguish sales reps from mainstream to major accounts ... meaning the larger the revenue opportunity, the longer the sales cycle.
Another compelling reason for capturing a qualification process. This other company I worked for had a Sales Director with 20-30 years industry experience. This gentleman knew how to price based on who they were competing against, the time of year, even the sales rep. What do you think happened when he left? How would others know what he had in his head?
So, get that scientific brain working and start qualifying better. Also remember, the best opportunities are the ones that are found in unchartered territories. By careful examination and identification (i.e. qualification) you will feel more confident to go down the longer, windier path where your solution, service or product will fill a void. Otherwise, you best get your call activity way way UP in order to get those results!
Please comment or keep me posted on how you're doing in the world of business "optioneering".
Jeannette
Jeannette,
ReplyDeleteYou are correct selling is an science and an art. The science is WHAT you have to do to win, the art is HOW you do it.
Occulus (www.OcculusSales.com) looks after the WHAT, it up to the sales rep and his/her coach to look after the HOW.
Your observation regarding small companies and qualification is very on target. Many times they assume that if their sales people aren't pounding the phone they aren't selling.
ReplyDeleteInvesting the extra time to find the right access point and approach with a prospect productive time.