By Dan Markin – The Brooks Group
Qualifying prospects is one of the selling skills every great sales professional relies on. That’s because filling your sales pipeline is a numbers game. Buyers leave the funnel for many reasons as they progress through the sales process: lack of budget, timing, or wrong fit to name a few. You’ve got to qualify many more prospects than you need.
Yet inexperienced salespeople tend to fast-forward to the pitch without properly understanding their prospects’ wants and needs. This can have significant long-term implications for both individual sales professionals and the organization as a whole.
Failure to qualify properly has a big downside. According to The Brooks Group research, almost half of underperforming teams struggle with qualifying new opportunities. And if you’re not qualifying the right people, the chances of you closing the deal shrink.
Qualifying is the top skill that underperforming sales teams struggle with:
- Qualifying new opportunities (49%)
- Differentiating against competitive offerings (35%)
- Negotiation and selling value (29%)
- Relationship building (27%)
The Downside When Your Sales Team Doesn’t Qualify Prospects Well
When your team doesn’t qualify the right prosects, they’re starting off at a disadvantage. Here are five harmful effects for your sales professionals and your organization.
Waste Time and Resources
Qualifying prospects allows sales professionals to focus their time and energy on leads that have the highest likelihood of converting into customers.