Stages of the sales process and the importance of correctly qualifying your prospects
The importance of a prospect or lead qualification process in your sales process cannot be underestimated, as it plays a crucial role in improving the chances of closing a successful sale.
By identifying and screening the right prospects or leads early in your sales process, sales teams can focus their efforts on those leads who are most likely to become satisfied and profitable customers, and ensure sustainable growth over a long period of time. competitive business environment.
Having defined steps in the sales process for qualifying leads helps us grow and succeed in the marketplace. In this blog, we will show you the steps you can take to implement an effective and efficient sales process, as well as describe the stages of the sales process in order to qualify your prospects correctly.
The lead qualification methodology focuses on changing the mindset of salespeople from “push to sell” to “understand and advise to sell.” The prospect qualification system is based on 4 fundamental principles:
- Understand your pain.
- Understand your budget.
- Understand who is the true purchase decision maker.
- Know the time and parameters under which the purchase decision will be made.
To make it easier to remember these 4 stages of the process, we can use the acronym BANT for its acronym in English, which refers to:
- Budget – Budget.
- Authority.
- Need.
- Time.
The seller’s objective is to identify the problem or challenge and how much it hurts the buyer, that is, his true reason for buying and how he feels about it. You must determine your budget and understand who the decision maker is and under what parameters you are going to make your purchase. Through this methodology, the seller seeks to establish a relationship with the buyer and understand their needs, before making any type of sales proposal.
7 stages of the sales process to improve your prospect qualification.
The sales process in the lead qualification methodology is carried out in a scouting session that consists of seven steps of the sales process:
1.- Establish a relationship: The seller seeks to establish a relationship with the buyer based on trust and credibility, this will be achieved by asking intelligent questions in order to qualify him, as a rule of thumb if the client speaks more than 80% of the session exploration was a good session, if the relationship is reversed the result of the session will be bad.
2.- Identify the problem or “pain” to solve: The seller seeks to identify the buyer’s problem or need, through questions that help him understand the current situation and if the problem he has hurts enough to pay to solve it. .
3.- Establish the budget: The seller seeks to understand the buyer’s budget, to find out if the product or service offered matches the prices of its products and/or services.
4.- Establish authority: The seller seeks to understand whether the person with whom he is speaking is authorized to decide on the purchase and/or to know that other people are key and should be included in a subsequent exploration session.
5. Purchase parameters: It is important to understand under what parameters the purchase decision will be made so that our proposal complies with those parameters.
- Times and stages: It is very important to understand the times and stages of the purchase process to know how long the process will take and what stages must be completed to complete that purchase decision.
- Qualify the prospect and communicate it: If the prospect has a pain that hurts so much that they want to pay to solve it, has a budget that allows them to pay for our products or services, has the authority to decide the purchase and has a reasonable time frame , we can move forward with it, otherwise let them know at the end of the scouting session, give them a recommendation, and move on to the next prospect.
At the end of the session, it is important to schedule the next appointment to present the solution to the buyer’s problem or need, based on the information you have collected during the previous steps.
In summary, a lead qualification methodology focuses on understanding the needs of the buyer and establishing a relationship of trust, before making any type of sale. In this way, the seller can present a solution that meets the needs of the buyer and close the sale effectively.
How to find prospects to qualify them
Once you understand this important stage in the sales process, you will have a better understanding of prospect qualification, in which your main objective is to identify your potential customers, now we must find prospects to apply this methodology.
Below, we list some activities that can help you in your prospecting work (they are listed in descending order from most effective to least):
Ask for referrals: This technique consists of requesting references from current or former customers who may be interested in the company’s product or service. By asking for referrals you can build a list of high-quality leads and increase your prospecting success rate.
- Networking Events: Attending networking events is an effective way to meet people with similar interests and potential customers. By participating in networking events, you can build relationships and connections that could lead to business opportunities.
- Social media content: Creating and posting relevant and useful content on social media can attract potential customers who are interested in the company’s products and/or services. Social media content is a way to engage potential customers organically and establish your company’s brand.
- Connect with people on Linkedin: By connecting with relevant people on Linkedin, you can build relationships and connections that can lead to business opportunities.
- Chambers of Commerce: These are business organizations that represent companies in a specific region or industry. By joining a chamber of commerce, you can access events and networking opportunities and build relationships with other members of the industry.
- Associations: By joining an association, you can access resources, events and networking opportunities, and build relationships with other industry members.
- Free Webinars: By participating in free webinars, you can build relationships and connections that can lead to business opportunities.
- Cold calling: This technique consists of making phone calls to potential customers without prior notice. It is effective when you have relevant information about potential customers and a persuasive presentation of the product or service is made.
- Cold emails: By combining cold emails with content marketing, you can deliver relevant and useful information to potential customers and draw their attention to your business.
Unleash your Growth Potential
Qualifying your prospects and finding opportunities are key points for the development of your company, which is why at Leaper 360 we help you improve your sales process so that you can correctly qualify real opportunities from those that are not and find prospects qualified.
At Leaper 360 we create campaigns focused on accelerating sales and building highly purchased, remembered and recommended brands. Leaper 360 experts use the Sales Up methodology, which includes the prospect qualification methodology, as well as many other methodologies that help companies accelerate their profitability and sales.
With our advice you can focus your efforts on qualifying your prospects using this tool. Allow the experts to design a strategy that allows you to achieve the objectives of your company and unleash your growth potential.
