How to qualify a prospect during a meeting

It's great when someone books a call with you, especially if they are a great prospect. But, how can you make sure you won't waste your time if you don't know if they are a good fit? Here's how:

What Makes a Great Client

While every business is different, there are only three things that make a prospect a fantastic target:

• Problem
• Money
• Potential

Does the Prospect Have a Massive Problem You Can Solve?

The easiest solution to sell is when the prospect is experiencing massive pain. The cost and your presentation won't matter, the only thing that will is if you can ease their pain.

A common mistake is to consider everyone who could use your solution as a potential prospect. Instead, you should look for people who can't live without it.

Here are three questions to help you determine how big the pain they experience is and whether your solution can help:

1. How has this problem affected them or their business?
2. What would solving this problem mean? How would their life/business look like?
3. What solutions have they tried in the past? What were the results?

Does the Prospect Have the Budget?

Once you've determined that the prospect has a significant problem that your solution can solve, the next step is to ensure that they have the budget for it.

You don't want to waste your time trying to sell to someone who can't afford your solution. Here are some questions you can ask to determine whether they have the budget:

1. What is their budget for this solution?
2. How much is the problem currently costing them?
3. How much are they spending to solve it right now?

Does the Prospect Have Potential?

The final piece of the puzzle is to determine whether the prospect has potential. That can mean a lot of things: a long-term relationship, an introduction to a new market, or a huge cash injection.

A lot of business comes from word of mouth and recommendations, so much so, that it's often worth being flexible on the price (without doing it for free, of course!) in exchange for other benefits. But those benefits can't be left implied. They need to be discussed and agreed.

Here are some questions you can ask to determine whether the prospect has potential:

1. What are their long-term business goals, and how does your solution fit in?
2. Do they have any other projects/connections/problems that could benefit from your solution?
3. Are they willing to create a case study from your collaboration?

It's important to note that every business should have its own qualifying criteria for determining whether a prospect is a good fit for their solution. While the questions mentioned above are a good starting point, it's essential to tailor them to your specific business needs and goals. By doing so, you can ensure that you are spending your time and resources on prospects that are most likely to convert into long-term clients and positively impact your bottom line.

Happy closing!

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