If you are in sales, you know the most important thing you need to do: Have as many sales conversations as you can with qualified prospects. So how do we qualify prospects and which prospects should we be seeing the most? Consider these four types of prospects:
Known need and willing to talk
Known need but not willing to talk
Unknown need
No need but willing to talk!
Prospect #1 sounds ideal, but we need to be careful. They may tend to price shop. Prospect #2 is good. We just need to build trust and get them comfortable talking. Then there is prospect #3: This one is my favorite: An unknown need. Here is an example to illustrate:
Several years ago, I was doing some assistant coaching for soccer, and I was talking to the head coach. In our conversation, we both talked about who we worked for. As it turned out, I discovered Sam was the President of a large manufacturing firm that employed over 500 people. When I talked about what I did, he said, “I’d like to meet with you at my office”. We did. As a result, I did a needs assessment, and when we were complete, we uncovered a serious problem he did not know he had. I had help him discover it! He was concerned, and asked, “Now that we know, how can you help us?” We worked together, and he soon became my biggest customer. When we helped him discover a serious problem he wasn’t aware of he turned to me for the solution. Seems natural, doesn’t it? Now you know why I like prospect #3. Oh yes, how about prospect#4? He or she is all yours!
