Qualifying, What is it? 2-8-07
Tools to save you and your customer time

It’s Tuesday and I’m meeting with an executive for a large equipment organization. It’s an interesting conversation, as it’s indicated the sales force is very busy with customers wanting equipment, managers are even asking for more bodies to handle the volume of calls and customers. Sound like a dream?

Then the question comes, “What volume of business are they doing or how many are they closing on?”
“That’s the problem, I’m guessing the actual closing ratio is only 15-20%!” and we start wondering who is in the driver’s seat.

“What?” I ask, “I would expect 30-50% or maybe more, what is not happening here?”

“Obviously they are not qualifying the customers and are functioning as order takers and information clerks!”

The issue of effectively qualifying a customer seems to be more prevalent today in many industries. This similar conversation happens at least a couple times a month.

If this is true then let’s take a look at what this idea of qualifying is all about. ....MORE...