The Don Quixote Approach To Opportunity Assessment
by Jonathan Farrington
Emerging salespeople typically believe that all business is good business and to an extent, I can understand this viewpoint. If you are trying to make a name for yourself, being put under pressure by your sales manager to get “runs on the board” and earn the respect of the more experienced and successful members of the team, it is difficult to walk away from any opportunity if you believe you have the remotest chance of winning it.
However, it is essential that more seasoned professionals fully understand both the value and importance of rigorous objective qualification, not just at the front end but right the way through the sales cycle. Qualification is a process not a single event and even internal and reactive salespeople should be fully skilled in asking a small number of basic questions regarding precise requirements, time scales, budget, competition etc before they are prepared to reveal their price and delivery.
As the value of the product, service or solution increases, the depth of the qualification should increase proportionally.
External salespeople have the opportunity to meet with prospective customers and it is far easier to extract information face to face than it is via the telephone, however, it is vital that some initial answers are elicited prior the that first exploratory meeting in order to ensure that the meeting will be worthwhile to both parties. With sales costs spiralling upwards and sales time becoming limited, considerable prudence is required on the part of the salesperson.
During that first meeting, a considerable amount of detail can and should be uncovered e.g. background and history of the company, the key individuals, the composition of the DMU (Decision Making Unit) if there is one, timescales, budget, competition, current suppliers, buying criteria etc. Only by rigorous questioning will the salesperson be able to answer the following questions when they get back to the office: Is there a requirement/need that my company can satisfy? Is it winnable? Do I want it?
The very best sales professionals will not pursue the opportunity, after proper objective analysis, if the answer to any of those questions is “No”. They will rather invest their precious selling time seeking out and closing opportunities that will provide a profitable return on that investment.
At the very highest selling levels i.e. strategic “big-ticket” selling and marketing, clearly the sales cycle is much more protracted, complex and typically moves through four stages i.e.
■Rigorous Opportunity Assessment
■Develop A Strategy
■Present The Solution and Re-Assess The Opportunity
■Gain Formal Commitment, Sign The Order and Develop
In Summary:
Having a tilt at every windmill that presents itself, is neither practical nor profitable. Qualification is a core competency that every professional salesperson should take on board as quickly as possible. Working to the maxim that “All business is good business” is unrealistic and totally erroneous. It takes just as long to work an unprofitable opportunity through the pipeline only to lose it at the death, as it does a profitable one – the ability to determine which is which, can have a huge impact on your ultimate success in a front-line sales role
Jonathan Farrington is a globally recognized business coach, mentor, author and sales strategist, who has guided hundreds of companies and thousands of individuals around the world towards optimum performance levels. He is Chairman of The Sales Corporation, CEO of Top Sales Associates and Senior Partner at The JF Consultancy based in London and Paris. Early in 2007, Jonathan formed Top Sales Associates (TSA) to promote the very best sales related solutions and products. TSA is now a subsidiary of The Sales Corporation, based in London and Paris. Visit his website
Good post – totally agree with the above!
Additionally, in a few unique arenas (often B2C) where the “time cost per sale” is low and/or the “enquiry levels” are low, or the “value to time required” is high then qualification becomes unecessary or even detrimental. Qualification becomes increasingly important as the “time cost per sale” or “level of enquiries” is high, and this is true for the majority of sales environments.
Any sales environments must have some guidelines about the level of qualification the maximises sales efficiency, bearing in mind that in some rare cases there can be next to none!
Comment by Steve Bent — December 8, 2009 @ 12:24 pm |
Hi Steve,
Yes, I almost agree with you – but you know even in retail, which I should add, is not my area of specialisation, a few brief questions at the front end can produce remarkable results.
A few years ago, a friend of mine who owns a chain of sports shops/gyms challenged me to increase his profit margin within thirty days. I have never been able to walk away froma challenge, so…
The first thing I did was to spend a few hours observing his staff, their approach, the language they used and their general enthusiasm.
Then I took them out of that environment into the classroom for a half day’s workshop and here are some of the things we changed:
They learnt to smile easily
Their approach became non-threatening
They used positive language
They began to understand empathy and how to develop rapport
But most of all, they learnt how to qualify..
“Can I help you at all?” – Closed question – became “Good morning sir/madam, what are you looking to purchase today?”
Followed by: “How much would you like to spend?” – Budget
Followed by: “These are the options in your price range, which will adequately meet your requirements, however if you are prepared to stretch your budget a little, this is the top of the range option” – Selling Up and appealing to pride.
Followed by: “You may also want to consider these which most of our customers purchase to go with those” – Selling across the line
Finally, after purchase: “I’d like to thank you for shopping with us today, and here is a small gift to express our gratitude” – High value but very low cost giveaway, to garner loyalty.
I won my bet!!
Best
Jonathan
Comment by Jonathan Farrington — December 10, 2009 @ 11:07 am |