Your Guide to Sales Qualification

Many salespeople waste an excessive amount of time on prospects with little to no likelihood of changing. In the meantime, the nice prospects they ought to’ve targeted on have already gone chilly.

For this reason gross sales qualification is so necessary — it helps you determine and prioritize prospects extra prone to grow to be consumers.

How have you learnt if a possible buyer is an effective match to your resolution? How have you learnt whether or not to maneuver prospects by way of your gross sales funnel or disqualify them?

Learn on to be taught extra.

We’ll clarify what gross sales qualification is and why it’s necessary. We’ll additionally cowl the completely different gross sales qualification frameworks you need to use to streamline your qualifying course of.

What’s gross sales qualification?

Gross sales qualification is a key step within the gross sales course of during which a salesman determines whether or not a prospect is an effective match for a services or products. It sometimes includes evaluating a prospect in opposition to a great buyer profile (ICP) — an outline of the corporate that may profit out of your resolution. If there’s a great match, the gross sales rep can qualify the prospect.

Why is gross sales qualification necessary?

Apart from serving to reps benefit from their time, there are different advantages to qualifying your potential consumers. 

Let’s take a more in-depth look.

Improves your shut charges

There’s solely a lot you are able to do for a prospect that lacks the curiosity in or want to your provide. 

If you happen to move on prospects with out qualifying them, your gross sales group will waste a variety of time chasing prospects that gained’t go wherever. Because of this, their shut charges will endure.

Correct qualification ensures that your reps give attention to the fitting consumers. It additionally ensures they’re spending their time on prospects prone to deliver worth to the corporate (as an alternative of poorly certified leads).

Delivers a personalised expertise

Order your favourite espresso from Starbucks, and also you’ll hear your identify when it’s prepared. This personalized effect tells you, the customer, that you simply’re not simply one other quantity. 

The identical concept applies to B2B environments. Creating a personalised expertise can go away a positive impression and even assist you promote extra.

B2B consumers are 34% extra seemingly to purchase from sellers that grasp buyer expertise.

You may provide a extra personalised expertise all through the gross sales cycle with a smaller phase of certified prospects. Reps can take the time to grasp their ache factors and craft extra compelling pitches.

Will increase buyer retention

Each sale you make has constructive implications, proper?

Not essentially.

If you happen to promote to an unqualified prospect, there’s a great likelihood they’ll churn as soon as they uncover your resolution doesn’t match their particular wants. They could even voice their complaints on social media.

By qualifying your prospects forward of time, you possibly can improve your buyer retention. Which means extra income and happier consumers — consumers who can act as model ambassadors to your firm by way of word-of-mouth advertising and marketing.

What are the steps within the gross sales qualification course of?

Gross sales qualification is completely different for each firm.

Nonetheless, a typical gross sales qualification course of consists of the next steps:

1. Outline your ideally suited buyer profile and purchaser personas

Earlier than you possibly can qualify as a prospect, it’s worthwhile to have a transparent concept of who you’re consumers are.

Step one is to create an ICP — an outline of the kind of firm that may profit most out of your resolution. An ICP consists of traits corresponding to:

• Trade
• Income
• Worker depend
• Geography
• Key challenges
• Tech stack

This checklist is in no way exhaustive, but it surely gives an incredible start line. These are just a few attributes {that a} purchaser ought to have earlier than you progress them down your gross sales cycle.

Right here’s an instance of a gross sales ICP:

Your ICP will probably be primarily based on precise knowledge. 

Look by way of your CRM or no matter gross sales instruments your frontline gross sales managers use. Then, analyze knowledge about your present consumers and determine frequent traits.

In fact, behind the businesses that suit your ICP are people. 

So, you’ll wish to outline a purchaser persona — an outline of the individuals inside your ideally suited firm, together with their titles, job obligations, and ache factors.

Once more, use knowledge out of your CRM to create this profile. You may also collect insights out of your precise consumers by way of surveys and interviews.

2. Arrange a lead scoring system

One other wonderful gross sales lead qualification software is a lead scoring system during which you assign numeric values to a lead. 

There are other ways to construct a lead scoring mannequin. One common lead scoring methodology is to assign values primarily based on an motion like visiting a sure webpage or opening an e-mail. The thought is that somebody who has signed up for a free trial will probably be extra worthwhile to your organization than somebody who merely browsed your weblog.

One other methodology is to arrange a lead scoring system primarily based in your ICP. For instance, if most of your finest consumers are in expertise, you would possibly assign extra factors to this attribute. 

Right here’s a easy instance of a lead scoring system:

With a lead scoring system, you possibly can assess the chance of high quality leads changing. The upper the rating, the extra seemingly they’ll purchase.

Make this a collaborative shopping for course of between advertising and marketing and gross sales. Every gross sales group ought to provide enter on which actions or attributes have increased values.

3. Analysis a prospect earlier than you attain out

What separates the highest salespeople from common performers?

The highest reps do their homework.

82% of top-performing reps say they all the time analysis their prospects earlier than they attain out.

You should definitely analysis your prospects earlier than you make preliminary contact. Not solely does this allow you to rapidly decide whether or not they’re value pursuing, but it surely additionally arms you with insights you possibly can reference to personalize your outreach and make every chilly name simpler.

Right here’s what you need to search for in your preliminary analysis:

• Annual income
• Worker depend
• Areas
• Tech stack
• Management hires
• Funding spherical
• Trade
• Yr-over-year headcount progress

Use assets like LinkedIn, Crunchbase, and the corporate’s web site to collect this particular info. There are additionally gross sales intelligence instruments that may assist you pull extra technographic and firmographic knowledge. And bear in mind to additionally analysis the particular person you’re reaching out to. Use platforms like Fb and Twitter, in addition to their weblog if they’ve one.

4. Ask the fitting gross sales qualifying questions

Analysis can solely take you to date. 

If a prospect matches your ICP and has a excessive sufficient rating, it’s the fitting time to get them on a discovery name and ask them the fitting questions. The aim is to find out whether or not to maneuver the prospect by way of your gross sales course of or disqualify them.

You may ask your potential prospects the next questions:

• What enterprise drawback are you making an attempt to resolve?
• How are you at the moment addressing this drawback?
• What are you doing about it now?
• How have you ever tried to resolve this drawback earlier than?
• What’s your price range for this resolution?
• Do you may have a timeline for its implementation? 

Need much more related questions?

Obtain our 43 Extremely-Particular Gross sales Qualifying Questions to learn to ask the sorts of questions that can place you as a trusted advisor and fill your pipeline.

Lead qualification frameworks to qualify your prospects

Whereas each sale is completely different, all closed offers share commonalities. Right here’s a take a look at the gross sales qualification frameworks that distill these traits right into a extra structured course of.

Prepare for a barrage of acronyms.

BANT

Initially developed by IBM, BANT is without doubt one of the oldest gross sales frameworks. It offers a easy framework for qualifying B2B consumers. 

BANT stands for:

• Funds: Can the prospect afford your resolution? Set up early on whether or not they have the price range.
• Authority: Does the prospect have decision-making authority? Ideally, you wish to work with a prospect who can log out on a deal.
• Want: Does your resolution remedy your prospect’s ache factors? If a prospect doesn’t have a real want to your resolution, disqualify them instantly. 
• Timeline: How quickly is the prospect seeking to implement an answer? Understanding timelines can assist your reps decide which prospects to prioritize.

In accordance with the BANT framework, prospects are viable in the event that they meet at the least three of those 4 standards.

CHAMP

The CHAMP framework shares a couple of similarities with BANT, but it surely places consumers’ wants first. CHAMP stands for:

• CHallenges: What challenges are your prospects dealing with, and what options have they tried? Reps are attempting to grasp how they can assist overcome these challenges.
• Authority: Is the prospect concerned within the decision-making course of? If not, you’ll wish to decide who has the authority to signal. 
• Cash: How a lot cash has the prospect put aside? It’s necessary to find out whether or not they can afford your resolution.
• Prioritization: Is there a way of urgency with the issue? If a prospect desires to resolve their issues as quickly as potential, you’re taking a look at a sooner implementation timeline.

MEDDIC

The MEDDIC gross sales qualification framework was developed by Jack Napoli whereas he was working at expertise firm PTC. It’s ideally suited if you happen to’re promoting a extra advanced resolution that includes a number of decision-makers and lengthy gross sales cycles. 

MEDDIC stands for:

• Metrics: Discover out the objectives that your prospect desires to attain. These ought to be quantifiable so that you could successfully place your resolution’s financial profit.
• Financial purchaser: Decide who has the facility to authorize spending. The important thing to closing offers is to talk to this particular person and get them in your facet.
• Choice course of: Along with determination standards, it’s worthwhile to perceive what a purchaser’s inner approval and buy course of seems to be like.
• Choice standards: Patrons sometimes contemplate completely different choices when evaluating distributors. Understanding what these standards are will assist you tailor a profitable gross sales pitch. 
• Establish ache: When you have interaction with a prospect, it’s worthwhile to determine what their enterprise ache factors are so you possibly can place your resolution successfully.
• Champion: The champion is somebody inside the customer’s group who advocates in your behalf. Their affect is vital to pushing a gross sales alternative ahead.

Obtain our 26 MEDDIC Questions To Supercharge Qualification to make this framework be just right for you. 

GPCTBA

GPCTBA is a gross sales qualification framework developed by HubSpot to find out whether or not a prospect may gain advantage out of your merchandise.

GPCTBA stands for:

• Objectives: Decide your consumers’ quantitative objectives. What measurable outcomes do they wish to obtain
• Plans: Discover out what your consumers have carried out to attain their objectives. What labored, and what didn’t? 
• Challenges: Outline your consumers’ challenges and present them how your resolution can assist them keep away from detrimental penalties.
• Timing: Preserve momentum to maintain a deal from stalling. When do your consumers plan to implement an answer?
• Funds: Decide your consumers’ budgets. How a lot have they put aside? How a lot are they at the moment spending? You should definitely reinforce the worth of your resolution. 
• Authority: Interact with the choice maker as early as potential. In case your contact isn’t an financial purchaser, attempt to discover out who has the authority to make a shopping for determination.

ANUM

ANUM is just like the BANT framework, but it surely makes figuring out the decision-maker over the price range a high precedence. It stands for:

• Authority: Is the prospect the important thing decision-maker? If not, be certain that you communicate to somebody with shopping for energy. 
• Want: What are their wants? Similar to with the BANT framework, it’s worthwhile to decide whether or not the prospect really wants your resolution.
• Urgency: How quickly is your prospect searching for an answer? Extra urgency means shorter gross sales cycles.
• Cash: Does the prospect have the price range to your resolution? Decide whether or not they can afford your resolution and the way a lot they’ve allotted.

The ANUM framework ensures that you simply’re talking to the fitting particular person earlier than you begin digging into their wants.

FAINT

The FAINT qualification framework acknowledges that some consumers don’t have a price range for an answer. As such, these prospects must be dealt with somewhat in another way.

FAINT stands for:

• Funds: Decide whether or not a prospect has the funds to make a purchase order. This might contain digging into their monetary statements or looking for information on current funding. 
• Authority: Decide who has the authority to make a purchase order determination. Use assets like LinkedIn to do that.
• Curiosity: Producing curiosity is vital to transferring offers ahead. When a prospect says, “Inform me extra,” you’re heading in the right direction. 
• Want: When you’ve established curiosity, it’s worthwhile to place your resolution as a necessity. This includes asking the fitting gross sales questions.
• Timing: Decide when the prospect is seeking to implement an answer. If they’ve a brief timescale, the salesperson will know to prioritize this prospect. 

Each firm has completely different gross sales processes, so what works for one might need completely different outcomes for one more. Experiment with completely different gross sales qualification frameworks to seek out one which works to your processes.

It doesn’t matter what gross sales methodology you utilize to qualify ideally suited clients, it’s worthwhile to know that every gross sales rep is definitely following it. This may assist you measure the effectiveness of a gross sales qualification framework.

With Gong, you possibly can arrange trackers to set off alerts when a gross sales rep asks particular framework questions of their calls. This lets you assess how effectively your group is adopting a gross sales methodology and if it’s worthwhile to present extra gross sales teaching.

When must you qualify or disqualify a prospect within the lead qualification course of?

Qualifying prospects is without doubt one of the most necessary steps within the gross sales course of. Nevertheless it’s not all the time simple to find out what constitutes a great prospect.

Purple flags to look at for

Listed here are the highest indicators {that a} prospect isn’t a great match:

• They don’t want your resolution: In case your prospect is searching for one thing that you simply don’t provide, it’s protected to disqualify them immediately.
• They’ll’t afford your resolution: There’s a motive why most frameworks embrace price range as a qualification criterion. If a prospect can’t afford your resolution, then transfer on.
• They gained’t decide to the following steps: Driving the following steps is vital to sustaining deal momentum. If a purchaser gained’t commit, they’re most likely simply not .

Indicators {that a} prospect is able to shut

Listed here are the indicators you’ll wish to pay shut consideration to:

• Pricing is mentioned on the primary name: Now we have discovered that win charges are 10% increased when pricing is mentioned on the primary name. Don’t be afraid to debate budgets immediately. A constructive response is an effective signal. 

• The prospect matches your ICP: If a prospect matches your gross sales ICP, there’s a great likelihood they will profit out of your resolution. In fact, you’ll nonetheless have to do your analysis and due diligence.
• The prospect makes use of the phrase “most likely”: Take note of whether or not the prospect says a phrase like “most likely” when responding to a timeline query. This response, although cautious, is optimistic.

There aren’t any ensures in life. Nonetheless, these indicators point out that you simply’re on track. A robust worth proposition will assist preserve the deal transferring ahead.

Refine your gross sales qualification course of with Gong

Gross sales qualification could make or break your gross sales course of. 

Get it proper, and also you’ll fill your pipeline with certified prospects prepared to purchase. However get it improper, and also you’ll lavatory your reps down with unqualified prospects who will drain their time and power.

Able to supercharge your gross sales qualification?

Guide a demo to see how Gong brings readability into your gross sales pipeline. Information-backed insights assist you decide which messages resonate along with your prospects and which of them want extra work.