Much has been written on the conversion of leads to qualified opportunities and ultimate closure. Today we will discuss a generic approach to qualifying deals.
Step 1: Define a lead – what constitutes a lead is a raging debate and often times creates tension between marketing and sales. Ask any sales person if a purchased list from KnowMarkets.com is a real lead and they will tell you, “Absolutely NOT!” Once you decide organizationally what a lead is, you need to implement a standardized process by which you qualify and move it forward.
Step 2: Qualify – If you do not have a standard process by which you qualify leads today, A good place to start is the well established BANT Process. BANT which was formalized by IBM stands for:
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Budget
- Does your prospect have budget for the proposed service?
- If no, is there a process in place to get approval? What are the steps? Who is involved?
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Authority
- Does your prospect have the authority to execute the deal?
- If no, who does? Do you have access to this person?
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Need
- Is there a compelling business or environmental event that is motivating this project?
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Timeline
- What is the decision timeframe?
Any serious buyer will be comfortable providing you with this data. They are aware you need it to understand how to proceed. Resist “selling” anything to the prospect until you understand basic qualification questions. An example: A customer may have budget, authority, need, but the timing is 8-10 months out due to another ongoing project that has precedence. This still qualifies as a lead but the selling approach will be different than if the project were starting next week and vendor selection is imminent.
Conceptually, qualification can be taken much further. Additional qualification dimensions can be implemented such as Lead Ranking which can be broken down into sub categories like Lead Source, Events and Solution fit. Envision an ultimate score being derived based on combination of algorithms and questions asked by lead qualification professionals. For example:
Step 3: Work the deal – Once the opportunity is qualified it is time to start a more detailed discovery process and solution fit analysis with the prospect. This might include presentations, meetings, reference checks, RFP’s, RFI’s, etc.
Summary – every single deal is different. Every prospect has its own unique buying patterns and evaluation criteria for selecting a vendor. There is no real answer to the timing question posed here due to the fact that decisions have many factors that influence them. The best approach is to adopt a framework that will help to optimize interactions on deals that have an actual chance of closing.
