When to qualify an account

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There’s a school of thought that says you work hard to qualify an account up front, so you can “soft sell” them on the back-end. In other words, you press your contact hard, and reward him or her with an easier sales process once you know you’re dealing with the right person. I think this is completely insufficient advice.

You are never “done” qualifying an account. Companies’ priorities change, slowing down or speeding up timelines. Decision-makers influence and involvement, particularly in larger deals, comes and goes. Sales are routinely lost late in the game. And it’s almost always because the sales person didn’t adequately qualify the account—either up front or throughout the process.

There are lots of things you need to do to better qualify your accounts. But my two pieces of advice for anyone wanting to head-off the loss of accounts late in the process is to 1) ask more questions up front to ensure there’s a fit for your product or service and to verify who will make the final decision, and 2) develop an internal “coach” who pulls for you when you’re not there. Number one is a no-brainer, it follows my first statement in this post. Number two you do because you you can’t always be on top of the shifting priorities and feelings in a customer’s business.

Developing an internal coach is crucial in any sale that would be considered large or complex, and helpful in mid-range sales as well. Your coach keeps you abreast of any changes going on with his or her company, and also sells for you when you’re not there. You need this person. Sometimes it’s your primary contact. Sometimes it’s a person who will use your product the most. When you have her, your qualifying work isn’t done, but it’s easier.

When you don’t have a coach, you have to continually ask “checking” questions, such as, “So, Jim, are we still on track to present this to your committee in January?” or “Susan, since we’ve talked about so many changes to our initial proposal, who should we run this by to get their input?”

Again, you’re never done qualifying accounts—whether it’s qualifying their need, the decision timeline, or the decision-maker.

Other resources: Bill Stinnett article, Jack Carroll article, Debra Kahn Schofield article.