The article addresses a practical topic, a guide to help business consultants, sales managers, and anyone developing within an organization's sales force; so that they are able to evaluate the closing time of their sales projects.
It is important that in this time of market competition, sellers are able to effectively evaluate their prospects to make the best use of their time and redouble their efforts on ideal prospects and with purchase intentions.
One of the main problems that a commercial advisor faces on a day-to-day basis is not knowing when his next project is going to close and even worse, not knowing what to do to speed up the respective closing time.
Traditionally, an old guard salesman believes that having a good attitude and making many calls, visits and presentations is enough to be able to sell, that is, a "push" or "push" strategy. On the other hand, some other sales managers believe that what is missing is the sales closing technique.
However, what is a reality is that the sales process must start with a prospect qualification criterion and from that moment, determine how feasible it is that the prospect has real purchase intentions. On the other hand, it is necessary to have a sales methodology that allows you to measure the cycle of your business process to determine closing times.
The difficulty to know the closing time of a project as well as the qualification of your prospect is clear, however through 5 simple steps you will be able to determine the degree of real interest of your prospect as well as the time of the commercial cycle in which it's found.
Please try to remember the phases you have gone through trying to sell the most important project you currently have, as well as the latest events, then take a pencil and answer the following questions in the order of 1 to 5, 1 being the item lowest and 5 the highest.
QUESTION
Criterion to qualify
1. Is there an immediate need for your prospect to make a profit to buy their products and / or services?
In this case, qualifying with 1 would mean: “there is no immediate purchase intention ”, 3 could be: “it exists but the process is just beginning” and 5 would be: “there is immediate need”.
2. Does your prospect have a budget to make the investment ?
Where 1 would be: "you do not have a budget for investment", 3 could be: "you have a budget but it is not enough" and 5 would be: "if you have a budget specifically destined for this investment".
3. Can your prospect authorize the purchase?
Being 1 something like: "I know someone within the company", 3 would be: "I know an important manager or executive" and 5 would be equivalent to: "I know the main decision maker for this project".
4. How do you get along with the maximum decision maker of your project?
Qualifying with 1 would be equivalent to “I don't know him”, 3 would be: “we have talked” and 5 could be something like: “I know him and there is empathy between both parties”.
5. Is your prospect aware and have no doubts about how you will reap the benefits of their solution?
In this question, qualifying with 1 would be "they do not know about my products or services ", 3 would be equivalent to "they have already bought similar solutions before" and 5 "are aware of my solutions and how they will help their current problem or desire"
Since you have answered the questions, add up your answers and determine the moment of the commercial cycle you are in, as well as the degree of purchase intention based on the following table:
SUMMARY
Prospect type. Strategy to follow
0 to 15
Prospect without intention to purchase
Change your prospect is wasting your time. Another strategy would be to change your business advisor to test your luck.
16 to 22
Marginal prospectus with purchase intention
You are on the right track, however you need to raise the rating of the points evaluated to have a real prospect with purchase intent. You may need to change the current approach, argue for greater benefits, or request an appointment with a higher-ranking executive on the organization chart. This client will still take several weeks or perhaps even months of work depending on their qualification.
23 to 25
Real prospect with purchase intention
Congratulations !, it is a matter of a few days or weeks for your next sale closing with your prospect, it only remains to be patient so that the right moment for the closing comes.
What do you think ?, surely you already have a clearer idea of how the current commercial situation of your most important project is.
We suggest that you do not spoil this important tool and carry out a comprehensive evaluation of all your projects to determine new business strategies and speed up their closing time. On the other hand, we suggest that you replicate these 5 simple steps to your sales colleagues or executives in your charge so that they have a more comprehensive overview of all the company's projects and can contribute globally to the fulfillment of their goals and objectives. yearly.
This simple tool could be incorporated into your monthly measurements to support your sales force, or if you are an independent salesperson, take steps to see if you need to spend more time with your current prospects and have an estimated view of your next income for the year.
By evaluating each of your sales projects with this five-step tool, we assure you that your business will have the key elements to make a better sales forecast, generate new strategies and finally increase the profits of your company, achieving motivation and commitment in your company, but most importantly: you and your team will achieve your personal goals.
