Choosing the best prospects is an important part of getting the best clients. So the idea of this article is that you learn how to choose your prospects correctly so that you can be much more efficient in your sales conversations to turn them into loyal customers of your services. But something that is very important is that you already have identified your ideal client. If not, take a look at this other article first to reinforce it: How to choose your ideal client? - 5 keys to learn how to choose your ideal client.
Very well, now that you have defined who your “ideal client” is, I am going to teach you how to discover if you are in front of one or not. This is a more advanced level: that you choose your ideal client, implies that you know what type of clients will be those who will benefit the most from your services, those with whom you will be able to work much better. But even when you have a perfect, well-established niche market, the people who belong to it may have various characteristics and needs right now that make a sale not viable. And… remember? If you cannot sell him, that is to say if you cannot offer your services and they want to buy them, you do not have a true client.
So when we evaluate those who are not yet clients, we call them prospects. However, it is also necessary to choose the best prospects. Why? First, because the sales process for a service is complex. As I have told you in some other article, it is usual that you have to speak more than once with a prospect to clarify their doubts and decide to invest in your service; You should also be able to offer added value in each of those conversations that the client agrees to have with you; many prospects will reject you, over and over again, and that is normal and you should get used to it; It is a natural part of the sales process that you must follow up on your prospects. So, with all this work for each prospect,How do you know if you are on the right track in your prospect to customer conversion process? Prequalification plays a key role here.
What does it mean to prequalify my clients?
Prequalifying means prequalifying. This means that you determine whether or not this person is your ideal client before you have a conversation with them, and if they are at the right moment to take the next step and be benefited by your services. I know that some people may be thinking right now that you are "limiting" your market or failing to help certain people. Does this look like to you? If you have understood the concept of having an ideal client well you will know that no matter how great and good a professional you are, you cannot help everyone (it is not convenient, strategic and efficient. And the conclusion of all this is that it is not profitable). So, knowing if this person who appears at your door can really take the maximum benefit of your services or not,it is essential when you explore working with that person.
Now that you have convinced yourself that you must qualify your prospects, the second question that you will surely be asking yourself is: How to prequalify my prospects? And here the answer is very simple: asking what you need to know! There are two basic questions that I always suggest (and actually use in my grade as well):
What is happening today in… and it worries you? (You can complete the ellipsis with the environment in which you manage, if you are a therapist it will be "in your personal life", if you work with businesses it will be "in your business", if you are an accountant it will be "in your business accounting ", If you are a consultant it will be" in your company ", etc.). This answer will help you understand if this topic that concerns you matches what you can do to help him. Even if the person is indeed your ideal client, this answer will help you direct a little more about how exactly your services can help (or not). Imagine that you are a therapist or coach and you dedicate yourself to love relationships. If this person tells you that what they are concerned about is that they do not have a partner,surely the type of service you will offer will not be the same as if it tells you that your problem is that you are about to divorce.
What do you want to achieve? This is another question that works very well to help you rate your customers. Suppose you are a designer and a client who is a beautician comes to your door. When she answers the previous question, she tells you that: she has a business and but not many clients. You automatically think of one of your personal branding and imaging programs. But when you ask her what she wants to achieve, you discover in her answer that her problem is not the external image and the personal brand. If your answer is "I want to work on my self-esteem, because I don't value myself enough and then I'm ashamed to offer my services." There you see that, except that in addition to being a designer you are a psychologist or therapist, you will not be able to help him. Her problem is not the external image, but what happens inside.Surely someone is thinking "I take it the same as a customer." Well, everyone owns their ethics and knows if they are doing the right thing or not in their profession. But as much as you do an excellent "external" job, if this person in the example fails to work inside, she will continue with the same initial problem of "I don't have many clients". Of course, this person will be in a position to make the most of your service when solving this previous problem, so it is always convenient that you can keep in touch to be right there when you are ready to move forward.it will continue with the same initial problem of "I don't have many clients". Of course, this person will be in a position to make the most of your service when solving this previous problem, so it is always convenient that you can keep in touch to be right there when you are ready to move forward.it will continue with the same initial problem of "I don't have many clients". Of course, this person will be in a position to make the most of your service when solving this previous problem, so it is always convenient that you can keep in touch to be right there when you are ready to move forward.
And pay attention to this, because it is a very important point for me. Customers don't have to know what they need. It is your task to discover it and help them discover it.
To finish, there is another way that I use to qualify (or not) my clients, it is the typical statement of "This is for you if… "Or its opposite" This is not for you if… "
Think of it this way. There is nothing better than your ideal client to identify with your sentences of what you can do to help them. And there is nothing worse than a person who is not your ideal client realizes that you cannot help him or that you will not meet his expectations too late. You will have made him waste his time and you will also have lost yours.
I hope you have learned a little more about the importance of correctly qualifying your prospects and how to do it. You can use these questions when a potential client calls you on the phone, when they send you an email or even when they visit your office. The important thing is that you can explore if it really is who you are dedicated to helping. Remember that your goal as a business owner is not only more clients, but more clients who are really delighted with your services and generate excellent references to other potential clients. And this is accomplished by being very precise in choosing who you can truly help.
