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Disqualifying Prospects: 50+ Sales Leaders Share Their ...
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My team and I interviewed 50+ sales leaders at companies like Dell, Workday, Oracle, and Cornerstone. Based on what we learned, it’s clear the best sales teams practice proactive disqualification (DQ). “In short, disqualifying prospects as soon as it’s clear the deal won’t close.” These leaders shared their recommendations for knowing when to kick an opportunity to the curb and how to build proactive disqualification into a sales process. And in this article, I’m going to share everything I learned.
The best managers share their DQ criteria, so reps and managers can make rational decisions to flag and disqualify deals. “This can look like the approach we outlined above, using SFDC fields, or it can be as simple as a one-page sheet with key activities or data points that should be completed.” The takeaway, though, is a mutual understanding of what a good deal looks like, and when it’s OK to kick a deal to the curb.
For example, maybe your reps weren’t talking to the right decision-makers or they failed to connect your solution to a high-value initiative that already has your buyers’ attention. “So yes, “gone dark” is a proxy for disqualified, but it’s a rough proxy.” Relying on symptom-based disqualification means your team won’t learn why they’re losing deals while simultaneously wasting good prospecting time trying to contact a prospect who isn’t actually a prospect.
On the other hand, if management wants to see ultra-high conversion rates, then reps will oblige and kill all but the most certain deals, leaving revenue on the table. “The best managers share their DQ criteria, so reps and managers can make rational decisions to flag and disqualify deals.” This can look like the approach we outlined above, using SFDC fields, or it can be as simple as a one-page sheet with key activities or data points that should be completed.
The best managers share their DQ criteria, so reps and managers can make rational decisions to flag and disqualify deals. “This can look like the approach we outlined above, using SFDC fields, or it can be as simple as a one-page sheet with key activities or data points that should be completed.” The takeaway, though, is a mutual understanding of what a good deal looks like, and when it’s OK to kick a deal to the curb.
So yes, “gone dark” is a proxy for disqualified, but it’s a rough proxy. “Relying on symptom-based disqualification means your team won’t learn why they’re losing deals while simultaneously wasting good prospecting time trying to contact a prospect who isn’t actually a prospect.” A Better Set of Flags: Buyer-Centric Signals
I have bad news… “Deals aren’t qualified just the one time and then locked down as golden opportunities forever more; they need to be constantly tested and retested, with the goal of exiting (either one direction or the other) as soon as possible.” My team and I interviewed 50+ sales leaders at companies like Dell, Workday, Oracle, and Cornerstone. Based on what we learned, it’s clear the best sales teams practice proactive disqualification (DQ).
My team and I interviewed 50+ sales leaders at companies like Dell, Workday, Oracle, and Cornerstone. Based on what we learned, it’s clear the best sales teams practice proactive disqualification (DQ). “In short, disqualifying prospects as soon as it’s clear the deal won’t close.” These leaders shared their recommendations for knowing when to kick an opportunity to the curb and how to build proactive disqualification into a sales process. And in this article, I’m going to share everything I learned.
Every sales leader we interviewed affirmed that losing fastwas a key plank of their pipeline management strategy. The only trouble was, reps’ happy ears meant bad deals stayed in play. “In other words, when prospects say, ”Hmm, interesting,” and reps hear, “Sold!” they end up spending months on a deal — only to discover at the last minute that, in reality, there is no deal.” The fallout is real: The team doesn’t have enough time to make up the loss, so they miss their forecast without any advance warning to the rest of the company — the very worst thing a sales team can do.
That’s bad, but it gets worse… “Those actions have hard costs even beyond the costs of missing revenue targets.” So how do the best salespeople know which deals to kick to the curb and which to keep in the pipeline?
In other words, when prospects say, ”Hmm, interesting,” and reps hear, “Sold!” they end up spending months on a deal — only to discover at the last minute that, in reality, there is no deal. “The fallout is real: The team doesn’t have enough time to make up the loss, so they miss their forecast without any advance warning to the rest of the company — the very worst thing a sales team can do.” That’s bad, but it gets worse…
I have bad news… “Deals aren’t qualified just the one time and then locked down as golden opportunities forever more; they need to be constantly tested and retested, with the goal of exiting (either one direction or the other) as soon as possible.” My team and I interviewed 50+ sales leaders at companies like Dell, Workday, Oracle, and Cornerstone. Based on what we learned, it’s clear the best sales teams practice proactive disqualification (DQ).
My team and I interviewed 50+ sales leaders at companies like Dell, Workday, Oracle, and Cornerstone. Based on what we learned, it’s clear the best sales teams practice proactive disqualification (DQ). “In short, disqualifying prospects as soon as it’s clear the deal won’t close.” These leaders shared their recommendations for knowing when to kick an opportunity to the curb and how to build proactive disqualification into a sales process. And in this article, I’m going to share everything I learned.
Let’s Start With Why Disqualifying Prospects Is Important “The only trouble was, reps’ happy ears meant bad deals stayed in play.” In other words, when prospects say, ”Hmm, interesting,” and reps hear, “Sold!” they end up spending months on a deal — only to discover at the last minute that, in reality, there is no deal.
Every sales leader we interviewed affirmed that losing fastwas a key plank of their pipeline management strategy. The only trouble was, reps’ happy ears meant bad deals stayed in play. “In other words, when prospects say, ”Hmm, interesting,” and reps hear, “Sold!” they end up spending months on a deal — only to discover at the last minute that, in reality, there is no deal.” The fallout is real: The team doesn’t have enough time to make up the loss, so they miss their forecast without any advance warning to the rest of the company — the very worst thing a sales team can do.
For example, maybe your reps weren’t talking to the right decision-makers or they failed to connect your solution to a high-value initiative that already has your buyers’ attention. “So yes, “gone dark” is a proxy for disqualified, but it’s a rough proxy.” Relying on symptom-based disqualification means your team won’t learn why they’re losing deals while simultaneously wasting good prospecting time trying to contact a prospect who isn’t actually a prospect.
Data acquisition may not be as linear as you expect.In a perfectly good deal, the rep might get some data in the “wrong” order. This shouldn’t hold back the rep from moving onto the next phase of your multi-stage playbook. “If you do mandate that all fields be filled in before a deal can progress, reps will just stick in bogus data to advance the stage — which is worse than no data at all.” The result? They’ll be chasing a deal they should have DQ’d.
If you do mandate that all fields be filled in before a deal can progress, reps will just stick in bogus data to advance the stage — which is worse than no data at all. And unless the manager is looking at every field of every stage of every deal, reps will get away with it. “The result? They’ll be chasing a deal they should have DQ’d.” A Better Approach: Shared Expectations