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21 Sales Qualifying Questions to Identify Prospects Worth ...
HubSpot Sales Blog
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How do you determine if a prospect's a good fit for your product or service? Sales qualification is the answer. Not every lead is a good fit for a product or service — no matter how strongly a salesperson believes they are (or wants them to be). Buyers don't buy just because they have a serious need, a looming deadline, or money to burn. They buy because of a combination of all of these factors, and more. During the sales qualification process, salespeople can't determine a fit based on one of these criteria. They have to establish a fit based on all relevant factors. While the specific sales questions a rep asks will depend on the product or service they sell, here are some solid conversation starters that can help you recognize who's a successful customer in the making, and who's better suited for another solution. Sales Qualification Sales qualification is a part of the sales process where salespeople determine whether or not a prospect is a good fit for the product or service they're selling. Salespeople have an ideal customer profile and compare the prospect's characteristics to the profile. If the prospect is not a good fit, the salesperson won't sell to them. Sales Qualifying Questions 1. What business problem are you solving with this offering? Change isn't easy, and businesses don't overhaul systems and processes for the fun of it. If there's no real problem the prospect is trying to solve, there's no real reason for them to buy. Establishing a business pain (either from a known issue or from a problem the prospect wasn't even aware of) before diving into other questions can help you understand what the problem is and how you can help. 2. What's prompting you to do something about it now? Prospects who have recently experienced a significant trigger event, such as a change in leadership, market shift, legal issue, or major company development, will have more incentive to address the problem now rather than later. 3. “If the answer is "well, not much," the prospect doesn't have a pressing need.” If the prospect already has a competitive solution in place, the salesperson can get a benchmark of how much they're used to spending. And with a firm number, the salesperson can then ask if the prospect would be comfortable going higher. Here's how former HubSpot Sales VP Pete Caputa phrases this question in his sales qualification calls: "We've established that your goal is X and that you're spending Y now to achieve X. But it's not working. In order to hire us, you will need to invest Z. Since Z is pretty similar to Y and you're more confident that our solution will get you to your goal, do you believe it makes sense to invest Z to hire us?" 9. How would the decision process work with an offering like this? What would be your role in the process, and the roles of others on the decision team? Is the person you're talking to the decision-maker? Or is the decision-maker someone else? Make sure you understand the dynamics of the buying committee and who has authority over what. For example, while one stakeholder could be the "ultimate" signer, another might be the financial approver. 10. Has your company ever considered/used a product like this before? If so, what happened? The best way to make sure you don't repeat history is to study it. Compare your buyer's expectations and perceptions of "good" and "bad" to your offering. If there's a significant mismatch, it's best to disqualify the prospect now before you spend any more time on the deal. 11. What hurdles could crop up and derail this project? Too many potential potholes might not make the deal worth pursuing. For instance, there may be a change in staffing on the prospect’s end and the decision-maker could change during the course of the sale. It might be best to hold off on pursuing the lead until their team is ready to move forward. 12. What challenges do you think you'll come up against with the plan I've laid out? Do you think you'll struggle with Z or Y?
How do you determine if a prospect's a good fit for your product or service? Sales qualification is the answer. Not every lead is a good fit for a product or service — no matter how strongly a salesperson believes they are (or wants them to be). Buyers don't buy just because they have a serious need, a looming deadline, or money to burn. They buy because of a combination of all of these factors, and more. During the sales qualification process, salespeople can't determine a fit based on one of these criteria. They have to establish a fit based on all relevant factors. While the specific sales questions a rep asks will depend on the product or service they sell, here are some solid conversation starters that can help you recognize who's a successful customer in the making, and who's better suited for another solution. Sales Qualification Sales qualification is a part of the sales process where salespeople determine whether or not a prospect is a good fit for the product or service they're selling. Salespeople have an ideal customer profile and compare the prospect's characteristics to the profile. If the prospect is not a good fit, the salesperson won't sell to them. Sales Qualifying Questions 1. What business problem are you solving with this offering? Change isn't easy, and businesses don't overhaul systems and processes for the fun of it. If there's no real problem the prospect is trying to solve, there's no real reason for them to buy. Establishing a business pain (either from a known issue or from a problem the prospect wasn't even aware of) before diving into other questions can help you understand what the problem is and how you can help. 2. What's prompting you to do something about it now? Prospects who have recently experienced a significant trigger event, such as a change in leadership, market shift, legal issue, or major company development, will have more incentive to address the problem now rather than later. 3. “At this point, the salesperson should either disqualify the lead, or explain to them what might happen if the problem goes unresolved.” If the prospect already has a competitive solution in place, the salesperson can get a benchmark of how much they're used to spending. And with a firm number, the salesperson can then ask if the prospect would be comfortable going higher. Here's how former HubSpot Sales VP Pete Caputa phrases this question in his sales qualification calls: "We've established that your goal is X and that you're spending Y now to achieve X. But it's not working. In order to hire us, you will need to invest Z. Since Z is pretty similar to Y and you're more confident that our solution will get you to your goal, do you believe it makes sense to invest Z to hire us?" 9. How would the decision process work with an offering like this? What would be your role in the process, and the roles of others on the decision team? Is the person you're talking to the decision-maker? Or is the decision-maker someone else? Make sure you understand the dynamics of the buying committee and who has authority over what. For example, while one stakeholder could be the "ultimate" signer, another might be the financial approver. 10. Has your company ever considered/used a product like this before? If so, what happened? The best way to make sure you don't repeat history is to study it. Compare your buyer's expectations and perceptions of "good" and "bad" to your offering. If there's a significant mismatch, it's best to disqualify the prospect now before you spend any more time on the deal. 11. What hurdles could crop up and derail this project? Too many potential potholes might not make the deal worth pursuing. For instance, there may be a change in staffing on the prospect’s end and the decision-maker could change during the course of the sale. It might be best to hold off on pursuing the lead until their team is ready to move forward. 12. What challenges do you think you'll come up against with the plan I've laid out? Do you think you'll struggle with Z or Y?
“During the sales qualification process, salespeople can't determine a fit based on one of these criteria. They have to establish a fit based on all relevant factors.” What has prevented you from trying to solve the problem until now? Do other priorities keep taking precedent? Is there a bend in the path to a solution? Learning what has historically blocked the way to fixing this problem can help the salesperson understand where it falls on the prospect’s list of priorities, and reveal potential pitfalls. 4. Have you tried to solve this problem in the past? If so, why didn't that solution work? Alternatively, it could be that the prospect has attempted a solution before, but for whatever reason, that patch didn't stick. Digging into the past could reveal that what you thought was a perfect fit isn't actually so great — or that your prospect needs what you sell ASAP. 5. What happens if you do nothing about the problem? If the answer is "well, not much," the prospect doesn't have a pressing need. At this point, the salesperson should either disqualify the lead, or explain to them what might happen if the problem goes unresolved. 6. Do you have a budget allocated for this project? If not, when do you expect to have one? Money isn't everything, but it certainly has bearing on whether or not a prospect is worth pursuing — so make sure you qualify on budget sooner rather than later. The specific number doesn't matter as much as the fact that your offering's price and the prospect's ability to pay are within the same ballpark. For instance, if your product costs $1 million and the prospect can only afford $100, the sale isn't going to go through so it’s best to disqualify the prospect. 7. How does the purchase approval process work? This question can uncover additional financial decision-makers that need to be looped in sooner rather than later. For example, who is the final decision maker and how soon can you get them on a call? Having this information upfront can help the deal go a lot smoother later on. 8. What are you currently spending to solve this issue?
“If the prospect is not a good fit, the salesperson won't sell to them.” What has prevented you from trying to solve the problem until now? Do other priorities keep taking precedent? Is there a bend in the path to a solution? Learning what has historically blocked the way to fixing this problem can help the salesperson understand where it falls on the prospect’s list of priorities, and reveal potential pitfalls. 4. Have you tried to solve this problem in the past? If so, why didn't that solution work? Alternatively, it could be that the prospect has attempted a solution before, but for whatever reason, that patch didn't stick. Digging into the past could reveal that what you thought was a perfect fit isn't actually so great — or that your prospect needs what you sell ASAP. 5. What happens if you do nothing about the problem? If the answer is "well, not much," the prospect doesn't have a pressing need. At this point, the salesperson should either disqualify the lead, or explain to them what might happen if the problem goes unresolved. 6. Do you have a budget allocated for this project? If not, when do you expect to have one? Money isn't everything, but it certainly has bearing on whether or not a prospect is worth pursuing — so make sure you qualify on budget sooner rather than later. The specific number doesn't matter as much as the fact that your offering's price and the prospect's ability to pay are within the same ballpark. For instance, if your product costs $1 million and the prospect can only afford $100, the sale isn't going to go through so it’s best to disqualify the prospect. 7. How does the purchase approval process work? This question can uncover additional financial decision-makers that need to be looped in sooner rather than later. For example, who is the final decision maker and how soon can you get them on a call? Having this information upfront can help the deal go a lot smoother later on. 8. What are you currently spending to solve this issue?