Not all perspective customers are equal.
Have you had the experience of meeting with a prospective customer and gradually discovered that the “ideal” prospect is not ideal at all? Afterwards, you may feel like you’ve wasted your time and energy.
If you’re an estimator or leading a sales team who has been experiencing this, not only is it frustrating, but it can also turn out to be quite costly. Time spent meeting with the wrong people could have been spent in a more focused and profitable way (like following up with outstanding estimates). And if this happens often enough it can bring down team morale.
There are steps you can take to ensure that this never happens. But it involves something that may be the hardest part of sales – Actually qualifying customers when they call in to book the appointment. Salespeople often tell me that this is something that the company doesn’t do. But it is something that can be systematized and handled easily with the right scripts and making sure all the right questions get asked before scheduling an estimate.
Another advantage is when you have a backlog of work. You can be a lot more selective with who you go out and see. This saves time, and money and creates much better morale.
At contractor Growth Strategy we know that qualifying the at the time the appointment is set is a key component of pre-sales. It’s the background pre-work that must be done to get qualified appoints with the type of customers who have a pre-disposition to work with a company like yours. All things being equal, when a sales team is working with a list of qualified leads, they’ll have better success because they are meeting with the right people.
Our experience is that pre-qualifying appointments is a critical component in the pre-sales process. Ultimately a well-executed appointment set up properly ensures that the sales team’s are meeting with the right kind of customer.
Implement a strong pre-sales process within your organization to build a strong list of questions that qualify prospects that your estimators and yourself can pursue.
Remember, a sales team working with truly qualified leads will result in shorter sales process and faster revenue growth.
If your back-office needs help implementing a better qualification process, and implementing a pre-sales process or you would like some coaching on the topic reach out to us at 610-715-8000. Or email us at Carl@contractorgrowthstrategy.info