How do you Qualify Opportunities?

Each of us has our own idea how to measure the success of qualifying an opportunity.  Some gauge how long the meeting was.   The longer the meeting the more successful.   My rule of thumb is 45 minutes resulting in an hour more or less.  

Some like to give away all the answers.   This can actually work against you.   Ever find yourself listening to how many challenges the prospect is having?   It is natural to answer all their questions, provide solutions and walk them through how to resolve all these issues. 

What happens when you do that?  Sometimes they say yes we will move forward with you.  More than likely they will respond with thinking it over and resolve it themselves or give the answers to their current vendor.

So where is the right balance on sales and unpaid consulting? 

Some good questions to ask during qualification stage are: 

How do you make decisions?   Who needs to approve the decision?   What is your budget?  (ever get an answer to this one?)  What is your timeframe?   Who else is bidding on this opportunity?  What kind of Return on Investment (ROI) is required to move forward?  If we could provide you with.....would you move forward with us?

There are a lot of opportunities out there and qualifying them will lead to moving forward or moving onto the next opportunity.