I recently had a phone conversation with a new distributor. He said he spent hours on a proposal for what he thought was a good prospect, only to have it go nowhere. He was wondering what could have gone wrong.
Here’s what may have happened…
Many years ago, when I first started selling promotional products, I thought everyone was a good prospect for me. Consequently, I wasted a lot of time and energy on the wrong prospects. Prospects only looking for the lowest price, or worse, prospects who didn’t have the ability or authority to order or who were just window shoppers. After a while I learned to pre-qualify my prospects.
Not pre-qualifying prospects is one of the biggest mistakes I see promotional products professionals making.
How can you identify good prospects? One solution is to pre-qualify them by knowing the answers to these questions before you spend your valuable time and energy.
- Does the prospect have an immediate need? – Special event, trade show, product launch, etc.
- Does the prospect have a budget?
- How does the prospect make decisions? (One person or a committee?)
- Who is the ultimate decision maker?
- Is the prospect speaking to more than one promotional vendor?
- What is the ultimate objective of the promotion?
- If you provide an original idea, will the prospect honor your research and time or will the idea be put out for bid?
These questions are just a start. I’m sure you can think of many more. Here’s my question for you today: How do you determine a good prospect from a bad? What criteria do you use?
Promo Biz Coach Rosalie Marcus helps promotional sales professionals attract their most-wanted clients and dramatically increase their sales, profit margins and incomes. Get a free special report: 10 Big Mistakes Promotional Professionals Make and How to Avoid Them and a free Skyrocket Your Sales audio download at http://www.promobizcoach.com. Reach her at [email protected] or 215-572-6766.
