Here are five questions that can be helpful to qualify your prospects: 1. Can you tell me more about your current situation and what led you to consider purchasing our product/service? 2. What are the key features or benefits you are looking for in a product/service like ours? 3. What is your budget for this purchase and how do you see our solution fitting into it? 4. Who are the decision-makers involved in this purchase and what is their level of interest in our offering? 5. What is your timeline for making a decision and implementing a solution?

Shopping for a new TV can be an overwhelming experience with all the options available, and sometimes the salesperson who’s supposed to help may not even ask the right questions about your needs and budget. This lack of understanding can lead to mistrust, and it’s a trap that many salespeople and business owners fall into. However, by asking open-ended questions, practicing active listening, and focusing on selling a solution rather than a product, you can gain your prospect’s trust and excitement about working with you. In this article, we’ll outline five important questions to ask every prospect before sending a sales proposal, helping you to drill down to their core desires and expectations and determine if your product or service is a good fit. Sales qualification, which involves figuring out your prospect’s needs and whether they’re a good fit for your product, is a crucial part of the sales process that, when done right, can increase your sales closing rates and boost revenue.
To properly qualify prospects and get them to share their needs and expectations with you, you should ask open-ended questions, practice active listening, and focus on selling a solution rather than a product. When speaking with a prospect for the first time, it’s important to get a sense of their needs while also determining if they’re a good fit for your product. Asking open-ended questions like “Tell me more about your business” rather than “Does your business produce custom-made shoes?” will get your lead to share their ideas and perspectives with you, while active listening allows you to carefully listen to your prospect and provide feedback by paraphrasing what they’ve said. Selling a solution rather than just talking about the features of your product will make your prospect feel like your product is the solution they’ve been waiting for.
Five questions that have been proven to get prospects talking are 1) “Could you tell me about your business?”, 2) “What are your goals for the next [3, 6, 12] months?”, 3) “What challenges are you facing as you work towards these goals?”, 4) “What effect would solving these problem(s) have on your business?”, and 5) “How much are you willing to invest to meet your goals?”. These questions will help you understand your prospect’s expectations, build trust, and identify promising leads. Once you’ve qualified your leads, you can create a compelling proposal that addresses all of the prospect’s challenges and goals.