Blog Cover Image 1

Do you have a disqualification mindset?

Posted by Carole Mahoney on 4/13/18 7:50 AM
What is a disqualification mindset and how do you develop one? How does it impact the engagement you have with potential buyers?
 
 
 
On a recent #livesaleslab that we do every Tuesday at Noon Eastern Time, we talked about what it meant to quality or to disqualify an opportunity. 
 
The question of whether to qualify or disqualify was really more about what's your mindset when you're asking questions to move people through the sales funnel.  Because traditional sales training teaches us that we need to qualify on things like whether they have budget or when are they going to buy, the idea of disqualification was a little foreign to many of the #livesaleslab participants. Even a little scary...
 
What I asked them is this: when your sole focus is to qualify- who is that all about? Them, or you?
 
But if you actually take the mindset of disqualification, it is really all about the buyer.
 
For example, have you identified all of the possible challenges, and obstacles to their success with your solution? Have you brought them up and come up with a solution, or a plan, to work around those, so that they'll be successful?
 
Do you really understand and have identified the decision maker? (The person who signs the front of the check.) Have they told you what their compelling reason is to want to change the status quo?  
 
These are the kinds of questions that you need to ask and the approach to take when you're disqualifying rather than qualifying.
 
The thing that's going to change in your pipeline is that you're probably going to have a more accurate forecast, you're probably going to be prospecting more because you're not going to be keeping old stuff in your pipeline that might someday close if you just do one more follow-up.
 
Instead, you're going to be then feeling that urgency to prospect a little bit more. A disqualification mindset needs a full pipeline so you're not afraid to say to that customer who's not a good fit, who's not going to be successful with your solution, "No, this might not be the best fit for you."
 
What are some of your disqualification questions? Share them below!

Topics: salespeople, #livesaleslab, video