If you’re looking for new leads, you naturally want to ask questions of your prospects to see how likely they are to become your customers. However, not all questions are of equal value. Some will definitely help you better determine your leads, and others might not be helpful at all.
In other words, you need to figure out potential clients’ BANT sales (budget, authority, needs, timing) process that you can learn about through Revenue Grid. In this article, we will list 15 questions that will truly help you identify your leads. Starting off with these questions will help you home in on your prospects and learn which leads are worth pursuing, as well as the appropriate steps to take to move them along.
Another critical thing will be figuring out how to approach your potential client. Think about the Challenger Sales Model to try to determine what type of personality you’re dealing with.
What is the problem that needs to be solved?
Identifying a pain point can be an effective way to determine whether or not a solution can be found. People don’t buy products or services just for the sake of spending money. They make the decision to buy things because they have particular needs. If a person can’t speak accurately to his or her needs, they are much less likely to follow through in the end.
Why do you need to address the problem now?
People often think casually about taking on new products or services. But this can be simply fanciful daydreaming, or it could relate to something urgent. To make this distinction accurately, ask your prospects why it is that they are coming to you at this particular moment.
Is this the first time that you are trying to address this issue?
Without prying too blatantly into a person’s past, you can subtly try to determine whether they have gone to other places or tried and failed to resolve their issues before. If so- and if the need is one that you can genuinely speak to – then this will definitely help your cause.
If you don’t address the problem, what might the consequences be?
Really figuring out the nature and extent of a given problem means knowing what the potential consequences could be if it isn’t resolved. Ask your prospects if they’ve really thought through the nature of the issue and if perhaps it might not be that serious. If that is the case, then they likely aren’t very good prospects at all but will events forget about the problem.
What are the consequences of not addressing the problem right now?
A related question is whether the issue is one that is currently causing losses, or if it is only a potential issue. If the consequences are already being seen, then the problem likely needs to be addressed right away.
Who is the primary decision maker on your team for purchases?
It could be that the person who approaches you is not actually the primary decision maker on the team and that he or she might take an interest in what you have to offer, while the actual sales dead might have a different opinion altogether.
What potential problems might you face that could potentially cause problems with your plans?
Finding out a potential client’s larger plans could be revealing in terms of how well they have thought out the whole process. If there are potential obstacles that could be encountered along the way, perhaps your solution might not be the best one. Or, perhaps you might need to tailor your offerings somewhat to better suit the client’s needs.
Ask specific questions about parts of the process that you think might be problematic.
In addition to asking the open-ended question of whether the client foresees potential problems, you could point towards particular things that you have seen to be sticking points with previous customers and see how the prospect reacts. If you explain in detail obstacles that might appear, perhaps the prospective client will think twice and realize that he or she might be subject to the same complications.
Are you using a similar solution? If so, what about it needs to change?
Another way of determining subtleties of the potential client’s needs is to find out how they are currently addressing the pain point in question.
Have you ever considered buying a product or service like this before? If so, what were the consequences?
Another way to assess whether a potential client has fully thought through the buying process is to find out whether they have ever bought something similar. If so, then you’ll want to know what the experience was like for them.
Are you considering something similar?
If the prospect is willing to be open about it, try to find out whether they are considering either one of your competitors, or some other similar kind of solution. It could be that they are leaning in the direction of a competitor but don’t want to admit it publicly.
What does a successful purchase mean to you and to your company?
It could be that the purchase in question will make a major difference to the potential buyer, or not necessarily. Asking them for a specific outcome will help to determine their level of seriousness.
How urgent is your need?
Finding out when a prospective client needs their solution will tell you a lot about how much they want it. Try to get an exact date if you can.
Do all the relevant people on your staff agree that this is a serious need?
Similar to asking about the company hierarchy, inquiring about how many relevant staff members there are and who exactly is in need of the solution can be telling.
How does your purchase approval process go?
Finding out how to get a hold of the primary decision maker could be to your benefit. See if you can get this person’s information and follow up with him or her.
Asking these questions will surely help you narrow down who your serious prospects are, and weed out the ones that might be wasting your time. It will be worth your while to be scrutinizing during the early lead period.
