Disqualification doesn’t happen often enough because salespeople have trouble recognizing how much we're connected to the idea of pain or dissatisfaction.
Disqualify Nightmare Clients
Salespeople get bamboozled into signing nightmare clients. In your first meeting with this type of client, they’ll complain and gripe about our competitor, the competitor we're trying to displace. They'll say, “They're terrible! They never do what we want. They never hit our metrics. They're constantly a problem. Their service is terrible. They're not very helpful.” They go through a whole litany of complaints, and as a salesperson, you're at the edge of your seat. You're like, Yes! This is what I’ve been waiting for! You've got somebody who's completely dissatisfied and motivated to change.
But you have to remember that your competitor is probably smart, and they’ve probably been working with this company for a long time. They may have told them, look, in order for us to get you a better result, we're picking up our end of the stick, but your end of the stick is still on the ground. To produce the results you want, we need you to pick up your end of the stick and make the changes that are necessary to support this change. If you don't have conversations with your prospects about the changes they must make on their side to reach the results they need, then you're not being a trusted adviser. You’re also setting yourself up for failure. If you’re afraid of having this conversation, you’re not being consultative. You’re afraid of hearing your contacts say, “If you can’t do a better job than your competitor, we’ll just stay with them.”
Part of doing a better job than your competitor is convincing the prospective client that they have to make changes, too. You can't do it alone. They must be a willing partner and make the changes on their side so you can help them. Approach these clients with caution. The more vigorously someone puts down your competitor, the more likely it is that they are not acknowledging their role in their failure. Whenever anyone tells you that they don't share any responsibility for an outcome they're getting or not getting, you know they have a mature view of how things work.
The best thing to keep in mind when you suspect a prospect would be a difficult client, is that they can have a negative impact on your results and revenue. Difficult clients are hard to work with, won't treat you like a partner, don't treat their current provider like a partner, and will not help in any way in the relationship. Everything that goes wrong is going to be your fault, even when it’s their fault. They will refuse to take any responsibility for the relationship or their own results. When you recognize that it's a nightmare client, you have to move on to something else. If you don’t, they will take all of your time and energy, destroy your operations team, and create a bunch of problems. You and your team have a love of the game, but nightmare clients destroy that. My advice is: Walk away. Don’t think you’re going to change them.
Disqualify Prospects That Are Not Going to Buy
Salespeople make this mistake all the time: They engage with people who can't or won't buy. When a contact won’t buy, it’s because of how they perceive value. No matter how good your product is or how much you could improve their results, some prospective clients will not see value in what you do. They won't find your differentiation to be compelling, they won't pay more for better results, and they don't perceive the value in what you’re selling.
I'm not telling you to give up and go away, but if you reach three or four stakeholders who share this view of the business world, then you have to recognize that they may never be willing to pay for your offering. When this is the case, don't waste your time with them. When someone doesn't perceive the value of what you do, you can't sell them. Try to identify these prospects early because they're difficult to sell to, and take a lot of time. You’ll likely end up with a false opportunity in your pipeline, one that never comes true.
In another scenario, some prospective clients just don't have the money. That's all there is to it. They desperately want what you can do, they'd be happy to invest it if they could, and they would be a great partner. The problem is that they don't have the money. This means they can't buy from you, even if they perceive the value in what you’re selling. You have to disqualify them.
Finally, if somebody doesn't buy what you sell, and it's not strategic for them, then there's no reason to try to convert them. Plenty of clients are already spending a fortune in your category. Those are the ones you should be calling on—your dream clients. To make time for them, you must disqualify people who don't buy what you sell. I always hear salespeople say, “If we showed them the value, they would buy it.” No they wouldn't! They don't see value in it and don’t consider it a strategic change, so they are never going to buy it.
How to Disqualify Potential B2B Clients
When you look at the client or the prospect, look at them through this lens early on, and ask these questions:
- Is this someone that I should be pursuing?
- Are they going to make a good client for us?
- Are we going to make a good partner for them?
- Do they have the money?
- Do they perceive the value?
- Are they going to make the changes on their side?
If they're not going to do any of those things—if they can't or if they won't—then you have to disqualify them, move on, and find something worth your time. There are plenty of clients who need your help. Your job is to find them. That means you make outbound calls, and you do the work.
