Being able to qualify a sales prospect is a critical skill for being a successful salesperson. This skill will enable you to determine if a prospect has a low probability of moving forward, and if you can clearly see that, you will be able to prevent yourself from wasting valuable time with bad sales prospects.

To improve your ability to identify whether a sales prospect is likely to buy from you, you can try looking for four different qualities.

1. Need to Purchase
The first thing to look for is whether the sales prospect truly needs what you have to sell or whether it is more of a want. For example, we all would love to get a new car at some point in our lives, which means that we always “want” a new car.

But there are only certain times when we “need” a new car. This is when our current vehicle reaches a certain age or level of use and is not performing at an acceptable level.

It is not to say that you cannot sell to someone whose interest is based more on a want than a need. Just as many people buy a new car when it is more that they want it than truly need a new car.

But when you are able to easily identify whether the interest you are observing is tied to a need or it is more of a want, you will improve your ability to determine how likely the prospect is to purchase from you.

2. Authority to Purchase
You also want to determine if the sales prospect has the authority to purchase from you. In other words, is the prospect the ultimate decision maker and the one that will say whether or not to move forward with the purchase?

You could have great discussions going with a prospect but if they aren’t the one who can pull the trigger on the purchase, then your deal is not qualified and should not be seen as being qualified until you bring the decision maker into the conversation and process.

3. Ability to Purchase
Does the prospect have the ability to purchase what you are trying to sell? This could include a couple of different things. The first and most obvious is identifying whether the prospect has the money to spend to purchase.

However, this can also include the ability to move forward from a contractual standpoint. Is the prospect locked into any existing agreements that will prevent them from moving forward?

4. Intent to Purchase
Does the prospect have a genuine intent to purchase and purchase from you? Not only is it important to identify if the prospect is serious about purchasing, but you also want to identify if they are serious about purchasing from you.

For example, a sales prospect might be 100% serious about buying a new car, but they have already spent hours at another dealership and come to your dealership to get a price that they can take back to the other dealership for negotiation purposes.