One area to measure the prospect’s qualification is his or her ability to purchase your product in terms of having the needed money or funding. If someone has a car that is periodically breaking down, that person definitely has a need for a new car. But if that person is unemployed and does not have the money needed for the purchase, he or she is weak in the area of having the ability to purchase from a financial standpoint. In the world of B2B sales, this often happens where a prospect completely needs what you sell, but he or she does not have the budget or funding needed to purchase your product.
How to Handle the No Ability Prospect
With this type of prospect, you need to determine if the inability to purchase is temporary or a long-term issue. For example, if a prospect has no funding available today but that could change when the next fiscal year budget opens, the inability to purchase is temporary and could change not too far down the road. This is a helpful detail because it can tell you to be a little cautious but to not completely disqualify the prospect. What that might look like is that you try to stay in touch and invest a medium level of time in the prospect so that you can be there when the ability to purchase improves. But if it is unclear if the prospect will ever have the ability to purchase, you may want to proceed with extreme caution in terms of the amount of time, attention, and priority that you give to the prospect and opportunity.
How to Identify If the Prospect Has the Ability to Purchase
Here are some qualifying questions to ask to assess how strong the prospect is in the area of be- ing able to purchase what you sell.
What is the budgetary range that you need this purchase to stay within?
Is there a budget approved for this project?
Have the funds been allocated to this purchase?
What budget (department) will this purchase be made under?
Are there other purchases that this funding may end up being used for?
How does the project fit with other initiatives from a priority standpoint?