Three ways to spot and avoid cheap prospects

Some salespeople seem to never have to drop their price to close a sale, while others do it all the time. Ever wonder why this is so?

There are a lot of reasons, of course. But one that is often overlooked is the source and quality of the prospects themselves. Cheap prospects turn into cheap customers – and it’s best to avoid them in the first place. Here are three ways to smoke them out early:

1. Look for clues in the environment. What’s the office look like? Is it furnished with leftovers from a fire sale? Is their technology past its prime, patched with duct tape?

2. Ask how they’ve made similar decisions in the past. Their answers will be leading indicators showing you where they land on the “cheap” scale.

3. Use a trial close early. How they respond will tell you a lot. If they balk at the price, that combined with the other other indicators will give you 95% certainty that they are cheap.

Of course you may end up with a sale, but at a low profit. And cheap customers are not worth the energy drain.

Source: Based on a post by Mark Hunter. For more, visit www.thesaleshunter.com