MONEY

• How will your prospect pay for the product or service?
• Has a budget been established?
• Are they credit worthy?

• Who (in the prospect’s organization) needs to approve an acquisition of this nature?

• What information do the decision makers req
  Just How Important is a Job Title Description
  A lot of things in our lives depend on our jobs or careers. We all have to do a daily chore for five or six days a week and 8 hours a day. We then rightfully get a regular sum of money as our income after working hard for one or two weeks. Our incomes allow us to survive in this modern-day world. This pretty much sums up the basic job or work process.However, a job title description is often not as clear. Even if your job description says "Video Store Sales Clerk," you may be asked to do a lot of other things apart from this particular task. You will be responsible for a number of other chores other than renting out DVDs and videos. I should know because I
  Do you have blind faith that, if you can somehow convince a prospect to engage in a sales cycle, you will eventually make a sale? If you do, watch out! This belief can waste your time, effort, and company resources.

  Unfortunately, time and resource investments do not inevitably produce sales. How many of the opportunities in your pipeline have been stalled at the same step in the sales cycle for weeks…or months? In how many opportunities have you and your company invested enormous amounts of time, energy and resources (conducting product demonstrations, writing lengthy proposals, providing product evaluations, etc.), only to have the prospect decide they don't WANT to buy, or prove INCAPABLE of funding the purchase? Even when you make sales, how many turn out to be "nightmare" customers who are always dissatisfied and consume huge amounts of post-sale resources?

  All Prospects Are NOT Created Equal

  You DO need to help your prospects explore whether their business problems are substantial enough to justify investing time in a sales cycle. However, you also need to figure out whether each prospect is WORTHY of your time and resource investments! If a prospect is not a good fit, gracefully exit from the opportunity. (Why not refer them to a competitor and let the competitor burn some cycles?)

  How can you determine whether a prospect is worthy of your time and resource investments? Many sales skills training courses teach an acronym, M-A-N, that stands for Money, Authority, and Need. The basic idea is to determine whether:

  1. The prospect is willing to commit enough budget dollars (Money) to pay for the product or service
  2. The key decision makers and influencers (Authority) have been identified; and
  3. The prospect's pain (Need) is severe enough to justify investing in a solution
  Unfortunately, even when you do a good job of M-A-N qualification, you can be "blindsided" by issues that delay sales cycles or destroy opportunities outright. For example:
  • Some prospects prove incapable of securing financing. They may have a budget, but they are not "credit worthy", so they can’t FUND the budget.
  • Some decision makers need to have specific information provided in a specific format before they can authorize a buying decision.
  • Sometimes you invest considerable time and effort in troubleshooting complex problems and designing solutions, only to be informed that the prospect must take the proposed solution OUT TO BID. This can lead to the opportunity being lost to a low bidder or the profitability of the opportunity being pummeled.
  To avoid these issues, add additional questions to the M-A-N qualification process. The acronym that I have assigned to this revised process is M-A-I-N BP, which stands for Money, Authority, Information, Need, and Buying Process. Here are sample M-A-I-N BP questions:

  MONEY

  • How will your prospect pay for the product or service?
  • Has a budget been established?
  • Are they credit worthy?
  AUTHORITY
  • Who (in the prospect’s organization) needs to approve an acquisition of this nature?
  INFORMATION
  • What information do the decision makers requ
    Driving New Cars For Free: Is There A Catch?
    Advertisers have seized upon a new way to get the word out about their products: slap their ads on your vehicle. Actually, this isn’t an entirely new way to promote products as it has been in the experimental stages for years in limited markets. Now, however, the practice has become so widespread that companies around the globe are doing it. Soon, many cars in Mexico and France along with vehicles on the streets of California, Florida, and elsewhere will be sporting ads pitching a variety of products. In some cases the advertisers will pay you a monthly rental fee to place ads on the car you already own, while in other cases you could find yourself behind the whee
    ANT to buy, or prove INCAPABLE of funding the purchase? Even when you make sales, how many turn out to be "nightmare" customers who are always dissatisfied and consume huge amounts of post-sale resources?

    All Prospects Are NOT Created Equal

    You DO need to help your prospects explore whether their business problems are substantial enough to justify investing time in a sales cycle. However, you also need to figure out whether each prospect is WORTHY of your time and resource investments! If a prospect is not a good fit, gracefully exit from the opportunity. (Why not refer them to a competitor and let the competitor burn some cycles?)

    How can you determine whether a prospect is worthy of your time and resource investments? Many sales skills training courses teach an acronym, M-A-N, that stands for Money, Authority, and Need. The basic idea is to determine whether:

    1. The prospect is willing to commit enough budget dollars (Money) to pay for the product or service
    2. The key decision makers and influencers (Authority) have been identified; and
    3. The prospect's pain (Need) is severe enough to justify investing in a solution
    Unfortunately, even when you do a good job of M-A-N qualification, you can be "blindsided" by issues that delay sales cycles or destroy opportunities outright. For example:
    • Some prospects prove incapable of securing financing. They may have a budget, but they are not "credit worthy", so they can’t FUND the budget.
    • Some decision makers need to have specific information provided in a specific format before they can authorize a buying decision.
    • Sometimes you invest considerable time and effort in troubleshooting complex problems and designing solutions, only to be informed that the prospect must take the proposed solution OUT TO BID. This can lead to the opportunity being lost to a low bidder or the profitability of the opportunity being pummeled.
    To avoid these issues, add additional questions to the M-A-N qualification process. The acronym that I have assigned to this revised process is M-A-I-N BP, which stands for Money, Authority, Information, Need, and Buying Process. Here are sample M-A-I-N BP questions:

    MONEY

    • How will your prospect pay for the product or service?
    • Has a budget been established?
    • Are they credit worthy?
    AUTHORITY
    • Who (in the prospect’s organization) needs to approve an acquisition of this nature?
    INFORMATION
    • What information do the decision makers req
      The Marketing of Motivation
      Motivation runs everything! Understand that it is both desire to improve the status quo as well as fear of loss of the status quo that propel people to act. Studies have shown that fear can have a short term effect on motivation to act positively, but, positive rewards have both increasing as well as longer lasting results.Change, otherwise known here as action, occurs when people realize that the consequences of their actions, or in-actions, are no longer acceptable to them. How many people have tried to diet, and tried many of the hundreds available, but couldn't keep the weight off or motivate themselves to keep up the discipline? It wasn't until they we
      w can you determine whether a prospect is worthy of your time and resource investments? Many sales skills training courses teach an acronym, M-A-N, that stands for Money, Authority, and Need. The basic idea is to determine whether:
      1. The prospect is willing to commit enough budget dollars (Money) to pay for the product or service
      2. The key decision makers and influencers (Authority) have been identified; and
      3. The prospect's pain (Need) is severe enough to justify investing in a solution
      Unfortunately, even when you do a good job of M-A-N qualification, you can be "blindsided" by issues that delay sales cycles or destroy opportunities outright. For example:
      • Some prospects prove incapable of securing financing. They may have a budget, but they are not "credit worthy", so they can’t FUND the budget.
      • Some decision makers need to have specific information provided in a specific format before they can authorize a buying decision.
      • Sometimes you invest considerable time and effort in troubleshooting complex problems and designing solutions, only to be informed that the prospect must take the proposed solution OUT TO BID. This can lead to the opportunity being lost to a low bidder or the profitability of the opportunity being pummeled.
      To avoid these issues, add additional questions to the M-A-N qualification process. The acronym that I have assigned to this revised process is M-A-I-N BP, which stands for Money, Authority, Information, Need, and Buying Process. Here are sample M-A-I-N BP questions:

      MONEY

      • How will your prospect pay for the product or service?
      • Has a budget been established?
      • Are they credit worthy?
      AUTHORITY
      • Who (in the prospect’s organization) needs to approve an acquisition of this nature?
      INFORMATION
      • What information do the decision makers req
        Resume Writing - Importance of a Professional Summary
        The Summary is the preview of your entire resume. This may be be the only part that an interviewer or employer might read for shortlisting your resume. This may be the only section an employer reads prior to the interview. Gear up the summary to be the show window where the goodies are lined up to entice the person into entering the shop. Include your professional characteristics like highly energetic, an ability to solve complex problems, a dynamic team player, exceptional interpersonal skills, committment to excellence etc. Describing your professioanl qualities with power words.A well written summary should include:A powerul phrase describing
        opportunities outright. For example:
        • Some prospects prove incapable of securing financing. They may have a budget, but they are not "credit worthy", so they can’t FUND the budget.
        • Some decision makers need to have specific information provided in a specific format before they can authorize a buying decision.
        • Sometimes you invest considerable time and effort in troubleshooting complex problems and designing solutions, only to be informed that the prospect must take the proposed solution OUT TO BID. This can lead to the opportunity being lost to a low bidder or the profitability of the opportunity being pummeled.
        To avoid these issues, add additional questions to the M-A-N qualification process. The acronym that I have assigned to this revised process is M-A-I-N BP, which stands for Money, Authority, Information, Need, and Buying Process. Here are sample M-A-I-N BP questions:

        MONEY

        • How will your prospect pay for the product or service?
        • Has a budget been established?
        • Are they credit worthy?
        AUTHORITY
        • Who (in the prospect’s organization) needs to approve an acquisition of this nature?
        INFORMATION
        • What information do the decision makers req
          How To Run A Staff Appraisal?
          One of the most difficult tasks a manager’s has to perform is that of staff appraisal. Many management training programs and manager training courses conduct separate classes on this. Staff appraisal is like skating on thin ice. The result of a staff appraisal rarely satisfies the staff and the management. So, how to run a staff appraisal? At the outset it is important to remember that agreeing to the objectives of staff appraisal as well as making effective use of staff appraisal can improve the performance of your business. It can of course, also help in assessing the performance of your employees. Employees usually prefer a structured appraisal system which rec
          void these issues, add additional questions to the M-A-N qualification process. The acronym that I have assigned to this revised process is M-A-I-N BP, which stands for Money, Authority, Information, Need, and Buying Process. Here are sample M-A-I-N BP questions:

          MONEY

          • How will your prospect pay for the product or service?
          • Has a budget been established?
          • Are they credit worthy?
          AUTHORITY
          • Who (in the prospect’s organization) needs to approve an acquisition of this nature?
          INFORMATION
          • What information do the decision makers require before they can make a decision?
          • What format does this information need to be in?
          NEED
          • What are the prospect's business problems?
          • How compelling are they? In other words, can you quantify (associate dollars, percentages, and time frames with) the pain the prospect is feeling?
          • Are the quantified business impacts substantial enough to warrant investment by the prospect's organization (and YOUR company) in identifying and fixing the problem(s)?
          BUYING PROCESS
          • What is the prospect's buying (procurement) process?
          • What impact might this process have on the profitability of the transaction?
          • What competitive advantage will you receive if you invest your time and resources in designing a solution that goes out to bid?
          If you decide to add M-A-I-N BP qualification to your sales opportunity qualification process, here are some final thoughts to keep in mind:
          • If you don't know the answers to ALL of the M-A-I-N BP questions, it is highly likely you are wasting your time and resources!
          • Opportunity qualification is NOT A ONE-TIME EVENT. As an opportunity advances through the sales cycle, you should frequently ask whether any of the answers to the qualification questions have changed. If an answer changes, it could impact the length of the sales cycle and even destroy the viability of the opportunity. At minimum, an answer change will probably require a change in focus and/or a reprioritization of planned activities.
          • Never feel bad about disqualifying an "opportunity". The amount of opportunity in most sales territories is virtually unlimited. If you carefully qualify and re-qualify each opportunity, and only invest time and resources in qualified opportunities, you will maximize your return on time and resources invested.

          Copyright 2005 -- Alan Rigg