Pre-Qualifying Your Clients: Why Every Lead Is Not Your Ideal Client
There’s this rabbit hole that so many entrepreneurs fall into with the best intentions. Maybe you can relate.
It’s this idea that everyone is your ideal client. That everyone needs your product or service.
Now we completely understand where this is coming from. You know that you can make a real difference for people… so why limit it to a small segment of the population?
Well, the truth is - you don’t WANT to be for everyone.
You want to be for those people who see your content and work as relevant and impactful. People who stand behind your mission and want to be a part of it so that they can better themselves in the process. People who will invest in, commit to, and be open to what you have to offer.
Julia Andrews, our recent guest on the Female Founded Podcast, spoke an important truth that every entrepreneur stuck in this mindset needs to hear: You aren’t in the business of convincing people.
Realistically, there are clients out there who won’t be a good fit for your business. Whether it has to do with a tight budget, a lack of commitment, or a problem that you aren’t equipped to solve, these clients aren’t the ones you set out trying to help. And likely, they aren’t the ones ready to invest in your service either.
And that’s okay.
Every lead does not make a good client. And you know that if you’ve ever had a difficult client that made your life miserable from the very first sales call.
So how can we stop ourselves from letting “everyone” be our target?
It’s simple. Start qualifying your leads from the start. Create roadblocks that will stop unqualified leads from moving further in the process. You can do that by creating a questionnaire or application with questions that will dig deep into their problems, their budget, their intentions, and their past experiences with problem-solving. This way, you are filtering your leads and spending your time connecting with those who better align with you and your business.
Questions you can include are -
Are you prepared to invest at least $_____ for your needs?
What are the top challenges that you are currently facing?
What have you done to address this need in the past?
What are you hoping to gain through a partnership together?
How long have you been in business?
What is the size of your business?
Who are the people who have the final say in making a decision?
If you are interested in learning more about what the qualifying process looks like and how to pick up on red flags during the first sales call, we highly recommend listening to our conversation with Julia on the podcast. Click to listen on iTunes or Spotify now!