Qualifying and Disqualifying Skills are Critical for Attorneys

Qualifying and Disqualifying Skills are Critical for Attorneys

Selling is a qualification and disqualification process, not a convincing people process! Are you investing in opportunities with no chance of winning?  Are you wasting time talking to people who truly don’t need or can’t buy what you offer? Not everyone you speak to is a prospect for your service. Qualifying and disqualifying skills are critical for attorneys!

Learning to qualify and disqualify is a challenge. Properly qualifying a lead can be the difference between closing business effortlessly or chasing an opportunity that’s dead before it even starts.

Some attorneys fall into the habit of believing that everyone at arm’s reach is a potential client. Some are reluctant to disengage and disqualify opportunities they have been working on for a while. This is a dangerous mindset because all prospects are not created equal.

Closing sales and growing a practice isn’t about selling to everyone; it’s about selling to a “qualified” prospect. The responsibility of qualification falls on the shoulders of the attorney. Maintaining control of the conversation and asking the right questions can quickly weed out prospects that are curious, serious or no potential at all. It’s up to you to find out and the sooner you do the better.

Many attorneys do little or no qualifying. Some don’t feel comfortable taking control of the process right from the beginning (which is critical in qualifying). Some are reluctant to qualify customers because they don’t want to walk away and move on. Lastly, some don’t bother to qualify because they see everyone as a client

Qualifying is easy if your prospects meet a few key factors. I am not suggesting that you pack it in and walk away from opportunities that don’t fit these criteria. Ask yourself if there is:

A need – A qualified prospect needs your product now or relatively soon. It’s up to you to ask questions relevant to that need, uncover their pains, problems and issues around fixing that need and find out if they’re serious or curious.  Serious people are ready to fix their problems. Curious people enjoy talking about their problems with no intention of fixing them.

A sufficient budget. A qualified prospect has the money to hire you and pay for your services. Don’t waste time pursuing someone who truly can’t afford to hire you. If they only have $500 to fix a $5,000 problem, you must walk away. It’s not a fit. Suggest other options but pursing this type of client wastes your time, money and energy.

The authority to buy. A strong lead and qualified prospect is empowered and prepared to take action. They’re ready to go from just interested in your product or service to invested in your solutions.

Without all three of these factors a sale is not likely to take place. There will always be people who are interested in what you do and sell. Your job is to qualify the people who will become invested in your solutions.

Qualifying and disqualifying prospects is critical to success. It helps you stay on target and use your time wisely. When you ask great questions to find qualified buyers, you avoid wasting time, energy and money with people who were never going to buy in the first place. You’ll feel more satisfied, because you’ll close more sales from truly qualified and serious prospects. Create your sales process around this concept and you’ll be ahead of the game and the competition.