Qualification destroys value

Sales qualification in the oldest sense, meaning determining the basic aspects of a sales cycle, like budget, time frame, decision making process etc... is very important when it comes to selling, but it does destroy value.

Which is interesting considering I run the sales team at Unique World. You see, when a sales person qualifies the opportunity and gets the basics of the sale from the customer like budget and time frame (you must have both to really kill value) for purchasing then it simply becomes a compete situation. So all your energies go into differentiation of you against your competitors and it stifles innovation for the solution sales stage and forces a sale with reduced value due to its competitive nature.

When you talk to a customer around a project/program/engagement and look to understand their business requirements and how you can add value you are doing so with no inhibition. Basically you are looking to advise and bring value to the sale and the organisation through your experience and what your company can deliver. However the moment they tell you the budget and time frame, you immediately buckle up and go into sales mode and competitiveness.

This is natural and only forced by the customer due to the nature of the opportunity. The opportunities with the basic facets like budget and time frame locked down are the ones you should walk away from, because it just becomes a shoot off, which you never end up winning nor making as much as you initially thought you would.

Although competition is great, it should only be introduced as a measure against the value you have brought rather than ones credentials. Credentials should be what gets you to the table in the first place rather than someone using that to evaluate your experience.

Too many clients use references at the end of the sales cycle, where they should be doing that at the beginning.