Qualify

In General:

1) Could they benefit from your product/service? 2) Can they afford your product/service? 3) Are the benefits greater than the cost for them? 4) Are they the decision maker or can they connect you to the decision maker? 5) What is the decision making process? How much time will it take them to purchase?

1. What's the business problem you're seeking to fix with this offering? Establish business pain
2. What's prompting you to do something about it now? triggers: leadership, market shift, legal problem, major co. development
3. What has prevented you from trying to solve the problem until now? Other priorities. Learning what has historically blocked the way to fixing this problem can help understand where it falls on the list of priorities, as well as alert to pitfalls.
4. Have you tried to solve this problem in the past? If so, why didn't that solution work? Digging in could reveal that they've already tried the same solution (and why it didn't work) -- or that they need you solution ASAP!
5. What happens if you do nothing about the problem?
6. Do you have a budget allocated for this project? If not, when do you expect that you will? Talk aabout $5 - $50K, $150K
7. How does the budget signoff process work? Who else needs to be looped in? How long to setup?
8. What are you currently spending on this issue? Are you comfortable spending more? less? What financial goals would make this project successful?

   We've established that your goal is a powerful wiki platform and that you're spending $150K now to try and achieve that. But it's not working. In order to hire us, you will need to invest $50K. Since 50K is a lot less than 150, and you're more confident that our solution will get you to your goal, do you believe that it makes sense to invest 50 K to hire us?

9. How would the decision process work with a situation like this? Others? Committee?
10. Has your company ever considered/used a product like this before? If so, what happened?
11. What hurdles could crop up and derail this project?
12. What challenges do you think you'll come up against with the plan I've laid out? The prospect has to invest time and energy... or it won't work out. Find out if they are up to the challenge; and where they are going to need help so that they are successful.
13. What other solutions are you evaluating?
14. What does success look like to you? (Quality, Quantity, Timeliness)
15. What does solving this problem mean to you personally? (Is there an internal champion?)
16. Based on what you've seen so far, do you think our offering could be a viable solution for your problem?
17. When do you need a solution in place by? (Work backward to determine a signing date. Need it yesterday? Then we needed a check the day before yesterday)
18. Do you agree that the next step is X by Y date?
19. Do you currently have a solution in place? If so, why are you switching?
20. Is this a pain point for everyone on your team? (Is there an internal adversary?)
21. Tell me about your average day and how this solution would impact that daily work. (Regardless of level, you'll learn how the person interacts with the solution)

1. How does your company purchase products of this type?
2. How does your company make the decision to buy?
3. What are the organizational relationships that influence the decision?
4. Who are the people typically involved in this decision making process?
5. What ego or ownership issues come up that need to be managed and respected that I need to be mindful of?
6. If you don't buy at this time, what remedial actions do you plan to take?
7. How will your current vendors react to the possibility you'll buy from us?
8. What are the concerns or roadblocks that could crop up down the road and get in the way of us working together?
9. What are the timely and relevant issues that are going on internally?
10. What is the overall mood of the company and its leaders?
11. Who else in your company should I be presenting to and following up with?
12. What challenges are you still faced with that your current solution still does not solve or address as effectively as you would like?
13. What internal resources can you leverage to try and resolve this issue on your own?
14. What will it cost you and your company if you keep things the way they are today?
15. The beauty of these questions is that they're likely to spark a conversation that will allow you to assess whether there's a real need for what you're selling and whether there's already some budget allocated to buy it.