Have you been taught to ask a prospect, “…and what’s your budget?” or “Do you have a budget for this?” Perhaps you’re one of the brave salespeople who prefers not to ask, instead hoping that when it’s time to buy, the money will be there. In today’s Baseline Selling Tip, I will address the importance of financial qualification and demonstrate the most effective way to do it.

I was in Chicago, presenting two talks on selling; Closing and Creating Urgency. In the second talk I walked them through a Baseline Selling Tip,”First Impressions”, from several weeks ago. I was asked, “but what if the decision maker says ‘I want to save us both a lot of time. We’re looking for the lowest price.’?”

You can find many articles about compelling reasons in the Baseline Selling Tip archives. In nearly all of the articles, the focus is on identifying the prospects’ compelling reasons to buy from you. Do you remember the promotion that the Pork Industry used to run? – The Other White Meat.

You or someone you know likely suffers from Happy Ears. This syndrome is not as easy to diagnose as prospecting and closing problems, which are as obvious as your next commission check. No, Happy Ears lurk undetected beneath the surface, presenting symptoms like bad luck, lying, the competition, status quo and pricing to throw you off track. The first order of business is to determine whether you have Happy Ears.