The triangle is the strongest naturally occurring shape. There’s balance and symmetry with a three-sided shape, where no one part is more or less important than the others.  Consider our three-pronged approach if you’re looking to simplify your sales strategy and sell more effectively.

Selling doesn’t have to be complicated. You need just three parts to ensure you’re employing a truly transformational system for finding and winning new business. Because that’s why we’re here, right? To make sales, make more money, and create our own opportunities. Use this straightforward three-prong framework to do that: 

1. Identify: Conduct a comprehensive audit of your network, score your contacts, and identify ideal clients, connections to target buyers, and opportunities. 

2. Qualify: Run your contacts through a qualification system to pinpoint potential buyers. For those not quite ready, learn how to move them closer to a sale. 

3. Convert: With the goal of building authentic relationships, plot your sales activities. Schedule touchpoints, engage in productive conversations, and effortlessly close sales. 

Let’s break down what each of these prongs means and why they are important. 

Prong One: Identify

Understand The Power of Your Network 

If you needed to acquire a new client within 30 days, what would you do? Chances are, you'd reach out to someone in your existing network. That's because your network is a goldmine of opportunities waiting to be explored. 

In fact, 90% of the time, our clients already know enough people to either close a sale or cultivate a new opportunity. Instead of chasing new leads, you’re looking for and uncovering new opportunities with the people already in your sphere of influence when you conduct a network audit.  

A network audit is a strategic process that involves systematically examining your existing network of contacts to uncover hidden opportunities. It allows you to:  

• Map Your Network: Visualize your network connections and see how they are interconnected. This can help you identify influential individuals and key decision-makers.  

• Identify Gaps: Pinpoint areas where you may be lacking connections or where your network could be expanded to reach a broader audience.  

• Prioritize Relationships: Determine which relationships have the most potential for sales growth and focus your efforts on nurturing them. 

Once you’ve conducted this exercise, you have a full understanding of WHO, which is the first step to sales success. The next step is then figuring out who in your network needs your offering.  

Prong Two: Qualify 

Know With Certainty If Your Clients and Prospects Are Ready to Buy 

Sales often get a bad reputation because of poor lead qualification. If you are pitching your services to a client but haven’t done the homework to determine if this client is ready for a sale, you’re making it awkward for all parties involved.  

The way you take the ick factor out of selling is by lead qualification. Lead qualification is what tells you someone is in sales mode, not passively looking for solutions. 

At Prequal, we use a 6-factor test to determine which of our prospects is the most prime for our offer. To qualify someone, you ask a series of questions to determine if they: 

• have a problem you can solve 

• have the time 

• have the budget 

• have the need 

• have decision-making authority, and 

• have the desire to solve this problem. 

Only when you have qualified your prospect with each of these factors will you know for certain that they’re ready for your pitch. Knowing these factors is THE THING that will end awkward sales conversations. You’re not guessing as to their needs and desires. You know them.  

The flip side of that coin is your roadmap to a sale. If you’re unsure about any of these qualifications, you know what information you need to collect. So instead of asking a client to spend $50,000 on a solution they have allocated a $5,000 budget for, you’re asking about that budget. And that’s a much easier conversation. 

Which brings us to our third prong.  

Prong 3: Convert

Conduct Sales Activities That Actually Move the Needle Forward 

Sales activities either get a bad rap or are completely misunderstood. When most people think of sales activities, they think of scheduling face time or hopping on a call to stay top-of-mind. Or they think they need to send a newsletter or post to social media in order to drum up potential leads. But these aren’t true needle-moving activities. Needle-moving activities often take more strategy and planning.  

At Prequal, we know effective selling and building authentic relationships go hand in hand. People prefer to do business with people they know and like. The more you know about them, the better.  

Strong relationships are built on two key principles: 

1. Mutual service: Genuine connections thrive when they are based on a foundation of mutual service, where both parties contribute to each other's growth and success. 

2. Curiosity, care, and concern: Demonstrating genuine interest in the other party through thoughtful questions and active listening fosters an understanding of each other's aspirations, strengths, and challenges. 

It takes 8-13 touchpoints with a contact before you have built a strong relationship. Make those touchpoints count. Yes, get to know them and ask great questions. But also use each of these touchpoints as an opportunity to gather information for lead qualification. Making lead qualification the basis of your sales activities will make the moment you ask for the sale easier for everyone involved.  

Get A Sales System  

Sales do not have to be unpredictable. You don’t have to leave your sales activities and opportunities to chance. There is a system and a way to do this so you’re never scrambling to find new clients and make more money. Simplify selling by focusing on identifying, qualifying, and converting your leads and opportunities.  

And to take it one step further, design your winning sales system with Lead To Sales, our proven sales system. Learn more here.