Do You Recognize These 5 Warning Signs of a Bad Prospect?

There is trouble ahead for you. I bet that right now you have prospects in your sales pipeline that are bad prospects. And it’s time for you to get rid of them.

In my sales training and coaching practice, I get clients who call me to strategize on how to close deals. One such client called me this morning. I won’t go into the verbatim of our discussion, but it got me thinking about how we ignore warning signs.

We get so enthusiastic and “needy” that we refuse to look at the truth.

Here are Five Warning Signs that indicate you’re in trouble:

1. Your gut is screaming at you. Listen to it! If you finish a phone call or meeting with a prospect and you have that icky feeling in your stomach about how the meeting went, then assume it’s trying to tell you something – like the truth. Our instincts are spot on … so why don’t we listen to them? Our senses take in much more than our ears do.
2. There was “topic avoidance.” If you avoided an important topic like “money” or “terms” or “decision process” then you don’t yet have a prospect. I know they might be saying all the right things … but it’s what they aren’t saying that matters. Or more accurately, it’s what you’re “not asking” that matters.
3. There is a vagueness about what the prospect wants to accomplish. In a recent audio clip I did (on this site), I address the fact that you, as a sales professional or leader of any kind, need to boil your data down to ONE QUESTION. There is nothing more clear than the prospect saying to you: “Bill, I am interested in growing my business 35% in the next 12 months, improving profit percentage to 22%, using the assets that we already have in place, and accomplishing those without hiring another person. How do I do that?” That, my friend, is specific. Clarity sells.
4. You have a feeling that they’re hiding something. Maybe it’s corporate drama, maybe it’s that their priorities have changed, maybe it’s that they’re unclear about your value. It’s likely that they are hiding the very thing that you need to know in order to proceed.
5. You told your manager it’s a “slam dunk.” When those words come out of your mouth, it’s time to worry. Nothing is a slam dunk. More likely, you are talking yourself into something. Plus, when we jump to “slam dunk” or “no brainer” it means that you are about to get sloppy. Don’t blame this on the prospect. This is your stuff.

Action: Take this post and put it up somewhere visible. Turn it into a checklist that you’ll use after each sales call you make (phone or face-to-face). It immediately gives you a ‘go forward strategy’ to use in your next customer interaction. Bring these issues up (make it your issue not theirs. And don’t say, “Hey, I think you’re hiding something.)”

What else do you hear or see that is an indicator? These, obviously, are not the only red flags. There are more. What are yours? By being honest with yourself, you will intuitively assemble the next right step.