Sales Qualification Questions (with categories)

Sales is a service. To serve your clients, you need to ask questions to identify their pain points and align them with your proposed solution. Additionally, depending on the size and scope of the deal, you should qualify them.

Some questions you might want to ask yourself before the process is started. Some of the questions below are inspired by the BANT framework, which I learned at Tesla and Villa. Some questions will be about closing and upselling opportunities. I want to share these questions because if sales reps are servicing their customers, everybody wins. More sales, higher NPS scores, happier managers, and a better economy 🤣.

Before evaluating a potential customer, consider what characteristics or qualities you want in a customer to avoid frustration and high churn rates. Ask yourself questions to determine if they fit the criteria you seek in a contact. This will help you identify the best fit for your business and set yourself up for long-term success.

1. What regions are you able to serve?
2. What is the lowest price you can offer for this deal?
3. What is the ideal client/deal size for the stage of your company?
4. What is your biggest strength when compared to the alternative solution?
5. What are your tradeoffs?
6. Who are your buyer personas?

Developing a fictional customer persona helps your sales team easily identify which leads are worth pursuing, saving them valuable time. This is occasionally called an Ideal Customer Profile or ICP.

7. How quickly can we go from sale to handoff/implementation?

Remember to gather basic information during initial communication.

Typically, this can be done through a form before the first human communication even occurs.

The absolute essentials

1. What is your name?
2. What is your email address?
3. What is your phone number?
4. What is your company name?
5. What is your company website?
6. What is your company’s location?
7. What is your job title?

Further Qualifications

1. Is your company business-to-business or business-to-consumer?
2. What types of products and/or services does your company offer?
3. What industry are you in?
4. How many employees does your company have?
5. How many customers does your company have?
6. How old is your company?
7. How did you find us?
8. What features of our product are most exciting, this/that?

Consider providing a list of options your company addresses on the signup form to see if there are additional upselling opportunities.

Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline

The BANT framework for sales qualification addresses four areas a salesperson should consider when working with a new client. I would spread these questions out over a few calls or meetings.

Try to understand the specific impact your solution will have for this client ONLY – rather than bringing up the past impact of your product from a similar client – this allows you to personalize to your client which allows for a better experience.

1. What does quantitative success look like for this solution for your team?
2. What are your necessities for this deal to close?
3. What additional benefits or qualitative outcomes would you like to see as a result of this deal?

Remember: Clients might also consider soft benefits to be valuable, such as clearer communication, more efficiency, and less stress for sales teams (think automation).

4. What are your general tasks daily so I can better understand how our team can help?
5. How do you see your business needs changing as your company evolves?
6. Which teams/departments would be affected/would benefit from this?
7. Should we make a deal, who would need to be ramped up/trained on your end?
8. To what extent does seasonality impact your business?

You can use the sales qualification process to understand your industry and market position better.

1. Have you used a solution similar to ours in the past?
2. What was the outcome when you attempted to address this issue previously?
3. Why did you decide to consider us?
4. What do you know about our company, product, and/or service?
5. Are you considering other options or consulting with other solutions in our industry?
6. What about [competitor] has you considering them?
7. How did you learn about us?
8. Will we replace a current solution/supplier, or is this your first time working with a company in this industry?
9. Which company or provider are you currently working with for this?
10. Do you have a contract with one of our competitors?
11. Why did you initially choose the current company you are working with?
12. Why are you considering switching suppliers/partners at this time?
13. What specifically are you looking for in a new provider/partner deal?
14. Why are you dissatisfied with the current solution/situation?
15. Will you decide to stay with your current solution, or are you looking to move on?

This helps you gauge how committed your prospect is to a competitor. Maybe they’re shopping for a discount, or maybe they’re frustrated. All of this impacts the likelihood of the deal.

As you near the end of the deal, ask these questions to determine if the deal will close and address any final obstacles.

1. How do you prefer to communicate moving forward?
2. Our product/service would be a good fit for you. What do you think?

Asking open-ended questions allows the person you are working with to have control over the conversation. This can help identify potential issues or concerns that may arise. Additionally, receiving feedback on where you stand about closing the deal can be beneficial.

3. Is there any concern I have not addressed yet?
4. Are there any reasons why we cannot move forward at this time?
5. Based on my description, can our product/service meet your needs?
6. Is this beneficial for your business?
7. What, if anything, could prevent us from working together at this time?
8. Do you have any concerns about how our product/service would function?

Time to seal the deal. Ask these questions to see if your prospect is headed to the finish line.

1. If we meet your price, is there any reason you wouldn’t make a deal with me today?

Oftentimes, there are other concerns than price. Once a number is agreed upon, ensure nothing else is holding the prospect back from making the deal.

2. If I could find a way to address that final concern, is that enough to make you feel comfortable signing today?
3. What if I can [something] for free today? Would that make you comfortable signing today?

If a prospect is looking for one last freebie before signing, ask this question to see if that’s the case. Create a sense of urgency/scarcity. If not, there’s a bigger issue to address before moving forward with the sale.

4. Are you all set to review the contract?
5. Can you commit to doing business by signing a contract today?
6. I can only guarantee this price until [date] – does that window work for you?

If a prospect says no, they may just need a few more months to come back and sign. And if they come back, you’ll want to know what’s changed since you last spoke.

Closed – Not Now Questions

1. Would you consider us in the future should things not work out?
2. Why is it that you’ve decided to say no at this time?

This question is the most important because it allows your team to get actual client feedback on why they didn’t choose you.

3. Could we connect again in six months?

Resurfaced Lead Questions

1. What’s changed in the past [timeline] that makes you want to consider working with us again?
2. Is [price range] still the budget you’re looking at?
3. Has anything about our deal changed since we last touched base?

Don’t forget – if qualification was done, there is a very high likelihood that they might need an additional service/product now. Ask these questions if you think a customer could use more of your offering.

1. Has our product/service lived up to your expectations thus far?

If your client isn’t happy with your company, it would be more efficient to address their pain points instead of asking for more money.

2. Have you seen improvement in your revenue or efficiency with our product?

Clients who admit they see a revenue or efficiency boost because of your service realize its current value and may be open to what else you offer.

3. Is there anything we need to address that would keep you from reordering/renewing?
4. Do you need assistance in [area], for which we already have a solution/offering?