In the probe step it’s important to find out what, why, when and under what conditions a prospect will buy.   I am trying to develop a checklist to use with my staff to avoid spending time working with unqualified prospects.   Any input on the following explanations.

What--  The product or service

When- Timeline

Why- Dominant buying motivation

Under what conditions- Budget   (What else would this involve? )
Thanks and good selling

 Hello shonpaul.  The time to find out if your prospects are qualified is in the Investigate Step, not the Probe Step.  Before scheduling any sort of face-to-face meeting you need to identify as many characteristics of a qualified prospect as you can.  Here are the five characteristics we aim for:  1)  They have a need and are aware of it.  2)  The have the ability to purchase our product or service and the authority to make the decision. 3)  They have a relative sense of urgency about the purchase decision.  4)  You already have or can develop trust with the prospect. 5)  The prospect will listen to you.  Most salespeople fail because they settle for reason number five alone.  Under pressure to get appointments, too many salespeople will agree to meet anybody, instead of taking time to ask some qualifying questions up front in the Investigate Step of the sales process.