Time is essential for sales success, and it should not be wasted on tedious tasks. Even more so on prospects who are just wasting your time. As a sales rep, nothing is more frustrating than to invest so much time and resources on what we thought was potential customer, But then you realise that the person you were engaging with is not serious at all. This raises the significant question of, How Do You Differentiate Prospects from Suspects?
To avoid such awful experiences, you need to learn ways to differentiate between a prospect and a suspect. That said, prospects and suspects are widely-used terminologies in sales industry while discussing sales funnel. And most sales rep know what prospect and suspect mean. However, an expert sales rep can identify the real difference between the two. Allt his, while still prospecting for a new opportunity.
When looking at potential clients, it helps to make a distinction between a suspect and a prospect. Having this distinction helps focus your efforts to maximise your ROI.
Know the Difference
Suspects are potential clients you know nothing or next to nothing about. They need further research because you don’t know if you would like to have them as a client. However, Prospects are potential clients that you do know something about or have had interactions with in the past. For example, a suspect might be a manufacturing company that no one has contacted yet. A prospect could be a similar manufacturing company that you have connected with previously.
Many salespeople make the mistake of chasing after suspects rather than prospects in their practice development efforts. This can lead to wasted time, effort, and dollars. Learn what to do to avoid these pitfalls.
