How To Qualify a Client with NEAD-PAY | Professional Sales Training | Sales Training Sri Lanka
NEAD-PAY is an acronym (slightly mis-spelled) for a pattern of asking qualifying questions. When you religiously follow this pattern, you will have a good idea about the prospect’s qualification to do business with you.
N stands for Now. Ask the prospect “Who are you using now for your advice?” The answer to this question tells you the names of your competition and perhaps the names of other ad- visors. When you know the names of the entrenched competitor, you may have some idea about their reputation, clients, and personnel. Another question to ask might be, “What are you doing now about your legal protection (or your tax situation)?”
E stands for Enjoy. Ask the prospect, “What do you enjoy or like about your present accountant or lawyer?” Or ask it another way: “Do you feel good when you are working with your professional?” or “What do you like most about X?” When you ask questions about what is good about your competitor, you relax the prospect. You also may receive some insight into the next question.
A stands for Alter. Ask the prospect, “What would you alter about the service you receive?” Or you could ask, “If you had the perfect relationship with your professional, what would you alter to make you perfectly happy?” Prospects’ motivation to change to you is created by your making them dissatisfied with the status quo.
D stands for Decision. Ask questions about the decision process, the decision makers, and the decision criteria. Questions like, “Who, besides you, is involved in the decision to hire a law firm?” Or, “The last time you changed accountants, how did you go about the process?”
PAY stands for payment, budget, or money. A good question around this point might look something like this: “Bill, our firm has many clients who engage us because they want the very best and money is no object. Others hire us to do a job for them, but they know we can serve in a variety of ways. Some few clients re- ally watch the pennies. What type of client might you be?”
If this question seems too abrupt to you, it is because you haven’t established enough rapport with the prospect at this point. You must use finesse in asking these questions. You may want to keep the interaction conversational. You might even find it better to ask these questions over a series of meetings.
Conclusion
Prospects buy emotionally and justify with logic. Therefore, as you progress in the qualification process, you must get at the emotional reasons a prospect has for hiring you. NEAD-PAY is a way to uncover transactional or logical information. If you can uncover the emotional hot buttons, such as comfort or prestige, you will have information that will help you close the sale.
Don’t stop with the answers to these questions. Keep asking more questions and nurture your prospects with every question.
