How Can A Federal Sales Lead Be Qualified?

A lead is just a potential customer in any sales scenario. To effectively focus their time on the leads that may develop into prospects rather than those who quite literally cannot buy from you, federal sales representatives must properly qualify leads. A lead must go through six phases to be qualified in a federal sales environment.

A lead is the same whether it is for the commercial or government markets. To align and close the opportunity, there are distinctions in how you qualify the lead and advance that lead through a federal sales process. This is especially true because your customer cannot inform you that they will or will not purchase your goods even though they have a requirement or need. The contracting officer is the sole official within the government with the authority to commit funds. When your VP of Sales requests a commitment and instructs the federal salesperson to communicate with the contracting officer to obtain the commitment to close your offer, it can create a problem. Most contracting officers won't speak with original equipment manufacturers directly if they don't have the contract under which the item will be purchased. Takes place every day!

Steps for Lead Qualification In Federal Sales

1. Obtain contact details

Finding the right contact information for a lead is the first step in advancing them through the qualification process. You cannot rely only on one of your Federal Resellers speaking with your contact to move someone through this procedure efficiently. You must have the lead's correct phone number and email address, as well as some fundamental details about their position within the company. Knowing this information will make it easier for you to communicate on the phone, whether it be virtual or actual, and it will also help you determine whether or not this lead will turn into a candidate for your pipeline.

2. Determine Needs and Requirements.

Finding the lead's pain points and seeing if your solution can assist them to satisfy their wants and requirements is the next stage. Pain points typically result from:

·       newly enacted laws

·       new specifications

·       new dangers

·       Any update or change

A qualified lead will have taken measures to better understand their needs and potential price by issuing an RFI, looking up solutions on their own, or seeking guidance and ideas from FSIs. Your lead is probably unqualified if they do not fully comprehend their needs and what is necessary to address them. The same applies if your product is unable to address their issues; do not pursue this lead any further.

3. Check Funding

Verifying funding in federal sales can be challenging, and it can be even more perplexing because a lead who is trying to buy using an unfulfilled requirement is not always unqualified. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you better understand how much your potential customer is prepared to sacrifice to acquire cash for your request:

·       Does this request have funding?

·       Does your client have a strong argument and a plan to request money if it is not funded?

·       Are they personally involved in the contractual process or is your customer able to describe it to you?

If you can affirmatively respond to any of these inquiries, your lead can probably move on in the qualification process because they appear to be actively seeking a resolution.

4. Present a Vivid Occasion

Federal sales pipelines are always advanced by a sense of urgency. The captivating incident enters the picture at this point. A captivating event is anything that occurs in the environment of your consumer and motivates them to take action to fulfill their requirements. Important deadlines, management needs, changes in the law, current events, or internal disturbances can all be compelling events that cause a sense of urgency and aid in your assessment of the qualified status of the lead.

5. Recognize the Timeline

Although you now have a qualified lead, the Federal Government's strict timetable does not, in federal sales, override the need for your solution. You need to know if you have the time to close this sale because the funding that is available this Fiscal Year (FY) isn't assured to be available the next FY. And the truth is, no matter how thoroughly you qualified the lead, 90% of the time it won't close the closer you started the sales process by introducing your product to the consumer at the September 30 mid-night deadline.

Last but not least, approach this federal sales procedure with extreme caution. You can classify a lead wrongly if you rush through the process or wear rose-colored glasses. As a result, you waste valuable time prospecting individuals who will never be able to purchase from you but who are required to make sure that the opportunity is aligned to close should it proceed through the procurement process.