Whether you are fan of the TV show or not you may be familiar with one of the basic plot lines on Star Trek. Imagine it, a lonely star ship travelling through the emptiness of space. As you watch, you are transported into the lives of the command centre of the ship where the solitary figure of the Captain sits contemplating – perhaps pensively with his hand stroking his chin – a screen of… well, space. Suddenly a light bulb flashes on a console and an unknown ensign will turn around and say something on the lines of “Captain, our long range sensors have picked up an unidentified vessel bearing bla bla bla bla…” etc. What does this mean? Is this vessel friendly? Do we need to alter our course? Shall we raise shields and arm photon torpedoes?*

You get the picture, but what does this have to do with sales qualification? Well, that depends on our definition of sales qualification and how it is used. If I had to write a definition – and thankfully I don’t have to – I would write something on this line. “Sales Qualification – the process of collecting and assimilating information about a particular sales situation so that decisions can be made on further action” – short and to the point. In such a scenario I would liken the act of qualification to the long range scanners upon the star ship – when a sales lead first becomes known to a sales person, that lead takes the place of the unidentified vessel – “Captain, our long range sensors have picked up a sales lead”. Instantly we spring into action, we need to qualify this further to ascertain whether we need to alter course and pursue it. Is it a positive or negative lead ie: is it a strong possibility that it will end in a sale or will it distract and sap our strength? (It is only in passing – because it has been concentrated on in more depth by my other SBU colleagues – that I mention there are some who will pursue absolutely anything that appears on their radar, the equivalent of changing course arming phasers and firing as soon as a lead appears as a blip on the sales sensor)

But is that the end of the story? Should we roll credits and sign up the stars for the next Star Trek convention happy in the knowledge that we have shot another stellar episode of a hit sci-fi series? Of course not. Because in the story, that vessel has its own captain (our customer) with its own agenda. It is following its own course and isn’t just going to stay where it was initially discovered. It may turn hostile at the last minute and spring a surprise attack or may change course and need to be chased. The ships sensors don’t suddenly stop when the initial discovery is made; it becomes ever more important in monitoring changes in behaviour and actions so that the situation is always up to date. This is true in sales situations as well, especially in B2B where sales cycles and processes can be very much longer, for example, recently I was made aware of a sale that was created from a sales lead that was generated years previously but for various reasons changes in circumstances made the reality of an opportunity that more likely now. Only in keeping that long range sensor working could we allow for this opportunity to be pursued when the right circumstances came about.

To an extent all sales people have this ability – to varied levels of success – to qualify changing situations in order to move sales cycles along (those that don’t won’t last long). We all have an ability to read situations and react to changes, but here is where the science of sci-fi really has the advantage. In our story, the star ship has a memory bank where it stores information. Supposing, in our encounter with our vessel, we discover that we are dealing with a known entity – perhaps an alien race. In such situations, the captain draws from all the ships memory banks in understanding how best to deal with an opposite number – this data is created from all past encounters. In B2B sales this is just as important, we need to draw upon all our past experience in understanding patterns in how our clients do business so that we can steer our businesses in the right direction. Our past actions can draw up a picture of things that we don’t at first take in or notice, so that after a while we can see patterns in behaviour, how a business transacts and other subtle signs that we can draw inference and aid our knowledge.

The human ability to learn and evolve is unparalleled; however it is limited by memory and subjectivity. Without the conviction in recording what we have learnt we cannot hope to learn all there is to be learnt. Qualification is a continuing mission to seek out new sales situations and to learn from them not just for yourself but for your entire organisation.

*By now you may realise that I have watched a few episodes…but I would like to clarify that I am not in any way a “Trekkie” and therefore should be in no way regarded as strange or geeky….at least not for that.