Old vs. NEW – Qualify the Buying Cycle

In The NEW Game of Selling™, qualifying a buyer for state of readiness is a pivotal point in the game. You waste time and lose money if you spend too much of both on unqualified buyers.

As you improve your ability to qualify, you use your time better and make more sales with people who are ready to buy.

The Old Game

Qualify the Selling Cycle

The old game was about putting people into your selling cycle. You take them through certain steps, and they have to jump through hoops. There was very little engagement. We qualify them based upon the old “mirror test”: Breathe on the mirror. If it fogs, you’re a prospect.

Using the mirror test means everybody can be a prospect. But when everyone is your prospect, nobody is really your prospect. In the old game, it’s always a good time to sell. Doesn’t much matter if it’s a good time to buy. After moving them into the selling cycle, next you had to convert them.

The NEW Game

Qualify the Buying Cycle

I refer to qualifying a buyer as the Grand Canyon of lost opportunity. After spending a fortune to attract buyers, companies lose a fortune by not aligning with their buying cycle. The old game was about the selling cycle; the NEW Game is about the buying cycle. People don’t care about your selling cycle. Many don’t care about your product or service, issue, or cause.

People care most about getting what they want. In the NEW Game, we qualify by aligning with the buying cycle. We meet people where they are. We know what they want, better than anyone else in the game. We move forward together, arm in arm toward the Promised Land.

In our next excerpt, we’ll talk about how to convert browsers into buyers using “three magic words.”

The NEW Game of Selling™ releases November 1 on Amazon Kindle!

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