Whether you are at a trade show, over the phone or face-to-face at a customer’s facility, you will need to quickly determine a prospects’ legitimacy. Wouldn’t it be great if legitimate prospects wore buttons that said “I’m The Man!” (or Woman). Or maybe a button even more to the point, as our President would say, “I’m The Decider!” Of course, selling is not that simple and the challenge of identifying the legitimate prospect is part of the fun and excitement of selling.

We would suggest to you the best way to identify a legitimate prospect is to ask questions of your prospect to see if they’re really MAD! No, we don’t mean whether or not they’ll go “postal”. But whether or not they are MAD enough and convinced your specific value proposition will solve a pressing need the prospect may have.

The first part of being MAD enough is to determine if your prospect has Money. Is the project funded or budgeted? If not, it could be an uphill battle to acquire the funding and therefore your sale is in jeopardy. If the prospect does not have the Money, you’re probably not talking to a legitimate prospect.

Even if funding is available does your prospect hold the second key to truly be MAD…the Authority to OK the funding for the project? Are you really talking to the Economic Buyer or someone who reports to the Economic Buyer? Your biggest clue is if the prospect says something like “They will have to look at this”.

Lastly, is the prospect MAD enough to have the Desire to get this deal done! Is your ROI compelling enough to save the prospect significant dollars or allow the company to grow their revenues? If they are really MAD you’re talking to a Legitimate Prospect!