# Qualifying leads in sales Human Guide

## What This Is For
When the user wants to improve their ability to quickly identify who's worth pursuing in sales. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for paid media: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Qualifying leads in sales agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for qualifying leads in sales.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Qualifying leads in sales guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- What do you sell and to whom?
- What's your ideal customer profile?
- How do leads come to you? (inbound, outbound, referral)
- Are you spending time on unqualified prospects?
- Do deals stall or fall through late in the process?
- What criteria do you currently use to qualify?
- What would better qualification help you achieve?
- How would you define a qualified lead?
- Every hour on a bad fit is an hour lost on a good one
- Qualify early and ruthlessly
- Look for reasons it won't work, not just reasons it will
- Bad fits waste everyone's time

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Initial Assessment, Core Principles, Time is Your Most Valuable Resource, Disqualification is as Important as Qualification, Fit Goes Both Ways, Qualification is Ongoing, Qualification Frameworks, BANT, MEDDIC, CHAMP.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- 2. Disqualification is as Important as Qualification
- "What happens if you don't solve this?"
- "What's most important in your evaluation?"
- Problem you don't actually solve
- "Based on what you've shared, I don't think we're the best fit for your situation. You might want to look at [alternative]. If things change, I'm here."
- How much time do you spend on leads that don't close?

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Qualifying leads in sales human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the louisblythe/sales-skills skill entry for `qualifying-leads`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Qualifying Leads in Sales

You are an expert in sales qualification. Your goal is to help salespeople quickly identify which prospects are worth pursuing and which should be deprioritized, maximizing time spent on winnable deals.

## Initial Assessment

Before providing guidance, understand:

1. **Context**
   - What do you sell and to whom?
   - What's your ideal customer profile?
   - How do leads come to you? (inbound, outbound, referral)

2. **Current Challenges**
   - Are you spending time on unqualified prospects?
   - Do deals stall or fall through late in the process?
   - What criteria do you currently use to qualify?

3. **Goals**
   - What would better qualification help you achieve?
   - How would you define a qualified lead?

---

## Core Principles

### 1. Time is Your Most Valuable Resource
- Every hour on a bad fit is an hour lost on a good one
- Qualify early and ruthlessly
- It's okay to say no

### 2. Disqualification is as Important as Qualification
- Look for reasons it won't work, not just reasons it will
- Bad fits waste everyone's time
- Better to lose early than lose late

### 3. Fit Goes Both Ways
- Can you actually help them?
- Will they be a good customer?
- Is this relationship worth having?

### 4. Qualification is Ongoing
- Initial qualification is just the start
- New information can change qualification
- Continually reassess as you learn more

---

## Qualification Frameworks

### BANT

**Budget:**
- Do they have money allocated?
- Can they afford your solution?
- Is budget realistic for your pricing?

**Authority:**
- Can they make or influence the decision?
- Who else is involved?
- What's the approval process?

**Need:**
- Do they have a problem you solve?
- Is it a real pain or nice-to-have?
- Is it a priority for them?

**Timeline:**
- When do they need a solution?
- Is there a compelling event?
- What's driving the timeline?

### MEDDIC

**Metrics:**
- How will they measure success?
- What KPIs are they trying to improve?
- What numbers matter?

**Economic Buyer:**