How to qualify a lead before you waste a week on it

The most expensive thing in a small business is chasing the wrong lead. This is a four-question filter you can apply in under a minute, plus the seductive signals that predict nothing.

Last updated 2026-07-22

Question 1 — Do they have the problem you solve?

Not a related problem. The exact one. A contractor who needs more commercial bids and a contractor who needs better invoicing software both "need help growing" — only one of them is your customer.

Question 2 — Can they decide?

Find out early who signs. Enthusiasm from someone who cannot approve spending is the single most common way small businesses lose a month.

Question 3 — Is there a reason to act now?

A deadline, a lost supplier, a new competitor, a season. Without one, a deal that "looks great" will sit indefinitely. No urgency is not a no — it is a "not scheduled".

Question 4 — Can they afford it without pain?

If your price is a difficult decision for them, delivery will be difficult too: more scrutiny, more revisions, more risk of a refund. Price fit is a qualification criterion, not just a sales outcome.

Signals that look good but predict nothing

Fast replies. Long friendly calls. Big company names. Asking for a proposal. All of these feel like progress and none of them are. What predicts closing is a decision-maker with a deadline and a budget — nothing else reliably does.

What to do with the ones that fail

Do not delete them; schedule them. Most "no" is "not now". A lead that fails on urgency today may pass in a quarter — if you have a system that remembers to ask again.

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