4 Reasons to Qualify Your Requests

Once upon a time, there was the commercial department of a very popular establishment in the Parisian kingdom. As we helped them structure themselves, the owner told us:

“Since we started working together, the transformation rate has exploded while we are in Paris in the middle of August, do you necessarily have a secret, something?!”

Yes and no.

No because we don't have a magic potion.

Yes, because we do have something that you all know, but rarely used.

Drum roll... for the qualification!

This is a step that is too often overlooked because it seems superfluous, time-consuming and not necessarily key... Mistake!

And to talk to you about this subject, I invited “the fairy godmother” of the qualification: Claire Mathieu - Director of Groups & Events for The Gate Collection.

Make a splash from the first impression

When you create a qualification stage (by phone and/or email), you pay particular attention to the first customer contact, you are taking time for it. He therefore immediately feels your professionalism and that you are going to relieve him of his burden: the organization of his event!

And it's as simple as that to make a statement at first impression.

Remember that:

• You are a service profession
• Making a request should be simple and pleasant for the customer
• you need to inspire confidence (especially right now!)
  

Create a relationship

This is usually what happens: the customer sends you a request and you respond by email (or phone):

• for additional information on the request in order to make an estimate,
• to send your brochure,
• to send a first price proposal.
  

And you say to yourself: “I answered quickly, I know what the customer wants in terms of service (space, format, schedule, budget...), we are all good”. But do you think that an event comes down to a format and schedules?

Pick up the phone, take the time to discover your customer and their project (see the qualification models in our article here). And we can guarantee that the customer will hang up and say “Wow they are great!”

He may not even know what you are going to sell him but he already loves you. You have come 80% of the way.

Meeting expectations and saving time

But qualifying a request is far from being just a chat break with the customer.

This saves you valuable time because you will:

• Either hit the nail on the head immediately with the quotation proposal that follows = less back and forth later.
• understand that it is not a customer for you because it is out of budget, not the target, unsuitable format,... = we are not wasting time on a file that will not confirm.
  

And the icing on the cake, as you will have made a great impression, create a strong bond and meet customer expectations... Do you know what will happen? Yes your confirmation rate will feel the difference, you will confirm much more!

Know your opponents

Another advantage is that during your exchange for qualification with the customer, you will be able to ask him about the other establishments contacted...

Are you following us? You will know your opponents. You will know why the customer chose these other locations and you can show them your strengths.

As a bonus, this allows you to monitor your competitors “continuously”.

A quick note from Clémence:
I know that adding ¼ hour or ½ hour per request for qualification may seem insurmountable...
One of our missions at BookingShake is to save you valuable time with our solution so you can focus on high added value tasks such as qualification.
Ask me for a free demo.
Our Shake tips to go further: get inspired and improve your qualification!

Have you ever called competing establishments or establishments that you like to make a false request? No?

We recommend it to you. You will see how a care (qualification) changes your entire experience with a place!

Making these few false requests will allow you to highlight everything we are talking about in this article. Because if you doubt the value of the qualification, after this exercise, you will be convinced.

If you are already qualified, this exercise will be a great source of inspiration through the strengths or weaknesses of the institutions questioned.

The opposite is also possible, playing the mystery shopper with your own service.

The aim is not, of course, to scourge your teams afterwards but to see where you are performing and where you are not. To improve yourself and put all the chances on your side in order to optimize your confirmation rate.