You've probably heard these words sung, "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run." Kenny Rogers wasn't talking about making a nurse business sales call but he certainly could have been.

Your time is one of your most valuable assets so you don't want to waste it trying to sell to someone who is not going to buy from you. This doesn't mean that you wouldn't follow up with them at a later date to see if they are more likely to buy then. However, you don't want to spend your time trying to convince someone to buy from you who is not about to do so at the present time.

How do you know if someone isn't going to buy from you? In sales this is called qualifying your prospect. You should seriously consider walking away from the sales call when you determine any of the following:

1. They don't have a need for your product or service
2. They have no urgency to buy
3. They are not the decision maker

If you uncover any of the above conditions during your sales call you would be best off to end the sales call and move on to a more likely prospect. You will likely want to continue to contact this prospect especially if the reason you decide not to proceed at this time is because they don't have any urgency to buy your product or service.

If you are selling legal nurse consulting services your attorney prospect may not have a medical case needing your services at the present time. Once you know that the attorney knows what it is you do and how it would help them you want to leave you business card and any collateral material. Graciously end the call and add a note to your calendar to follow up with them in a certain amount of time.

If you are selling a product and your prospect already owns one you will want to determine when they purchased the one they currently own and the cycle of their buying pattern or the typical buying pattern for this product. I generally buy a new car every 10 years. A car salesperson would best use their time by contacting me 9 years after I last purchased a car. By contacting me in the fifth year after my last purchase the salesperson would be wasting their time.

Once you determine that your prospect is not in a position to buy from you now, move on to a more likely prospect. You can often qualify your prospects on the telephone. If you are only spending your valuable time with people who are truly qualified to buy from you then you will make more sales more quickly.

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