At what stage is the ability and willingness to purchase assessed?

The ability and willingness to purchase are assessed during the qualification stage. This phase is crucial in the sales process as it involves determining whether a lead has the necessary budget, authority, need, and timeline to make a purchase. By evaluating these factors, sales teams can identify which leads are most likely to convert into actual customers. This assessment allows for more strategic resource allocation and helps ensure that efforts are focused on leads with the highest potential for closing a deal.

Other stages in the sales process focus on different activities, such as nurturing relationships with leads, negotiating terms, or seeking to convert leads into customers, but the qualification stage is specifically designed for this critical evaluation of a lead's readiness to buy.