1. QUALIFYING SALES OPPORTUNITIES
Opportunity Profile
VAR Name/Location
Does the VAR have an MSA with Arrow?
Has VAR worked with Arrow services in the past year? If yes,
list projecttype and summary of results.
What service is the VAR requesting? Is expected to be a Time
and Materials delivery (Staff Support/Augmentation) or
Custom project, withdeliverables and measured results?
What is the expected timeframe for this engagement? Please
list start date and duration.
Is there an opportunity?
Is the need or problem the VAR/Client wishes to solve
sufficiently defined? Provide a problem definition here. Do
they know what it is they want, and can Arrow do it?
Is the VAR/Client financially viable? If the service
opportunity is won, have they the resources to pay? Will they
get past the credit check your organization is bound to do on
them?
How is the VAR/Client going to fund the project? Have they
got a budget? How will they measure the success of the
opportunity?
Is there a compelling event that will force a decision to be
made? Nobody likes making big decisions. So is there a
backstop that is sufficiently solid to force action? And how
solid is solid?
Can we compete?
Do you understand the basis on which the VAR/Client will
make a decision? Not what do they want, more how will they
choose? Who is involved,have we coveredthem all?
How good a fit is the Arrow solution to the Client’s
need? Nothing's perfect, so do you know where the gaps
are? And how are yougoing to deal with them?
What resources do you expect to need to mount the sales
campaign? List what resources you will need help with in

2. QUALIFYING SALES OPPORTUNITIES
scoping and selling our solutions to the VAR/Client.
What unique value can you offer the client? Not what unique
features, what unique value. That's thinking about the
features you'll offer, thinking about the impacts they'll have
for the client, and working through what value that creates
for the client.
Can we win?
Do you have the support of your own organization? Your
management? The organization that'll actually deliver the
service? Your financial people? Are there any loose cannons
anywhere that if left alone could damage your cause? Have
you followedall the Sales Process steps you'llneed to?
Are you credible with the client’s executives? Be honest
here. Will they take your meetings and spend time with
you? And are they sufficiently senior to be able to make
decisions?
Is there cultural compatibility between your and the Client's
organizations? A softer set of values, and hard to define. But
do you feel it'll work? Think about the peer-to-peer
relationships that would need to work for our proposal to be
successful. Have you tested them?
Do you understand the informal decision criteria? Everybody
knows there's a formal scoring matrix. And everybody also
knows there's the real decision making process. Do you
know what both are?
Do you have political alignment? There's the organization
chart. And then there's the unofficial influence chart. Do you
understand both? Have you met all the players?
Is it worth winning?
Does the project generate short-term revenue or is the
revenue profile acceptable? If it isn't, this one's not going
anywhere.
Is the project profitable? If it isn't, this one's not going
anywhere. What level of discounting or negotiation will you
be able to support and remain profitable?
Is there potential for future revenue growth? If you win this,
is there more business down the tracks? What does that look
like – how much and when?

3. QUALIFYING SALES OPPORTUNITIES
Is the degree of risk acceptable? Have you an idea of what the
risks might be? And how you're going to mitigate them? Is
there a whopper buried in there you need to surface now?
Is there any other strategic value associated with
winning? Could this be a lighthouse customer in a new
market or for a new service? Would they be a great reference
name? What does the referral potential look like?