How to Qualify Prospects as an AI Consultant (Before You Waste Time)

The Worst Leads Look Like the Best Ones

Someone reaches out. They want AI. They have budget. They're excited to move fast.

You spend three weeks on a proposal. You do a demo. You revise the scope twice. Then they ghost.

What happened?

They weren't qualified. And you didn't catch it early enough.

After 20+ years in B2B sales, I can tell you: the companies that sound most excited are often the least ready. Real buyers ask hard questions. Tire-kickers ask easy ones.

The Five Questions That Matter

Question 1: What problem are you trying to solve?

If they say "we want to explore AI" or "we need to innovate," that's not a problem. That's a vibe.

A real answer sounds like: "Our sales team spends 6 hours a week on proposal writing and we're losing deals because we're too slow."

Specific problem = qualified. Vague aspiration = run.

Question 2: What happens if you don't solve this?

This tells you if there's urgency. If they shrug and say "well, it would be nice," you're looking at a 12-month sales cycle that probably won't close.

If they say "we're about to lose our biggest client" or "we can't hire fast enough to keep up," now you have a real reason to buy.

No pain = no urgency = no deal.

Question 3: Who else needs to approve this?

If the person you're talking to isn't the decision-maker and can't get you to the decision-maker, you're wasting time.

You need access to the person who signs contracts. If they say "I'll take it to my boss," you need to be in that meeting. Otherwise, you're playing telephone with your own deal.

Question 4: What's your timeline?

"As soon as possible" is not a timeline. "We need this running before Q2" is.

If they don't have a deadline, they don't have urgency. And without urgency, deals drag forever or die quietly.

Question 5: What have you already tried?

This tells you two things: Are they serious enough to have attempted solutions? And are they realistic about what's involved?

If they haven't tried anything, they might not understand the problem well enough yet. If they've tried three things and failed, they might be impossible to please.

The sweet spot: they tried one thing, learned from it, and now know what they actually need.

Red Flags to Watch For

They want a "proof of concept" before committing.

POCs are where deals go to die. Unless they're paying for it, a POC usually means they're not serious or they're using you to pressure their incumbent vendor.

If they want to test your work, propose a paid pilot with clear success metrics. Free POCs are free labor.

They ask for pricing before explaining the problem.

Price shoppers are not qualified buyers. Real buyers want to know if you can solve their problem first. Then they ask about price.

If pricing comes up in the first five minutes, they're probably collecting quotes to justify an internal decision that's already made.

They want everything custom.

Customization is expensive and slow. If they won't accept any standardization, they either have unrealistic expectations or they don't trust you yet.

The best clients understand that 80% standard + 20% custom is faster and cheaper than 100% bespoke.

They mention five other agencies they're talking to.

Competition is normal. But if they're shopping five vendors simultaneously, they're optimizing for price, not fit. That's a race to the bottom you don't want to run.

Green Flags That Mean Go

They've done their homework on you.

If they reference your website, your content, or a case study, they're serious. They've invested time. That's a buying signal.

They bring their team to the first call.

If the technical lead, the budget owner, and the end user are all on the call, you're dealing with an organization that's aligned and ready to move. That's gold.

They ask about implementation, not just features.

Questions like "how do we train our team?" or "what does onboarding look like?" mean they're thinking past the sale. They're imagining what it looks like to actually use what you build.

They have budget already allocated.

"We have K set aside for this" is different from "we'll need to find budget." The first one closes. The second one stalls.

How to Disqualify Gracefully

You don't owe every lead a proposal. If they're not qualified, say so.

"Based on what you've shared, I don't think we're the right fit. Here's why..."

Then point them to someone who might be better suited. Or tell them what needs to change before you can help.

This does two things: It saves you time. And it builds respect. People remember when you're honest instead of desperate.

The Qualification Call Script

Here's how I structure every first call:

First 5 minutes: Let them talk. What's going on? What brought them to you?

Next 10 minutes: Ask the five questions above. Dig into the problem. Understand the urgency. Identify the decision process.

Next 5 minutes: Share a relevant case study or example. Show you understand their world.

Last 5 minutes: Clarify next steps. If they're qualified, propose a follow-up with the broader team. If they're not, explain why and what would need to change.

Total time: 25 minutes. That's all you need to know if this is worth pursuing.

Why This Saves You Months

Bad leads don't just waste time on calls. They waste time on proposals, demos, revisions, follow-ups, and the emotional energy of hoping a dead deal comes back to life.

Qualifying hard and early means you only invest in deals that can actually close. Your close rate goes up. Your sales cycle shortens. You stop chasing ghosts.

What to Do Next

Look at your current pipeline. For each opportunity, answer the five questions honestly.

If you can't answer them, you don't have enough information. Get it, or move on.

If the answers are weak, disqualify. Politely. Professionally. But definitively.

Then focus your energy on the deals where the answers are strong. Those are the ones that close.

Qualification isn't about being picky. It's about being smart with your time. And in consulting, time is the only asset that matters.