Qualifying your prospects allows you to devote the majority of your sales efforts to your best potential clients—the ones who have a demonstrated need for the type of insurance you sell, buying authority and the budget behind it, and who are ready to buy.

Asking the right questions at the beginning of the sales process can help you determine what the prospect’s buying pattern is, their existing concerns about insurance, their satisfaction with their current provider, and whether they’re worth selling to. Here are a few questions that can help you narrow down your field.