Tyre-kickers. Not a particularly nice word, which is often used to describe prospects who don’t want to buy your service. Let’s be honest, we’ve all been tyre-kickers at some point, and we’ve all experienced tyre-kickers wasting our time. You know and I know, that your business development time is very limited. Whilst you still have to meet challenging chargeable time targets, your business development efforts need to be very effective if you are going to build a juicy following AND still have a life outside of work. Knowing what a tyre kicker looks and sounds like is an important skill for you.

What if you could spot them – before you spent time on them? Unfortunately, tyre-kickers don’t have a big sign on them that says, ‘just browsing’. (If only they did!) Here are some clues that will help you spot a tyre kicker:

1. They seem to be very keen to check that the no-obligation consultation, is actually free and they will receive professional advice from you in that time
2. When you ask them what has motivated you to call them, they are vague
3. They don’t seem to have given much thought to a budget for the project or work
4. They are not in any hurry to commit
5. They don’t seem to be focused on the direction their business needs to take – or unduly concerned about this
6. They say they will call you after the call, but don’t

How have you identified tyre kickers in the past?