By Teresa Esparza with Introduction by James Malinchak

My friend Teresa Esparza attended my last College Speaking Success Boot Camp in Las Vegas in September 2005. Teresa is an awesome person and books my friend Jack Canfield's speaking engagements. (Jack is the Co-creator of the #1 Best-selling book series, Chicken Soup for the Soul & the author of his latest best-seller, The Success Principles).

Teresa shared with me some great questions that she asks clients when qualifying them as a suitable lead for Jack to work with as a speaker/trainer. I asked Teresa if I could share them with you. I hope they're helpful!

Notice that in #5, Teresa doesn't refer to 'products.' She refers to 'resources.' My only suggestion from a marketing standpoint would be to change the word 'selling' to 'offering.'

And, in #5.1 I would change it from: Can I sell my resources to your audience? to now be: Can I offer my resources to your audience?

By the way, I love the 'One Last Tip' that Teresa offers at the end!

Pre-Qualifying Tips from Teresa Esparza:

These are the basic questions I ask clients who are coming to me for the first time and interested in hiring Jack to speak:

1. What is the date of your event?

2. How long would you Jack to speak for? (i.e. 1 hour, 1/2 day, full-day, etc.)

3. What time of day would Jack be speaking? (i.e. am, lunch, late afternoon, evening, etc.)

4. Are there other presenters that day? If yes, who?

5. Will they be selling resources? (if yes, you should ask to be the first speaker on the agenda while the audience still has $$) Can I sell my resources to your audience?

6. How often do you hold this event? (i.e. monthly ,quarterly, annually, once in a lifetime, etc.)

7. What is the make-up of your audience? (make sure it's an audience your topic will be a good fit for)

8. What is the size of this group? (you need to know this so you can assess if it's a good product selling opportunity)

9. Who beside yourself is selecting the speaker? (if it's a committee of 3 or more people, you might be in for a long wait)

10. Jack's fee is $$ plus first-class travel, is this within your budget?

If they can answer 9 out of 11 questions with confidence, they will likely be a reliable client who is ready to do business with you. If they can't answer all but 1 or 2 questions, you should not spend your valuable time sending them packages and holding dates. It's always a nice gesture to offer your resources if they can't afford to hire you OR refer another fellow speaker who would be perfect and within their budget--they really appreciate it!

One Last Tip:

Also, if they don't allow you to sell products to the group, encourage them to buy a copy of your book or training program.

Here's a little line to start with:

'considering how important hiring Jack is to you and your team, I'm confident you'll agree that buying a copy of the book for everyone to reference will add SO much more value to your investment long after Jack speaks.'

Speaker James Malinchak, 'America's Hottest Young Speaker,' is the creator of the two top-selling speaker courses, 'How to Make BIG Money As a Speaker,' and the 'College Speaking Success Home Study Course.' To learn more about his step-by-step systems and to sign up for his FREE 'Speaker Tips' E-zine, visit: www.Malinchak.com

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