March 11, 2025
B2B Sales

Sales Leaders: Improving Your Opportunity Qualification with Chad O’Connor

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Sales Leaders: Improving Your Opportunity Qualification with Chad O’Connor
Jessica Denny

Jessica Denny

Content and Campaigns Manager

People.ai

Jessica Denny
Sales Leaders: Improving Your Opportunity Qualification with Chad O’Connor

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways:

  • Traditional qualification lacks accountability: Spreadsheet analysis and MEDDIC training without verification led to hours in pipeline reviews and deals disappearing at the last minute.
  • People.ai provides data-backed qualification: Automated Opportunity Scorecards analyze all customer interactions, score opportunities against standardized methodology, and flag potential issues early.
  • Improved qualification delivers measurable outcomes: Implementing this approach increased win rates by 22%, shortened sales cycles by over 10%, and improved forecast accuracy.

Chad O’Connor here! I’m the SVP of Sales at People.ai. After 15+ years of sales leadership, I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of opportunity qualification processes. The costs of misqualification are steep – wasted time, inaccurate forecasts, and missed targets.

What I'm doing now with People.ai has completely changed how my team qualifies opportunities–for the better!

Improving ​​Opportunity Qualification

Before People.ai: When every deal looked good on paper

I used to start every week drowning in spreadsheets, trying to figure out which deals were real and which were wishful thinking. My team had been trained on MEDDIC, but I had no way to verify if they were actually following this sales process. We'd spend hours in pipeline reviews, only to have "sure things" disappear at the last minute.

With People.ai: Data-backed opportunity qualification

Now, I get instant visibility into every opportunity with Automated Opportunity Scorecards. Our AI analyzes every customer interaction, highlighting key persona engagement across every stage of the deal. We also pull key context from calls, emails, and meetings, then score each opportunity against our standardized methodology. My sellers can focus on high-quality deals while the system flags potential issues early.

Opportunity qualification before and after People.ai

The impact: Higher close rates, no more end-of-quarter surprises

Since implementing this approach, our win rates have increased by 22%. Turns out, when your deals are properly qualified and your team spends time on the right opportunities, win rates increase. But the real value for me is the confidence I get from proper deal qualification.

  • Confidence that I will know risk early in the quarter
  • Confidence that my reps are spending their time on the right deals
  • Confidence calling my number (and presenting to the board)

Another bonus—by fueling our opportunity management with data and automation, we’ve been able to shorten our sales cycle. Now, when a rep tells me a deal is qualified, I know it's backed by data, not hope.

Next ▶️: Account Coverage with Chris Albro

Key Takeaways:

  • Traditional qualification lacks accountability: Spreadsheet analysis and MEDDIC training without verification led to hours in pipeline reviews and deals disappearing at the last minute.
  • People.ai provides data-backed qualification: Automated Opportunity Scorecards analyze all customer interactions, score opportunities against standardized methodology, and flag potential issues early.
  • Improved qualification delivers measurable outcomes: Implementing this approach increased win rates by 22%, shortened sales cycles by over 10%, and improved forecast accuracy.

Chad O’Connor here! I’m the SVP of Sales at People.ai. After 15+ years of sales leadership, I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of opportunity qualification processes. The costs of misqualification are steep – wasted time, inaccurate forecasts, and missed targets.

What I'm doing now with People.ai has completely changed how my team qualifies opportunities–for the better!

Improving ​​Opportunity Qualification

Before People.ai: When every deal looked good on paper

I used to start every week drowning in spreadsheets, trying to figure out which deals were real and which were wishful thinking. My team had been trained on MEDDIC, but I had no way to verify if they were actually following this sales process. We'd spend hours in pipeline reviews, only to have "sure things" disappear at the last minute.

With People.ai: Data-backed opportunity qualification

Now, I get instant visibility into every opportunity with Automated Opportunity Scorecards. Our AI analyzes every customer interaction, highlighting key persona engagement across every stage of the deal. We also pull key context from calls, emails, and meetings, then score each opportunity against our standardized methodology. My sellers can focus on high-quality deals while the system flags potential issues early.

Opportunity qualification before and after People.ai

The impact: Higher close rates, no more end-of-quarter surprises

Since implementing this approach, our win rates have increased by 22%. Turns out, when your deals are properly qualified and your team spends time on the right opportunities, win rates increase. But the real value for me is the confidence I get from proper deal qualification.

  • Confidence that I will know risk early in the quarter
  • Confidence that my reps are spending their time on the right deals
  • Confidence calling my number (and presenting to the board)

Another bonus—by fueling our opportunity management with data and automation, we’ve been able to shorten our sales cycle. Now, when a rep tells me a deal is qualified, I know it's backed by data, not hope.

Next ▶️: Account Coverage with Chris Albro

Sales Leaders: Improving Your Opportunity Qualification with Chad O’Connor
Sales Leaders: Improving Your Opportunity Qualification with Chad O’Connor

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