Having Good Sales Calls
Having Good Sales Calls
A strong opportunity will nearly always include a prospect whose behavior resembles my description above. However, that behavior alone does not mean the opportunity is strong. It's the same as when you say a beautiful summer day has, as one of its components, a bright blue sky; but a bright blue sky does not mean it is a beautiful summer day.
So how can you tell whether your friendly prospect and the good conversation you just had will lead to a sale? This is when it is best to be formally debriefed by an exceptional sales manager, one who can maintain objectivity. If your sales manager asks, "how did it go?" you'll be tempted to say, "oh, it went great!" Then your sales manager probably says, "awesome" and walks away.
Here's how the dialog might sound if you have an exceptional sales manager:
SM: "How did the call end?" a
You: "Um, I was at second base."
SM: "OK, and what were the compelling reasons for them to buy?"
You: "The prospect loved me, was very open and answered all of my questions!"
SM: "But what about the compelling reasons?"
You: "I don't know if there are any compelling reasons."
SM: "What about SOB Quality?"
You: "The prospect was very open with me"
SM: "Did you have SOB Quality?"
You: No".
SM: "George, you're only half way to first base. Without compelling reasons and SOB Quality, all you have is some information and a new friend. You'll have to call your prospect and ask something along the lines of, 'Mary, I was thinking about our meeting today and I appreciate that you shared your plans for expansion, and the equipment you'd like to get. But all the way back to the office I was just so curious.
Why are you expanding?
Why were you thinking of this particular equipment?
What's wrong with the equipment you have in the existing building?
When you told ABC Company that you weren't happy with the equipment they provided for the existing building, and they offered to fix the problem in your expansion, what did you tell them?
Did the malfunctioning equipment cause you any more than frustration - Did any of your customers get upset?
Did you lose any of those customers?
How much did that cost?'
And finally George, I want you to ask her this question:
'Mary, you've experienced a tremendous amount of frustration, lost two big customers and you're sitting here with a $2 million problem. What if the equipment you want to install in your expansion doesn't solve the problem?'
Dave, she'll probably ask what you mean and then I want you to say:
'Mary, could it be that because you still want to install a vipperbacker in your backfrontbottom, even with a change of manufacturer, you'll still have the malfunction?'
Dave, then you'll have your SOB Quality and your compelling reasons and then, and not until then, will you be on second base. Go make that call!
You: "Thanks Bob."
So remember, that friendly, open prospect is one component of a strong opportunity but that alone does not make it a strong opportunity. You must have compelling reasons and SOB Quality too.
Having Good Sales Calls - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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When you have a good meeting with a prospect, how do you feel? If your prospect was friendly, complimentary, open, and answered all of your questions, would you say that your chances of closing this opportunity are strong?
A strong opportunity will nearly always include a prospect whose behavior resembles my description above. However, that behavior alone does not mean the opportunity is strong. It's the same as when you say a beautiful summer day has, as one of its components, a bright blue sky; but a bright blue sky does not mean it is a beautiful summer day.
So how can you tell whether your friendly prospect and the good conversation you just had will lead to a sale? This is when it is best to be formally debriefed by an exceptional sales manager, one who can maintain objectivity. If your sales manager asks, "how did it go?" you'll be tempted to say, "oh, it went great!" Then your sales manager probably says, "awesome" and walks away.
Here's how the dialog might sound if you have an exceptional sales manager:
SM: "How did the call end?" a
You: "Um, I was at second base."
SM: "OK, and what were the compelling reasons for them to buy?"
You: "The prospect loved me, was very open and answered all of my questions!"
SM: "But what about the compelling reasons?"
You: "I don't know if there are any compelling reasons."
SM: "What about SOB Quality?"
You: "The prospect was very open with me"
SM: "Did you have SOB Quality?"
You: No".
SM: "George, you're only half way to first base. Without compelling reasons and SOB Quality, all you have is some information and a new friend. You'll have to call your prospect and ask something along the lines of, 'Mary, I was thinking about our meeting today and I appreciate that you shared your plans for expansion, and the equipment you'd like to get. But all the way back to the office I was just so curious.
Why are you expanding?
Why were you thinking of this particular equipment?
What's wrong with the equipment you have in the existing building?
When you told ABC Company that you weren't happy with the equipment they provided for the existing building, and they offered to fix the problem in your expansion, what did you tell them?
Did the malfunctioning equipment cause you any more than frustration - Did any of your customers get upset?
Did you lose any of those customers?
How much did that cost?'
And finally George, I want you to ask her this question:
'Mary, you've experienced a tremendous amount of frustration, lost two big customers and you're sitting here with a $2 million problem. What if the equipment you want to install in your expansion doesn't solve the problem?'
Dave, she'll probably ask what you mean and then I want you to say:
'Mary, could it be that because you still want to install a vipperbacker in your backfrontbottom, even with a change of manufacturer, you'll still have the malfunction?'
Dave, then you'll have your SOB Quality and your compelling reasons and then, and not until then, will you be on second base. Go make that call!
You: "Thanks Bob."
So remember, that friendly, open prospect is one component of a strong opportunity but that alone does not make it a strong opportunity. You must have compelling reasons and SOB Quality too.
Having Good Sales Calls - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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