SALES CALL PLANNING WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE EVERY SALES CALL
SALES CALL PLANNING WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE EVERY SALES CALL
A good part of business development success is, as some say, just showing up. But show up prepared and success is what you will get.
We acknowledge that sometimes you do just show up (or—halleluiah—a prospect calls you out of the blue) and you haven't done any preparation for the sales call. It's reasonable to suggest that on occasion sales calls are appropriately deemed 'exploratory discussions'; the kind of discussion in which we just talk and 'see where it goes'.
Take this approach in every business development situation, however, and you'll lose your share of sales that you should have won. Interestingly, whether you have a two thousand or a two million dollar price point, to increase your odds of winning new clients you still need to do the same basic planning and know the same essential information before your sales calls.
Here are six sales call planning questions you can answer for yourself before every sales call that will help prepare you for business development success:
1. What is the prospect's current situation? Ask this question to give yourself the lay of the land. Often your goals for the client, the value your services can offer the client, and your action planning for the rest of the sales call come out of your detailed knowledge of the prospect's situation.
If you find that you don't know enough about the situation yet, ask yourself what research you can do before meeting with the client so you can 1) move quickly through tactical situational discovery that can become tedious or bore a client, and 2) demonstrate to them that you are the type of professional that does his homework and goes the extra mile to make sure the client gets the most value out of each contact with you.
2. What are my business development goals for this client or prospective client? Different goals for your clients will make for very different sales conversations. Questions you can ask yourself will include:
Is this the 'discovery' meeting where we get to know each other and build rapport while learning how I might be able to help them?
Is this a current client to whom I am introducing a new set of services?
Am I reviewing the results from the previous year with a client and this is the meeting where I 'resell' my value so the client stays loyal?
Am I looking to cross sell or upsell currently available services because I see where these services can add value?
Am I trying to supplant a competitor?
Is this a current client where I work in one of their divisions and I would like to get introductions into the other three divisions where I can also help?
Is this a prospect with so much potential that I willing travel on my nickel to 5 cities to visit their branch outlets, their competitors, and put together a presentation and value proposition so compelling they are wowed like they've never been wowed and resolve to work with me on the spot?
I am sure you can add to this list depending upon your own situation. Whatever your business development goals for this prospect or client are, make certain you are as clear as you can be about those goals before you enter the actual meeting.
3. What is my desired next outcome? Sounds simple enough, but this question is so often overlooked by professionals before they meet with clients or prospects. Our advice: if you don't know what you want to get out of your meeting with them, don't get out of the (proverbial) car (credit to Mack Hannan and his book If You Don't Have a Plan, Stay in the Car).
Just make sure you start your sales call planning process early enough. Sometimes you need time to investigate just what your desired next outcome should be.
4. What are my relative strengths? In every sales situation various forces are working in your favor. Know what these forces are for this particular client or prospect situation so you can leverage them to help make the client more successful. This will give you increased odds of winning the client.
The more specific you can be for the particular situation, the better. Sure, it might be a general advantage that you are a well known expert in your field with a good reputation, but it's a better advantage to know who you are selling against (if anyone), whether or not you and the potential client went to the same graduate school, whether you've been particularly successful in this industry vs. your competitor, or any other specifics that might be working in your favor.
5. What are my relative vulnerabilities? This is the corollary to number four above. Maybe you have less experience than the competition. Maybe another company is the incumbent service provider and you are the challenger. Knowing what your relative vulnerabilities are will allow you to prepare in advance to either turn them into advantages or at least diminish them as vulnerabilities.
For example, maybe the other company has more experience in the industry, their reputation is quite good, and they've been doing this forever. You can say, "Yes, they do have a lot of experience in the industry as this is their only focus. Because our focus is broader, we bring knowledge from outside the industry that has really been valuable to our other clients. Did you know that in the ABC industry they designed their divisions like this last year and got a 7% cost savings on average when they tried it? The data source? It's from the objective research of the ABC Industry Association. Maybe it will apply to your company. We can look into it together, if you like."
With good preparation and call planning you can have your responses to 'objections' and tough questions at the ready when you need them.
6. What actions do I need to take before the next call? We all have to-do lists that help us get done what we need to get done. By taking the time to answer questions 1 through 5, your business development and sales call planning to do list will be as good as it possibly can be because your actions will be:
Informed by the knowledge of your client's situation
Guided by your goals for the client from a business development perspective
Built to help you achieve your desired outcomes
Planned with the knowledge of your relative strengths and vulnerabilities in this particular business development situation
Maybe for Woody Allen 80% of success in life is just showing up. But the most successful business developers we've seen over the years show up...prepared.
SALES CALL PLANNING WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE EVERY SALES CALL - To learn more about this author, visit Laurie Stafinski's Website.
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By Mike Schultz and John Doerr
A good part of business development success is, as some say, just showing up. But show up prepared and success is what you will get.
We acknowledge that sometimes you do just show up (or—halleluiah—a prospect calls you out of the blue) and you haven't done any preparation for the sales call. It's reasonable to suggest that on occasion sales calls are appropriately deemed 'exploratory discussions'; the kind of discussion in which we just talk and 'see where it goes'.
Take this approach in every business development situation, however, and you'll lose your share of sales that you should have won. Interestingly, whether you have a two thousand or a two million dollar price point, to increase your odds of winning new clients you still need to do the same basic planning and know the same essential information before your sales calls.
Here are six sales call planning questions you can answer for yourself before every sales call that will help prepare you for business development success:
1. What is the prospect's current situation? Ask this question to give yourself the lay of the land. Often your goals for the client, the value your services can offer the client, and your action planning for the rest of the sales call come out of your detailed knowledge of the prospect's situation.
If you find that you don't know enough about the situation yet, ask yourself what research you can do before meeting with the client so you can 1) move quickly through tactical situational discovery that can become tedious or bore a client, and 2) demonstrate to them that you are the type of professional that does his homework and goes the extra mile to make sure the client gets the most value out of each contact with you.
2. What are my business development goals for this client or prospective client? Different goals for your clients will make for very different sales conversations. Questions you can ask yourself will include:
Is this the 'discovery' meeting where we get to know each other and build rapport while learning how I might be able to help them?
Is this a current client to whom I am introducing a new set of services?
Am I reviewing the results from the previous year with a client and this is the meeting where I 'resell' my value so the client stays loyal?
Am I looking to cross sell or upsell currently available services because I see where these services can add value?
Am I trying to supplant a competitor?
Is this a current client where I work in one of their divisions and I would like to get introductions into the other three divisions where I can also help?
Is this a prospect with so much potential that I willing travel on my nickel to 5 cities to visit their branch outlets, their competitors, and put together a presentation and value proposition so compelling they are wowed like they've never been wowed and resolve to work with me on the spot?
I am sure you can add to this list depending upon your own situation. Whatever your business development goals for this prospect or client are, make certain you are as clear as you can be about those goals before you enter the actual meeting.
3. What is my desired next outcome? Sounds simple enough, but this question is so often overlooked by professionals before they meet with clients or prospects. Our advice: if you don't know what you want to get out of your meeting with them, don't get out of the (proverbial) car (credit to Mack Hannan and his book If You Don't Have a Plan, Stay in the Car).
Just make sure you start your sales call planning process early enough. Sometimes you need time to investigate just what your desired next outcome should be.
4. What are my relative strengths? In every sales situation various forces are working in your favor. Know what these forces are for this particular client or prospect situation so you can leverage them to help make the client more successful. This will give you increased odds of winning the client.
The more specific you can be for the particular situation, the better. Sure, it might be a general advantage that you are a well known expert in your field with a good reputation, but it's a better advantage to know who you are selling against (if anyone), whether or not you and the potential client went to the same graduate school, whether you've been particularly successful in this industry vs. your competitor, or any other specifics that might be working in your favor.
5. What are my relative vulnerabilities? This is the corollary to number four above. Maybe you have less experience than the competition. Maybe another company is the incumbent service provider and you are the challenger. Knowing what your relative vulnerabilities are will allow you to prepare in advance to either turn them into advantages or at least diminish them as vulnerabilities.
For example, maybe the other company has more experience in the industry, their reputation is quite good, and they've been doing this forever. You can say, "Yes, they do have a lot of experience in the industry as this is their only focus. Because our focus is broader, we bring knowledge from outside the industry that has really been valuable to our other clients. Did you know that in the ABC industry they designed their divisions like this last year and got a 7% cost savings on average when they tried it? The data source? It's from the objective research of the ABC Industry Association. Maybe it will apply to your company. We can look into it together, if you like."
With good preparation and call planning you can have your responses to 'objections' and tough questions at the ready when you need them.
6. What actions do I need to take before the next call? We all have to-do lists that help us get done what we need to get done. By taking the time to answer questions 1 through 5, your business development and sales call planning to do list will be as good as it possibly can be because your actions will be:
Informed by the knowledge of your client's situation
Guided by your goals for the client from a business development perspective
Built to help you achieve your desired outcomes
Planned with the knowledge of your relative strengths and vulnerabilities in this particular business development situation
Maybe for Woody Allen 80% of success in life is just showing up. But the most successful business developers we've seen over the years show up...prepared.
SALES CALL PLANNING WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE EVERY SALES CALL - To learn more about this author, visit Laurie Stafinski'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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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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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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