Chances are if you’ve been in sales for any length of time, you’ve probably got a pretty good handle on your product’s features and benefits. You’ve been trying to land an appointment with what could turn out to be a major customer, and they’ve finally agreed to see you. You can’t wait to show up with the presentation of your life!
But wait….What is your plan for the meeting – or, do you have a plan? Some salespeople go into a meeting with a prospect and “just wing it.” They exchange pleasantries, ask a few questions, and immediately go into “pitch mode,” while the prospect sits back, listens, and acts as if they’re interested.
You wouldn’t go into a football game without a scouting report or a game-plan, or drive cross country without directions or a GPS. Why would you do that on a sales call?
Go in with a well-thought-out pre-call plan that is designed to help determine if that prospect is qualified to do business with you:
• What are your goals for the call? What are you hoping to learn? What is an acceptable outcome?
• What have you learned about the company? What are the trends in their industry?
• Who is going to be in the meeting, and what is their stake in the decision?
• What questions are you going to ask, and what questions will they be asking you? How are you going to respond?
• What will be your up-front contract to open the meeting?
Then, after the call, what did the salesperson learn? You can’t ride with them on every meeting or appointment, so how do you measure and monitor the quality of those calls?
(One of your reps comes back from a prospect meeting, and you ask, “How did it go?” “Oh, it went great! They liked the proposal, and they seem interested. I’m feeling good about this one!” How often have you heard that? The problem is, we don’t know what any of that means!)
Learn how to debrief that call with your seller properly. Hopefully, you’ve already instilled a sales process with your team that they are expected to follow. Are they following that process?
Here’s an idea: The next time one of your sellers goes out to meet with a customer or prospect, give them a list of ten questions that you expect they’ll be able to answer, such as:
• What did you know about the company before you went in?
• What was your up-front contract with the prospect?
• What current business “pains” are they experiencing?
• What investment are they prepared to make to fix them?
• Who are the decision-makers, and what is their process?
• When, specifically, do they expect to make a decision?
The questions are up to you, but instruct your people not to come back from the meeting unless they’re able to answer those questions. It won’t be long until they’ll increase their selling effectiveness and you’ll have a better chance of forecasting their results!
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Jim brings over 35 years of sales, management and marketing experience to the "training table." He has coached hundreds of business owners, sales executives, managers, and corporations to help them achieve greater levels of success and productivity. His areas of expertise range from sales and management training in the advertising and sports marketing fields to professional and business-to-business services, continuing education, new business development, staff hiring and assessments.
