Before we get into the science or process of the sales call itself, let’s first start with your mindset and approach to the sales call. It is important that you look at the big picture before you dive into the details.
The most important starting point, is to have an agenda and establish some objectives for the call, before you get to your appointment. Talk it out with a sales manager or peer and ask yourself; what are the three things that I want to happen as a result of this call? These can vary based on where you are at in the sales process, but you have to have some objectives in mind prior to the call.
If you think about it, without objectives, you will never know if the call was successful or not right? Make your objectives realistic and achievable, given the participants that you will have in the call and the timeframe that you have for the call.
Write these objectives down in your notes prior to going into a call, so you have easy access to review them during your call. This will help keep you on track when the call gets off course. Do not lose control over the call, or you will lose control of the sales process.
Regardless of what your objectives for the call may be, the last objective of EVERY sales call has to be to close for the next step. Set the next appointment and set expectations about what is going to happen on that next call. Don’t ever leave a sales meeting without a clear picture of what the next step is going to be.
Think through the various scenarios that may occur on the call given your objectives for the call. What questions might they ask? What objections might they have? What literature or information might be valuable to have with you on the call?
Put yourself in the mind of the prospect and think about what questions you would ask if you were in their position as a buyer. What are the frequent questions that you get from other sales calls? Be able to answer these fluently.
When you prepare yourself for the call, the most important thought to keep in mind is this simple quote that an old sales manager burned into my brain. He said; “You have two ears and one mouth and you should use those proportionately”! Remember, your job is NOT to talk or “pitch” your product, service or company!
Your job is to find a problem, issue, pain, weakness or need. The only way to do this is to ask questions and be genuinely curious and interested in helping them resolve their issue(s). When they answer your questions, make sure you are taking copious notes! Your prospect wants to know that you “got” what they said. Feel free to clarify and dig deeper into sensitive areas. What you are trying to do is FIND THE PAIN!
Occasionally, a prospect will throw you a curve ball and a sales call will take on an entirely different agenda than what you anticipated, which is okay and actually, makes this job of sales interesting! You have to be thinking, calculating and adjusting to the customers’ needs, their personality, their pain points, sense of urgency etc… Remember, Sales is a thinking game!
Most sales people think they need to be funny or entertaining and with that in mind, they want to talk about themselves or their company, product service etc… Fight the temptation! Your prospect at this point really doesn’t care about you, they only care about solving their specific issue. The quickest way to turn off a prospect is to make the discussion about YOU! Recently I attended a sales training seminar, where the trainer had a great line; He said, “Be interested – NOT interesting”!
Approach the fact finding part of the sales process with an open mind. Go with the flow of the call and feed off of the answers and reactions that you are getting from your prospect vs. following a script, or list of preset questions. Follow the direction of their interests, however always maintain control over the call and don’t lose track of the objectives you have set for the call.
Remember, you are not there to tell the customer everything you know about your product, service or company. There will be plenty of time to sell, but for now, fight the temptation! Get all of your questions answered (load your gun), then, when the time is right, you can begin to present your solution… more on that once we get into the actual steps and process of the sales call.
For now set your objectives, think through your call as if you were the buyer and next, we will get into the steps of the call.
Now Go Sell Something And Make Some Money!!
John M.
