The Successful Sales Call

ENSURING A SUCCESSFUL SALES CALL

It's always good to have a plan for your sales visits that can serve as a quick reminder of the essentials. You can use this checklist as a review before and after each sales call to make sure you cover all the bases. Leaving a sales call and wishing you had remembered to ask a specific question or show the prospect another product idea is a horrible feeling; using this checklist may help you avoid that. Edit this list based on the type of sales cycle you're involved in.

Sales Call Checklist:-

 Preparation Prior to Sales Call

• Research the account prior to the call?
• Learn something about the person and their business before the meeting?
• Send an outline of the agenda to the client before the meeting?
• Have three value-added points prepared?
• Bring all materials, brochures, contracts, etc.?
• Answer the three important pre-call questions:
  A. What is the goal of the call?
  B. What do I need to find out during the call?
  C. What's the next step after the call?

Greeting and Introduction

·         Observe the prospect's office décor (e.g., trophies, awards, pictures and so on)?

• Find out about the prospect's personal interests, hobbies, family and so on?
• Find out the names of contacts in the account and write them down?
• Bridge to the business topic smoothly?
• Listen more than I speak? (Ideally, you should spend 80 percent of your time listening and only 20 percent talking.)
• Ask the customer about their business goals?
• Ask the customer what challenges the company is facing?

Qualifying

·         Find out who the decision-makers are by asking "Who else besides yourself might be involved in the decision-making process?"

• Ask what process they normally go through when considering a new vendor?
• Find out how and why they made the decision for their current product or service (assuming they are replacing a product or service)?
• Find out what their time frame is?
• Find out if funds have been allocated--and how much?
• Find out their specific needs?
• Ask if they could change something about their product or service, what would it be?

Surveying

·         Ask open-ended questions (who, what, where, when, why, how, how much, tell me about it, describe for me)?

• Ask about the corporate structure?
• Ask about the prospect's role at the company?
• Ask what's important to them?
• Ask what's interesting to them and then focus on that?
• Ask what risks they perceive?
• Ask how we can help solve their problems?
• Ask what they think about our company?
• Ask what they like and dislike about their current vendor?
• Ask how industry trends are affecting them?
• Ask "what if?" questions?
• Ask what they would like to see from a vendor and salesperson in the area of support after the sale?
• Ask what their short-term and long-term goals are?
• Ask how I can become their most valued vendor?
• Ask what is our next step?
• Establish a specific follow-up schedule?
• Parrot the prospect to encourage him to expand, elaborate and go into detail about each answer?

Handling Objections

·         Listen to the entire objection?

• Pause for three seconds before responding?
• Remain calm and not defensive?
• Meet the objection with a question in order to find out more?
• Restate the objection to make sure we agreed (communication)?
• Answer the objection?
• Complete the six-step process?
  1. Listen
  2. Define
  3. Rephrase
  4. Isolate
  5. Present solution
  6. Close (or next step)

Presentation

·         Prioritize the prospect's needs?

• Talk about benefits to the customer?
• Use layman's terms?
• Link the benefit to the prospect's needs?
• Verify each need before moving on?
• Present myself, company and product in a positive light?
• Re-establish rapport?
• Ask if anything changed since our last meeting?
• Pre-commit the prospect?
• Give a general overview of the product or service?
• Keep the presentation focused on the customer's needs?
• Involve the customer in the presentation?
• Summarize the prospect's needs and how our product or service meets those needs?

Closing

·         Get the customer to identify all possible problems that might be solved by my product or service?

• Get the customer to identify the value of solving the identified problems?
• Get agreement that the proposed solution provides the values identified?
• Ask for the order ("Why don't we go ahead with this?")?

Customer Maintenance

• Write thank you letters for appointments, orders and so on?
• Earn the right to ask for reference letters and referrals?
• Establish a schedule for follow-up calls and customer visits?
• Ask for referrals ("Do you know three people who could benefit from my product and service like you did?")?
• Send thank you notes to lost accounts?
• Ask what are three important things we can do as a vendor to keep our relationship strong?

This checklist will help you stay focused. Every time you schedule a sales call, run through this list before-hand to make sure you're prepared--and after the visit to see what you can do next time to make the call run more smoothly and increase your chances of success.