Like everybody else, salespeople often wish for more hours in the day. It seems like there are always things that don't get done and that drag on and on. The last thing most salespeople want to do is spend time preparing for a sales appointment. At the most, they draw up a list of standard questions for every appointment and just use that.
Yet preparing a plan for each appointment actually saves time later. If you've done your research and come up with all the questions you need to ask, you eliminate those follow-up calls and meetings that happen when you keep uncovering more questions for the prospect. Doing pre-appointment planning is also a powerful way to shorten your sales cycle, meaning you can get to the next prospect (and the next sale) much more quickly.
The first step in generating your plan is to determine what it is you want to accomplish. Sometimes what you want to accomplish is to close the sale, but in more complex selling situations you'll often take several meetings to get to that point. In those cases, the earlier meetings will have other goals. For example, you might set a goal of getting the decision maker's buy-in to initiate the next step in your sales process.
Next, you'll need to consider what might hold you back from attaining the goal you set in step 1. Brainstorm up a list of obstacles that you might encounter, particularly if you see them frequently at this stage in your process. In the case of the example above, one obstacle to getting decision maker approval would be the necessity of correctly identifying the decision maker, so that you aren't pitching the wrong person.
Third, determine what information you'll need from the prospect in order to move forward. Early on in the sales cycle, this will certainly include the details that you need to qualify the prospect and determine if they truly are a potential customer. This is where the list of stock questions can come in handy. But once you're past that point, you'll need more specific information from him so that you can personalize your pitch.
Fourth, think about what the customer is likely to ask you and prepare some good responses. Some of these questions will be about product features and so on, but others will come in the form of objections. Every time you encounter a new question on an appointment, take the time afterwards to jot down a good answer. Then if you run into that question again you'll know just what to say.
For the fifth, and possibly most important step, you need to decide how you'll provide value to the prospect in return for taking the time to meet with you. This should be something that will benefit the customer just for attending the meeting, not necessarily for buying from you. Your value item can be something physical, like a white paper or freemium, or it can be a useful piece of information that you'll share with the prospect. But whatever form it takes, your value item must be something that the prospect will appreciate. The greatest value item in the world is worthless if it doesn't benefit the prospect in a way that he can readily perceive.
Once you get into the habit of doing this planning, you'll be surprised by how quickly it goes. Some of these preparations, like the qualifying questions, you can reuse with only minor changes. Others you may want to write up from scratch for each new prospect or appointment.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
Yet preparing a plan for each appointment actually saves time later. If you've done your research and come up with all the questions you need to ask, you eliminate those follow-up calls and meetings that happen when you keep uncovering more questions for the prospect. Doing pre-appointment planning is also a powerful way to shorten your sales cycle, meaning you can get to the next prospect (and the next sale) much more quickly.
The first step in generating your plan is to determine what it is you want to accomplish. Sometimes what you want to accomplish is to close the sale, but in more complex selling situations you'll often take several meetings to get to that point. In those cases, the earlier meetings will have other goals. For example, you might set a goal of getting the decision maker's buy-in to initiate the next step in your sales process.
Next, you'll need to consider what might hold you back from attaining the goal you set in step 1. Brainstorm up a list of obstacles that you might encounter, particularly if you see them frequently at this stage in your process. In the case of the example above, one obstacle to getting decision maker approval would be the necessity of correctly identifying the decision maker, so that you aren't pitching the wrong person.
Third, determine what information you'll need from the prospect in order to move forward. Early on in the sales cycle, this will certainly include the details that you need to qualify the prospect and determine if they truly are a potential customer. This is where the list of stock questions can come in handy. But once you're past that point, you'll need more specific information from him so that you can personalize your pitch.
Fourth, think about what the customer is likely to ask you and prepare some good responses. Some of these questions will be about product features and so on, but others will come in the form of objections. Every time you encounter a new question on an appointment, take the time afterwards to jot down a good answer. Then if you run into that question again you'll know just what to say.
For the fifth, and possibly most important step, you need to decide how you'll provide value to the prospect in return for taking the time to meet with you. This should be something that will benefit the customer just for attending the meeting, not necessarily for buying from you. Your value item can be something physical, like a white paper or freemium, or it can be a useful piece of information that you'll share with the prospect. But whatever form it takes, your value item must be something that the prospect will appreciate. The greatest value item in the world is worthless if it doesn't benefit the prospect in a way that he can readily perceive.
Once you get into the habit of doing this planning, you'll be surprised by how quickly it goes. Some of these preparations, like the qualifying questions, you can reuse with only minor changes. Others you may want to write up from scratch for each new prospect or appointment.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
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