Top salespeople take the time to systematically think about what they're going to do in a sales call and then take the time to reflect on what they learned after the call.
Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) March 25, 2014
Sales call planning is a key to sales success, yet salespeople too often “cut corners”. Sometimes they do not plan for a sales call before it occurs; often they don’t debrief the call after it occurs.
Sales Momentum offers seven tips for call planning: four pre-call planning tips and 3 post-call planning tips.
5 pre-call planning tips
1. Set the call objective. The first step in pre-call planning is setting the objective for the call. Craft the objective in terms of the commitment desired from the customer that moves the sales cycle forward.
2. Keep it simple. No format for a pre-call plan should be more than one page or take more than 15 minutes to create.
3. Adopt a standard way of pre-call planning. Standardizing pre-call planning is a great way to keep it simple and to get better at doing it. Here are six topics key topics to include are: call objective, questions to ask, question the customer might ask, points to communicate, possible objections, potential next steps – including desired commitments from the customer.
5. Rehearse key calls. All calls are not of equal importance. But one or two key calls during the sales cycle are very important and demand more attention when it comes to pre-call planning. Rehearse the call in a role-play with a colleague or sales manager assuming the customer role.
3 post-call planning tips
1. Do it right after the call. Complete post-call planning right after the call when the call is still fresh in the salesperson’s mind it’s easier to decipher what the notes and scribbles penned during the call actually mean.
2. Assess next steps. Think about what happened on the call, impact on overall account strategy, and what needs to be done next.
3. Play it again. Determine what went right and what went wrong and what would you would do differently if you could do the call again.
According to Richard Ruff, principal at Sales Momentum, “top sales performers are always getting better. They plan their sales calls – taking the time to systematically think about what they’re about to do and to learn from what they just did.”
For more sales tips selling successfully to B2B companies, download this free white paper - Mastering Major Account Selling.
About Sales Momentum
For more than 30 years Dr. Richard Ruff and Dr. Janet Spirer the founders of Sales Momentum have worked with the Fortune 1000 to design and develop sales training programs that make a difference. By working with companies such as UPS, Smith & Nephew, Textron, the Center for Creative Leadership, and Robbins & Myers they have learned that todays standard for a great sales force significantly differs from yesterdays picture. Janet and Richard co-authored Mastering Major Account Selling and Parlez- Vous Business. They also publish the sales blog - Sales Training Connection. Richard co-authored Managing Major Account Selling and Getting Partnering Right. The books are available here.
Contact
Janet Spirer, Ph.D.
Principal, Sales Momentum
9280 E. Thompson Peak Parkway - Suite 36
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
Tel: 480-513-0900
jspirer(at)salesmomentum(dot)com
Web: salesmomentum.com
Web: salestrainingconnection.com