8 Steps to a Successful Sales Call - Entrepreneur

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 ... SubscribetoEntrepreneurfor$5 Subscribe Skiptocontent ProfileAvatar Search Menu CloseMenu StartingUp StartingaBusiness AskanExpertMentoring BrowseBusinessTools Webinars EntrepreneurElevatorPitch Finance SideHustleAccelerator GrowingaBusiness GrowthStrategies Marketing Sales CustomerService SocialMedia EntrepreneurInsurance Franchise FranchiseCenter TaketheFranchiseQuiz Franchise500List FranchiseHow-Tos FranchiseServiceProviders FranchisesforSale BizOppListings Inspiration SuccessStories Leadership Entrepreneurs Branding TimeManagement BrowseBy Video Podcast LatestNews PopularArticles Books Webinars Spotlight SubscribetoEntrepreneur Newsletters Subscribe Signingoutofaccount,Standby... 8StepstoaSuccessfulSalesCall Frompreparationtoclosing,remembertomakethesekeymoves. By BarryFarber OpinionsexpressedbyEntrepreneurcontributorsaretheirown. It'salwaysgoodtohaveaplanforyoursalesvisitsthatcanserveasaquickreminderoftheessentials.Youcanusethischecklistasareviewbeforeandaftereachsalescalltomakesureyoucoverallthebases.Leavingasalescallandwishingyouhadrememberedtoaskaspecificquestionorshowtheprospectanotherproductideaisahorriblefeeling;usingthischecklistmayhelpyouavoidthat.Editthislistbasedonthetypeofsalescycleyou'reinvolvedin. SalesCallChecklist 1.PreparationPriortoSalesCall DidI: Researchtheaccountpriortothecall? Learnsomethingaboutthepersonandtheirbusinessbeforethemeeting? Sendanoutlineoftheagendatotheclientbeforethemeeting? Havethreevalue-addedpointsprepared? Bringallmaterials,brochures,contracts,etc.? Answerthethreeimportantpre-callquestions: A.Whatisthegoalofthecall? B.WhatdoIneedtofindoutduringthecall? C.What'sthenextstepafterthecall? 2.GreetingandIntroduction DidI: Observetheprospect'sofficedécor(e.g.,trophies,awards,picturesandsoon)? Findoutabouttheprospect'spersonalinterests,hobbies,familyandsoon? Findoutthenamesofcontactsintheaccountandwritethemdown? Bridgetothebusinesstopicsmoothly? ListenmorethanIspoke?(Ideally,youshouldspend80percentofyourtimelisteningandonly20percenttalking.) Askthecustomerabouttheirbusinessgoals? Askthecustomerwhatchallengesthecompanyisfacing? 3.Qualifying DidI: Findoutwhothedecision-makersarebyasking"Whoelsebesidesyourselfmightbeinvolvedinthedecision-makingprocess?" Askwhatprocesstheynormallygothroughwhenconsideringanewvendor? Findouthowandwhytheymadethedecisionfortheircurrentproductorservice(assumingtheyarereplacingaproductorservice)? Findoutwhattheirtimeframeis? Findoutiffundshavebeenallocated--andhowmuch? Findouttheirspecificneeds? Askiftheycouldchangesomethingabouttheirproductorservice,whatwoulditbe? 4.Surveying DidI: Askopen-endedquestions(who,what,where,when,why,how,howmuch,tellmeaboutit,describeforme)? Askaboutthecorporatestructure? Askabouttheprospect'sroleatthecompany? Askwhat'simportanttothem? Askwhat'sinterestingtothemandthenfocusonthat? Askwhatriskstheyperceive? Askhowwecanhelpsolvetheirproblems? Askwhattheythinkaboutourcompany? Askwhattheylikeanddislikeabouttheircurrentvendor? Askhowindustrytrendsareaffectingthem? Ask"whatif?"questions? Askwhattheywouldliketoseefromavendorandsalespersonintheareaofsupportafterthesale? Askwhattheirshort-termandlong-termgoalsare? AskhowIcanbecometheirmostvaluedvendor? Askwhatisournextstep? Establishaspecificfollow-upschedule? Parrottheprospecttoencouragehimtoexpand,elaborateandgointodetailabouteachanswer? 5.HandlingObjections DidI: Listentotheentireobjection? Pauseforthreesecondsbeforeresponding? Remaincalmandnotdefensive? Meettheobjectionwithaquestioninordertofindoutmore? Restatetheobjectiontomakesureweagreed(communication)? Answertheobjection? Completethesix-stepprocess? 1.Listen 2.Define 3.Rephrase 4.Isolate 5.Presentsolution 6.Close(ornextstep) 6.Presentation DidI: Prioritizetheprospect'sneeds? Talkaboutbenefitstothecustomer? Uselayman'sterms? Linkthebenefittotheprospect'sneeds? Verifyeachneedbeforemovingon? Presentmyself,companyandproductinapositivelight? Re-establishrapport? Askifanythingchangedsinceourlastmeeting? Pre-committheprospect? Giveageneraloverviewoftheproductorservice? Keepthepresentationfocusedonthecustomer'sneeds? Involvethecustomerinthepresentation? Summarizetheprospect'sneedsandhowourproductorservicemeetsthoseneeds? 7.Closing DidI: Getthecustomertoidentifyallpossibleproblemsthatmightbesolvedbymyproductorservice? Getthecustomertoidentifythevalueofsolvingtheidentifiedproblems? Getagreementthattheproposedsolutionprovidesthevaluesidentified? Askfortheorder("Whydon'twegoaheadwiththis?")? 8.CustomerMaintenance DidI: Writethankyoulettersforappointments,ordersandsoon? Earntherighttoaskforreferencelettersandreferrals? Establishascheduleforfollow-upcallsandcustomervisits? Askforreferrals("Doyouknowthreepeoplewhocouldbenefitfrommyproductandservicelikeyoudid?")? Sendthankyounotestolostaccounts? Askwhatarethreeimportantthingswecandoasavendortokeepourrelationshipstrong? Thischecklistwillhelpyoustayfocused.Everytimeyouscheduleasalescall,runthroughthislistbefore-handtomakesureyou'reprepared--andafterthevisittoseewhatyoucandonexttimetomakethecallrunmoresmoothlyandincreaseyourchancesofsuccess. WrittenBy BarryFarber BarryFarberistheauthorof11booksonsales,managementandpeakperformance.Hislatestrelease,"DiamondintheRough"CDprogram,isbasedonhisbook,radioandtelevisionshow.Visithimatwww.BarryFarber.com,[email protected]. 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