Pre- Sales Checklist :The Secret to Hitting Your Sales Number
Salespeople who are prepared for meetings outperform others who just show up and throw up; it’s as simple as that. We all know this right? Not being prepared for buyer meetings is one of the top reasons over 50% of salespeople will fail to achieve sales quota each year. Our markets and how buyers buy has changed significantly with as much as 70% of the buying journey being over before a salesperson meets with a buyer. In this post I will share how I coach salespeople to prepare for sales meetings to drive the maximum sales results in an authentic way.
I have led sales and marketing teams for over 30 years and I am a practitioner of what Pragmatic Marketing refers to as “NIHITO”. This stands for: Nothing Important Happens In The Office. Therefore I travel, check that, …I travel a great deal in the market doing four legged sales calls with my sales teams.
One area that is a common sales coachable skill is pre-sales call planning.
Traveling often I have taken a number of flights. As sales leaders we can learn a lot about being prepared for our mission of increasing sales profitably by watching airplane pilots. Before each and every flight pilots conduct a pre-flight checklist.
They have a standard checklist that starts at the left wing tip and they walk around the plane, checking each wing, each tire, the tail section, the nose of the plane, the cockpit instrumentation panel. They check the fuel manifest to insure they have enough fuel to fly safely to their destination.
Ben Franklin said:“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
Why do salespeople fail?
There are 3 major reasons that salespeople fail.
- Lack of mental preparation
- Lack of physical preparation
- Poor quality of conversations
… all of them involve being prepared.
What are the top five things sales super stars do to prepare for each sales meeting?
- They’re prepared for anything – especially the negative circumstances
- They’re genuinely interested in their prospects
- They check their ego at the door
- They master the art of managing expectations
- They have done their research
The below checklist must be completed before trying to start a journey with a buyer today.
Buyer information
- Who will you be meeting with?
- What is their role, and title?
- How long have they held this position?
- How long have they been with their current organization?
- Where did they go to school?
- Where did they work prior to this company?
- Do you share any mutual contacts, if so call them and ask them about this buyer
- When was the last order?
- Do you have a buyer persona for this type of buyer? If so read it.
- Is there a current order in the system?
- If so when will it ship and arrive?
- What is the status of the accounts payments, do they have any money past due that may interrupt service if not paid?
- Has the buyer and or their teams experienced any quality issues with products and or services in the last 6 months and were they resolved?
- How is the buyer measured?
- What are your buyers’ key performance indicators?
The account
- How long has your company sold this account?
- What are your current sales with this account, and how does this compare to last year?
- Does this customer buy predominantly one or two products or do they support your full line of products and services?
- When was the last buyer call or phone discussion on the CRM?
- What was the topic of the last conversation and action items?
- Were the action items completed?
- Visit their web site, click on “press” and or “news’ …what is the most recent news event they posted?
- What are your customers value proposition to their customers? You can gather this by cutting and pasting their landing page copy into an I cloud service and see prominent words.
- Who are their competitors? Do you sell them?
- Who else is involved in buying decisions?
The Industry / Market
- Google this industry read top three articles.
- What is news worthy in their industry in the last three months?
- Visit industry trade association web pages and read last three news articles. What is news worthy in trade groups?
- Is the customers’ market up, down, or flat?
- What are the future projections for this market?
- How is this customers market segment performing for your company?
- Is this customer’s sales performing at the industry average, below, or above and why?
- Have competitors introduced any new products or programs in the last six months?
- Prepare two to three questions that illustrate you know the buyers’ industry, what is happening and can be used to build trust.
- Is their industry consolidating or highly fragmented?
Competitor information
- What other companies like yours also sell this account?
- What are their strengths?
- What are their weaknesses?
- What are your competitors’ value propositions?
- Do any of your other customers also use these competitors and if so what have they shared with you?
- Visit competitor(s) web sites, what is new?
- How do your competitors market their products and sell their products?
- Know your competitor price strategy.
- Does the competitor provide products you do not?
- Do you have unique and or patented products your competitors do not offer?
- What is your competitor’s service history compared to yours?
- What are your competitors shipping and delivery policies?
Your Strategy
- Why are you meeting with this account?
- Why did the buyer agree to meet you?
- What is the buyer’s expectation for this meeting?
- Is meeting with the account in person the best form of communication based on your objectives?
- What sales tools will you need to be successful?
- Will you require any video or computer presentations?
- Will you require access to the Internet? If so bring a device to give you access in the event the company cannot allow you to access their connection.
- What is your value proposition? Answer the question: Why your company?…and or your product?
- Who are your competitors at this customer and what are the strengths of your competitors and their products?
- What are the perceived weaknesses of your competitors’ products?
- What case studies should you bring to support this sale?
- What STAR stories will you share in your presentation to build trust?
- What will you leave with the buyer?
- How many copies will they need for other influencers in their company?
- What is your buyers buying process?
- What criteria must your buyer have from you to make a buying decision?
- What does this account, this buyer’s journey look like?
- What are your 2-5 challenger questions for this meeting?
- How will you judge if this meeting was a success?
- What are typically next steps in the follow up process you can offer proactively in this meeting?
I hear some of you saying…
“but mark that’s a lot of information to have before we meet with someone! On a normal trip I can meet with up to 8-10 customers…do you expect me to have all of the above for each meeting?”
My answer is YES!!!
The markets we serve are dynamic and competitive pressure is only growing. In your buyer’s world they too are experiencing pressure and demands on their time. Buyers want to meet with salespeople who do their homework and understand their account, and their markets and any challenges they may be facing. Buyers are hungry for authentic salespeople who want to understand and help buyers and their companies solve urgent market problems.
The days of …Hi how are ya meetings …are over!
The days of just dropping buy, or my personal favorite…. buying two dozen donuts are over!
…“But Mark I want to build my relationship with this buyer….”
Then do your research prior to your buyer meeting and demonstrate the following:
You know the buyer and have an interest in helping them
You know the industry and share how you help buyers like them
You understand your competitors
You know the buying journey
You know the criteria your buyers must have today to make a buying decision
You understand your products and services and the problems they solve
You build trust with buyers by being prepared
Doing your pre-flight checklist before each buyer meeting will insure a safe buying journey and help you land are your desired goals.
Are your salespeople prepared to meet with your buyers?
What is your cost of sale today?
Do you believe having a pre-call checklist can improve your sales cost as a percent of sales?
Does your team have a pre=call checklist?
How often are your salespeople prepared for each buyer meeting?
Have you experienced a buyer meeting that took a nosedive because your salesperson was not prepared?
Below are some great articles on preparing for a sales call.
Pre-call planning the forgotten step https://www.customercentric.com/news-and-resources/articles/pre-call-planning
4 tips for effective pre-call sales planning https://www.jillkonrath.com/sales-blog/bid/130501/4-Tips-for-Effective-Pre-Call-Sales-Planning
7 steps to ace pre-call sales planning https://www.jillkonrath.com/sales-blog/bid/130501/4-Tips-for-Effective-Pre-Call-Sales-Planning
Pre-call planning: It’s more than just research http://www.sellingpower.com/content/article/?a=2847/pre-call-planning-it-s-more-than-just-research
Finally–a Sales Pre-call Checklist That Will Help Your Opportunities Soar! http://customerthink.com/finally_a_sales_pre_call_checklist_that_will_help_your_opportunities_soar/
Three Steps to better Pre-call Planning http://www.sellingpower.com/content/article/?a=1458/three-steps-to-better-pre-call-planning
How to prepare for a winning sales negotiation https://www.salesreadinessgroup.com/blog/how-to-prepare-for-a-winning-sales-negotiation
Preparation and Sales Success http://blog.anthonycoletraining.com/Sales-Training-Sales-Brew/bid/30683/Preparation-and-Sales-Success
Pre-call planning strategy checklist http://www.mentoru.com/sanfilippo/pre-callplanningstrategy.pdf
8 Steps to successful sales call https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/207016
Develop your companies’ pre-sales call checklist and watch your sales and profits soar!
Are Your Salespeople “Bare Knuckle Selling?”
It is an old-school sales approach from the 1950s through the mid-1980s. Your sales team was given a goal, and they were to just make it happen.
Business owners were focused on the objective of achieving the financial performance goals they needed and wanted hungry sales teams chasing, catching, and wrestling buyers to the ground to win purchase orders.
It was all about what we wanted.
It felt wrong to even then, but that is what we were paid to do. It was much like the movie; Fight Club, and the #1 rule of fight club is… “Don’t talk about fight club!”
For years salespeople went out with their sales bags full of brochures and returned with orders, and we often didn’t want to know how. It was like sales was some dark art business owners did not want to know about.
They just needed the profitable sales volume.
The trouble arises when sales teams today approach buyers as they did 10-15 or 30 years ago.
In my sales seminars, I used to refer to this sales method as Bare Knuckle Selling.
Sales teams who rely on bare-knuckle sales today fail to execute the sales plan and miss the profit objectives for their companies. As the Book Insight Selling shares, buyers today do not want to be sold. They want to be presented with innovative ideas.
Teams with no strategy are forced into bare-knuckle selling; each year, their performance toward sales goals suffers.
Bare Knuckle Sales involves your sales team cold calling buyers who should need the products they sell ( you have no idea if they do).
Teams who practice bare-knuckle selling focus on their goals and not their customers’ problems. They sound like commission junkies needing their next fix (and buyers today pick up on that within the first few seconds of a call).
Bare-knuckle sales teams have little if any marketing and sales strategy, and their websites are virtual brochures that often share how great they are and how long they have been great, but fail in SEO Key Word Optimization, have no content strategy, and never speak in a voice of the problems you solve for your customers.
When you challenge the leaders of a team like this, you will hear phrases like; “we don’t need a content strategy. We have been in this industry for 20 years and never needed it before” and “we need our salespeople to overcome objections and close not ask a bunch of questions…” and my personal favorite; ” we cannot afford expensive marketing!” Since the people who often challenge you most are accounting and finance types, we need to redirect the conversation to the opportunity cost of not having a marketing strategy.
Are your salespeople Bare Knuckle Selling today?
How would you know?
Below are ten quick questions I would ask you, and let’s see how you would answer them.
- Do your salespeople clearly understand the problem(s) your product or service solves?
- Have you seen your gross margins increase in the last three years?
- Do you know your close rate on quotes? And why did you win or lose?
- Have you produced new sales tools in the last 12 months?
- Has your website been updated in the last six months?
- What are the top 3 market segments your team should target this year and why?
- Does your team have a sales strategy and process other than cold calling?
- Do you have a lead nurturing program?
- Can you tell me the process and criteria your buyers are using today?
- If I asked your sales VP what the ideal customer for your product or service can they answer me?
How would you answer the above questions?
If you answered “no” or “I don’t know” to six or more of the above questions, your team is Bare Knuckle Selling and losing new business you could and should be winning.
Please share your thoughts and experience….
Is your team Bare Knuckle Selling?
Would you like a road map on how to stop Bare Knuckle Selling and start hitting and blowing by your crucial performance objectives?
Sales teams today do not need to be like Fight Club.
The #1 rule of sales today is openly discussing your repeatable sales process, and your team must constantly assess how your buyers are buying and what criteria they must have to make buying decisions.
Preparing Your Family for Entrepreneurship
Becoming an entrepreneur and starting your own business is a big step for you, but it is also a big deal for your family, and the more you can do to prepare them for what is likely to come as you build your business, the easier it will be for you all to adjust.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few key things you can do to prepare your family for entrepreneurship.
Talk them through your plans
It’s easier for your family to support you and feel secure in the risk you are taking if you take the time to talk them through your plans for your new business venture, what you aim to do, and how you think it will work If they know what you are doing snd why you are doing it; if you have a clear vision and a plan to make it happen, they will feel much better about the whole thing in those tough early days, and that will benefit you all.
Secure your finances
Becoming a business owner is always going to mean some degree of financial insecurity, but if you can do everything you can to protect your family from the worst of it, this will really help to show them you are thinking about them and reassure them that things will be ok, Whether you talk to a mortgage broker about a new deal, ring-fence some of your savings for family emergencies or work out a split financial situation that helps to protect family money better, anything you can do in this area will be of huge benefit to your family at this time.
Be open with them
It’s always best to be open with your family about your business plans and how things are going. It might be tempting to conceal any setbacks from them, but chances are they will know something is wrong and they will be upset and confused that you are keeping it from them, Dialog should always bed open because not only will it help them through it, but then they will be able to support you and your business goals too.
Bring them into the business
Letting your family members come to work with you to see what you are doing; allowing them to help with big and small decisions as and when appropriate and even letting your kids come to your office with you will all help to make them feel more comfortable with what you are doing, and it will probably get them just as enthused as you too. Make it a family business and it will be so much better.
Your first steps into entrepreneurship are always going to be uncertain but if you do all you can to prepare your family and make a sensible plan to see you all through, it will be so much easier on you all. Family is important so don’t forget about them when your head is filled with dreams of making it big in business.
