What Is Precall Planning?
Going to the store for bread doesn't take much planning. You know where the store is. You know what brand of bread you'll probably buy. You have some cash. Thinking is optional.
But planning for something as important as a big-ticket sales call is much more important. The sale of thousands of dollars in products or services is hanging on your success in helping a buyer solve a problem. Those who make, distribute, or use what you sell also depend on your success. Feel the pressure now?
Preparing for an important sales call can be demanding, especially the first few times that you present. What do you need to be ready? How can you best represent your employer while offering your buyer appropriate solutions? All good questions. The answer is to focus on your prospect, the problem your prospect faces, the product or service you have to sell, and how you can best present your product or service as a solution.
Prospect
You've contacted prospective buyers for what you sell, but what do you really know about these buyers? Maybe their names and locations, industries, and the business problems that they face. Now that you have scheduled a sales presentation, you should learn even more about the individual buyers and the companies that they represent. As a buyer, you would want a salesperson to understand something about who you are, what you do, and the group that you represent. That's Golden Rule Selling.
What do you need to know about the prospect? As much as you can! Realistically, you may only be able to gather basic information about the person's title, job description, and position in the company hierarchy. But the more information you get, the greater your potential to help the buyer reach her or his goals.
Depending on what you sell, to whom, and your employer's resources, you may be able to gather an extensive amount of data about the prospect's company. Or not. Your employer may already have a file on the company. Or you may be able to do some online research and find out more: who they are, what they make or sell, how much they sell, to whom, who owns them, and so on.
Problem
What's the problem? Whatever you are selling, its primary function is to solve one or more problems for buyers. It can be a point-of-sale (POS) system that helps retailers better track sales, inventory, and employees. It may be an advertising program that helps manufacturers build their brand identity. It could be a new line of heavy equipment that more efficiently constructs roads. Whatever you're selling is intended to solve one or more specific problems.
What problem does your prospect want to solve? You should know what that is before you make your presentation. In fact, you should have a pretty good idea of the problem before you even contact the prospect.
Where can I find reliable financial information on businesses and corporations?
There are many sources. For example, Dun & Bradstreet provides credit information and reports on U.S. and international businesses. Moody's Investors Service reports on business and industrial credit and risk analysis. OneSource offers a variety of profiles and overviews on specific businesses. ESRI offers geographic and demographic information for businesses.
Before you make your presentation, be sure you can clearly define the primary problem the buyer has that your product or service can solve. If you're not sure, keep digging. You can start your presentation with a couple of clarifying questions, for example, “Is your Chicago operation more profitable than your Miami office?” But you'd better have the problem well defined before you attempt to present your solution. If you don't, your credibility as a problem solver will diminish, and the prospect may not listen to what you have to say. Understand the buyer's problems.
Product
Chances are that you represent more than one product. In fact, you may represent hundreds or even thousands of related products. You don't have to memorize every detail of every product, but you must know how to get those details if needed.
If your company has a catalog, you should know it almost by heart. You should know the features and benefits of most, if not all, products that you represent — especially those that you intend to offer as a solution at your sales call.
Part of the trust you need to build with your buyer is a trust that you know more about your products than the buyer does. Unfortunately, some salespeople forget this. A buyer asks about the model 497 widget, and the seller scrambles to find product literature and read it for the first time. Know your products!
As a Golden Rule Seller, do I have to know everything about all my products or services?
No, you don't. However, you do need to know at least the basics about them. You can ask your prospect for a moment while you look up the specifics on a product, but don't offer “I'm not sure if that's in our line or not.” You'd better know. You must know at least the basic facts about everything you sell. That's your job.
Presentation
Your presentation must have a specific goal. It's not a fact-finding meeting. It's an opportunity for you to show that you understand the buyer's problem and that you have a viable solution. Your presentation must have a goal or objective. What do you want the buyer to think when your presentation is over? Knowing this is an important part of precall planning.
Precall planning also requires that you prepare the tools you will need. Make sure that you have the hardware and software necessary to make an effective presentation. Also make sure that you have product samples, promotional collateral, and other components of your presentation.
Be sure that your mechanicals — slides, screens, handouts — are ready to use. Take backups if needed to give you sufficient confidence. Final preparation for your presentation will be covered in greater detail later in this chapter.
