My friend Brian Ahearn shared this material on a strategy to make sales calls more effective for both the sales person and the customer or prospect.
Vince Lombardi said, “The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.” His philosophy captures the fundamental principle of success – preparation. You may have heard these quotes, “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity” and “Chance favors the prepared.” Preparation for a sales call includes how the sales call is set up. A recurring theme I heard from managers was they felt their people could do a better job setting up their sales calls. Below are a few simple steps people can use to ensure the best chance for success.- Follow Up Email. After an appointment is set by phone have sales associates send an email confirming the date, time and agenda. The email should also ask the agent if there are other issues to look into before the meeting to avoid being blind sided while in their office. Have your people cc you so you can be sure it’s getting done and to use it as a potential coaching opportunity.
- Confirmation Email. It’s always good to confirm the appointment is still on so have people resend the original email the morning of the scheduled meeting. It can be as simple as telling the agent they’re looking forward to seeing them. By sending the original email it gets the agenda in front of the agent for the third time.
- Restate Agenda. Once the sales associate is on the sales call, after the meet and greet, they should restate the agenda. This will be the fourth time the agent has heard or seen the agenda so they’ve given it thought, whether consciously or subconsciously. They’re mentally ready to talk about the agenda items unlike an agent who’s confronted with a “drive by” meeting or one where the agenda was never mentioned until the sales associate walked in the door.
- Email Afterwards. This is the time to put in writing next steps, whatever was agreed to and potential outcomes.