Smart Selling - a No-brainer Guide to Sales

Planning and preparation - Step I

Generally, the larger the prospect organization, the more research you should do before any sales call at which you will be expected, or are likely, to present you company's products or services.

Know your own product/service extremely well - especially features, advantages and benefits that will be relevant to the prospect you will be meeting. Ascertain as far as you can the main or unique perceived organizational benefit that your product or service would give to your prospect. Discover what current supply arrangements exist or are likely to exist for the product/service in question, and assess what the present supplier's reaction is likely to be if their business is at threat.

Understand what other competitors are able and likely to offer, and which ones are being considered if any. Identify as many of the prospect organization's decision-makers and influencers as you can, and assess as much as far as you can what their needs, motives and relationships are.

Try to get a feel for what the organizational politics are and see if you can hone in on the prospect's organizational decision-making process and financial parameters (eg., budgets, year-end date). What are your prospect's strategic issues, aims, priorities and problems, or if you can't discover these pre-meeting, what are they generally for the market sector in which the prospect operates?

Prepare your opening statements and practice your sales presentation. Prepare your presentation in the format in which you are to give it (eg., MS Powerpoint slides for laptop or projected presentation) plus all materials, samples, hand-outs, brochures, etc., and always have spares - allow for more than the planned numbers as extra people often appear at the last minute - see the presentation section for more detailed guidance on designing formal sales presentations

Prepare a checklist of questions or headings that will ensure you gather all the information you need from the meeting and think carefully about what you want to get from the meeting and organize your planning to achieve it .

Introduction - Step II