“By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.”
Ben Franklin

Far too many sales people do not take the time to actually prepare for sales calls. Common excuses for lack of preparation are:

• I am too busy.
• I know this industry.
• It is just an initial discovery call.

None of these excuses are good enough to pass the sniff test. If a sales rep is too busy for basic homework, schedule the sales call for a different time. If you know the industry, do you know the company their products and services? If it is “just” a discovery call, don’t you want to make an excellent first impression?

Every sales call or meeting call can be prepared for in the exact same way. Based on the complexity of the sale you may repeat this process several times before a final decision is made.

Research – Prospects and Customers are not only interested in the sales rep’s knowledge of their product but customers/prospects are also interested in the expertise the sales person and insight. They will respect the sales person who takes the time to review the company website or read through an annual report. If the company is public, the annual report is a wealth of information about competitive pressures, market dynamics and many other factors that are influencing the company and its growth. The due diligence effort, even if brief or fleeting, will earn the respect of the decision makers. Finally, you very well may find key business indicators that will influence your sales strategy. In a nut shell, research is a good thing.

Plan – Here is where the good sales rep takes the information provided by the customer or prospect and overlays the proposed solution. The rep who conducted research will have additional data that perhaps the competition will not thereby empowering them to put together a more thoughtful and complete pursuit plan. The planning phase should include but is not limited to:

• Mix of product(s) and solution(s) being proposed.
• Competitve landscape – understand the competition and adjust the plan accordingly
• Identify the pursuit team – this is the definition of the supporting cast (sales, engineering, executive sponsor, etc.)
• Determine selling themes – these are the main value propositions that will be defined and presented.

Practice – In software sales, this is termed the “Dry Run.” Anyone who has a speaking part in a customer presentation should participate. The sales rep, as the master of ceremonies, should ensure that the selling themes are properly communicated by all relevant players. Ideally, your executive sponsor, mentor, or industry expert can sit in on the dry run to ensure that the themes are properly positioned. In fact, often times your internal coach at the customer/prospect is willing to participate in the dry run activity. It never hurts to ask.

Execute – Basically this is the polished version of the dry run. It is time for all this great preparation to manifest itself into a fabulous customer/prospect presentation.

Debrief – After every call or presentation take fifteen minutes with your team to discuss the call. Were there any unexpected questions? Did anyone deviate from the selling themes? What are the areas of improvement for all parties involved? This peer mentoring session is extremely valuable and should not be overlooked.

Repeat – Repeat the process as necessary.

This process works and drives value to your customer. Even if you are in telesales and deal with a large number of calls, it is good fundamentals to visit each of these steps as you work with customers and prospects. Preparation takes work. That work will pay off. Ben Franklin is correct, not preparing is preparing to fail.