Precall Planning: How Much Do You Really Need to Know Before Making a Sales Call?

Precall Planning: How Much Do You Really Need to Know Before Making a Sales Call?:

from EyesOnSales.com

Sales Question:

"I have several inside sales reps on my team that are NOT making quota. Their output (dials) is consistently low – but they say they are doing “smart calling” and researching their prospects first. My question is this: how much do you really need to know before making a sales call?"

Answer: 

Well, the biggest problem is, they aren’t hitting their numbers. If they were making sales quota, I couldn't care less how many dials are being made. But since the primary reason they are employed as an inside sales rep (to make quota) isn’t happening, something’s got to change. 

Masking Call Reluctance

Too often inside sales reps hide behind “research” to mask their fear of picking up the phone. Doing research isn’t going to make that fear go away, it just keeps it dormant. If the research were the solution, they would be hitting their numbers.

What You Need to Know About Your Prospects

I’ve seen sales advice that promotes learning where your prospects went to school, how to snoop their Facebook page, learn something personal about them etc., etc. This has never made much sense to me. My prospects aren’t looking for new friends. The only way I’m going to earn their business is to help them get something they want, avoid something they don’t want, or both and be able to do it better faster and less expensive than my competition OR be worth the price I’m asking. 

For that to happen, I don’t need to know about their personal life. I need to know my targeted audiences profile. What makes our best clients our best clients? What specifics do they have to have that would pre-qualify them as a suspect? Once I understand that, my research is comprised of finding and or attracting suspects that match that profile.

Every business has a profile of what their best prospects / client’s characteristics are.

Once you know that, the research then focuses on “does this lead match the profile of our best clients?” 

And when you know what your best clients characteristics look like, the research you do can be done in 2-minutes or less. Allowing you to have more time in the day to have meaningful, engaging conversations with your top prospects. 

Sales Question:
"I have several inside sales reps on my team that are NOT making quota. Their output (dials) is consistently low – but they say they are doing “smart calling” and researching their prospects first. My question is this: how much do you really need to know before making a sales call?"
Answer: 
Well, the biggest problem is, they aren’t hitting their numbers. If they were making sales quota, I couldn't care less how many dials are being made. But since the primary reason they are employed as an inside sales rep (to make quota) isn’t happening, something’s got to change.
Masking Call Reluctance
Too often inside sales reps hide behind “research” to mask their fear of picking up the phone. Doing research isn’t going to make that fear go away, it just keeps it dormant. If the research were the solution, they would be hitting their numbers.
What You Need to Know About Your Prospects
I’ve seen sales advice that promotes learning where your prospects went to school, how to snoop their Facebook page, learn something personal about them etc., etc. This has never made much sense to me. My prospects aren’t looking for new friends. The only way I’m going to earn their business is to help them get something they want, avoid something they don’t want, or both and be able to do it better faster and less expensive than my competition OR be worth the price I’m asking.
For that to happen, I don’t need to know about their personal life. I need to know my targeted audiences profile. What makes our best clients our best clients? What specifics do they have to have that would pre-qualify them as a suspect? Once I understand that, my research is comprised of finding and or attracting suspects that match that profile.
Every business has a profile of what their best prospects / client’s characteristics are.
Once you know that, the research then focuses on “does this lead match the profile of our best clients?”
And when you know what your best clients characteristics look like, the research you do can be done in 2-minutes or less. Allowing you to have more time in the day to have meaningful, engaging conversations with your top prospects.