Learning from history
Over 30 years ago, The McGraw Hill Company published an advertisement about the importance of print advertising with potential clients. Essentially, the advertisement revolutionized why it is important for sales professionals to ensure their advance work is done before a sales call.
While print advertising is not as effective today, other forms of “getting your brand out there” are. Facebook, LinkedIn, and company websites are but a few. Most importantly, it is just as crucial today as it was 30 years ago to ensure your sales presentation is not just the start, but a bigger step toward the close of business. Your sales process should be your path toward a sale, not toward just another meeting. Determining who is a potential prospect early, and who is not, is your most important first step.
Let’s look closer
What steps can you take to ensure your pitch and presentation are effective before your first call? The questions in the ad ask for you to present the following key components to connect your product or service with the potential customer:
- What problem does my product solve?
- What differentiates me personally from all of the rest?
- What do other happy customers say about you, your product, and your company?
Your goal is to have a meeting where the customer agrees the product solves a problem, and buying the product or service is valuable now.
What’s the solution?
How do you ensure that they have this information pre-call, or that you can communicate your value during the first call?
- Make sure your branding statement is succinct and reeks of value.
- Understand your customer’s needs beforehand. Do they need your widget and why? Have you done your background work to understand their needs before the call?
- What are the unique things your product solves that nobody else can solve?
When your sales calls are well prepared and provide a simple solution, unique to your customer, your chances of gaining business increases significantly. Your overall process, planning, and understanding of the customer allows for successful sales calls where business is closed in a short period of time.
Setting up your sales process for your sales team is critically important. At Sales Xceleration, we specialize in performance plans and process to address these needs.
Dennis Boyle
Dennis Boyle serves Portsmouth New Hampshire, and uses his combined 25 years of experience in sales and marketing to ignite and accelerate growth for his clients. Take Dennis’ 10-Question Sales Agility Assessment
