A common theme that we've heard during the last few months from sales managers is that during a down economy, salespeople have to go back to the fundamentals. Now more than ever, each and every sales call must be used to protect current business and to try to win new business.

What can be more fundamental and important than pre-call sales planning? A wasted sales call in today's economy is a lost opportunity.

What Elements Should Be Considered in Pre-Call Sales Planning?
The pre-call sales planning process doesn't have to take long, nor does it always need to be written down, but it should address these 4 core elements:

1. Your Sales Call Objective: What specific results or actions do you want to accomplish with this customer at the conclusion of this sales call? In a down economy, your objectives need to also take into consideration factors such as 'what can I do to strengthen the business relationship with this client' and 'what can I do to help this customer during these difficult times?'

2. Critical Questions to Ask the Customer: A few good questions must always be part of your sales call planning process, but especially so when the economy is slow. 'What has changed since our last conversation?', 'How can we help you?' and 'What are you finding difficult in your business today?' are some examples. Questioning skills are taught in almost every STAR sales training program.

3. Benefits and Value to the Customer: What benefits will you highlight about your sales solution? Can you offer the customer a new or different product or service that will provide value? Anything that you can do to provide value to a customer in today's economy will be much appreciated. When you do some pre-call planning on benefits and value statements, it helps you to avoid the mistake of feature dumping your way through a sales call.

4. Possible Objections: Depending on the product or service that you intend to highlight during the sales call, you can probably anticipate the most likely objections. How will you respond? What is your fallback plan if the customer says no?

Author: Bill McCormick

About the author:
Bill McCormick is the President of Sales Training And Results, Inc. (STAR), a firm specializing in customized sales management training and one-on-one sales coaching. Visit http://www.salestrainingandresults.com.


Article source: Free Sales Articles.