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7 Things You Must Do
To Prepare For Your First Sales Call
Whenever you have a first sales call scheduled with a new
sales prospect - treat it like a golden opportunity.
Because in fact this first sales call, could be a
golden opportunity for you. What if your new sales
prospect has the potential to become your largest
customer.
What would the lifetime value of your largest customer
add up to?
Here are seven things you must do before your first sales
call
with a new sales prospect.
Thing you must do # 1:
Be sure to do your homework and that means making Google
your first stop. Do a search on the person's name, the
company name, and the name of their best selling product.
You might be surprised with the results you get.
You should also go to: http://www.google.com/alerts
Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant
Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice
of the name of a person and / or the name of a company.
The more information you have before the first sales call,
the
better the call will be.
Thing you must do # 2:
Now this is a little thing that can have a big impact.
It can create a powerful first impression for you on
your first
sales call.
Go to an office supply store and buy a dozen red file
folders. While you're at the store buy Avery product
#8366 which are white file folder labels. Prepare a
label with the name of your new sales prospect.
Imagine your prospect's reaction to seeing his name
on this red file folder. He will immediately consider
you professional, organized, successful, and different
from most other salespeople he has experienced in the
past.
A little thing with a big impact.
Thing you must do # 3:
You must have a written sales call objective for your
first sales call. Your written objectives for this sales
call can include: to build rapport, establish credibility,
to ask 3-5 open-ended questions, to identify one common
interest you share, and to secure agreement for your
second meeting.
Your written sales call objectives will scream
"Professionalism." By contrast most salespeople arrive
like a tourist just taking in the sights - pity the
poor sales prospect who must put up with this display
of mediocrity.
Thing you must do # 4:
To get the ball rolling, building rapport and
establishing credibility, I suggest you prepare and
practice 3 - 5 open-ended questions for your first
sales call with
a new sales prospect.
Nothing shows your interest more than the questions you
ask - so be sure to ask good questions.
You can start with . . . tell me about your business . . .
what are your responsibilities . . . in addition to you
who else is involved in making decisions for . . . what
are the biggest challenges you're facing growing your
business?
Once again asking these questions will demonstrate your
interest and professionalism and differentiate you from
most salespeople.
Thing you must do # 5:
If you enjoy playing the telephone tag game you can
immediately proceed to # 6. It's absolutely amazing
how many salespeople neglect to secure the meeting time
and date for the second meeting.
Once you have qualified your sales prospect as a potential
customer don't forget and never hesitate to ask for the
second meeting. Do not attempt improvisation. Prepare and
practice how you will ask for the second meeting.
Leaving the first sales call without arranging the second
sales
call is just plain stupid.
Thing you must do # 6:
This next thing is especially important if you happen
to be a serious person. Before you get out of your car
check your rearview mirror to make sure you're smiling.
Trust me, when you're caught in traffic, running a little
late, just ended a telephone call with a disgruntled
customer - please don't think you have a happy face on.
Check your mirror to check your smile before making
your first
sales call.
Thing you must do # 7:
Try this affirmation on for size "This will be my best
sales call ever to a new sales prospect."
Right after you check to make sure you're smiling saying
this affirmation fills your mind with positive thoughts
and words squeezing out any potential negativity.
You may not realize this but you are in complete control
of your thoughts. And of course you know how you think
is everything!
There's a huge difference between self-doubt and
self-confidence and both are controlled by your thoughts.
This affirmation creates the perfect mindset for a very
successful sales call.
Just try it once and see how much better you feel.
Now you know the 7 things you must do to prepare for
your first sales call. Believe it or not you now have
a 7-point system for making sales calls on new prospects.
Use this system to make every sales call better than
the last one.
Let's go sell something . . .
Entrepreneur's Corner
Last week I told you about a great shopping cart, it's
the one I use for my online business.
I couldn't believe the response I got for the free e-book
"How To Pick A Shopping Cart System That Makes You Money."
Here's the link again in case you missed seeing it last
week.
http://tinyurl.com/rczr3h
The number of responses I got just blew me away. I guess
a lot of people are seriously thinking about selling
products and services online. When the economy stinks a
lot of creative people give serious thought to becoming
an entrepreneur and starting their own business.
Well if you're selling or planning to sell online you'll
need a shopping cart and a website.
The people at SBI (Site Build It) do a phenomenal job
helping people set up their websites.
They make the entire process a no-brainer and you won't
believe the pricing.
You can take a look at the SBI website here:
Quick tour - http://quicktour.sitesell.com/Strategist.html
SBI summary - http://buildit.sitesell.com/Strategist.html
Favorite Quote
The man who stopped advertising to save money is like the
man who stopped the clock to save time.
Sanders Hickey
Follow my Twitters here:
Keep up with Jim's Twitters, rants and raves
plus a whole lot more . . .
http://twitter.com/jimmeisenheimer
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