Stop "Winging it" and Start Preparing

If you needed a defence lawyer, would you hire the solicitor who said, “I’m just going to rely on my charm and years of experience to argue your points. I’m really convincing in a courtroom situation, so I’ll just wing it.”?

If you boarded a flight, would you stay on the plane if the pilot announced, “We’ve had a really busy day, so we’re going to do this one without a flight plan. I’ve flown this route successfully before, so I’ll just wing it today.”?

If you needed an operation, would you use the doctor who told you, “I’ll figure out exactly what I’m going to do after I cut you open. I’m pretty good at surgery, so I’ll just wing it.”?

We don’t tolerate lack of preparation from others, so it stands to reason that we certainly wouldn’t tolerate lack of preparation from ourselves, right? Wrong.

Every day there are herds of people who make sales calls unprepared. Lack of preparation is a potential precursor to disaster whether you’re a lawyer, a pilot, a surgeon or a salesperson.

You must prepare before making sales calls

The unprepared salesperson engages in sales-stifling behaviours. He doesn’t know anything about his prospect. He isn’t prepared to ask intelligent, probing questions. He doesn’t have the proper literature, sales tools or samples with him. He hasn’t mastered his delivery of a smooth sales presentation. And he has lousy responses when he hears common objections.

Here’s how you can use the time before your next sales call to maximize your chances of advancing the sale by preparing thoroughly:

1. Learn about your prospect

Visiting your prospect’s website is a good start. Try “Googling” the company name or product names to get information about their marketplace. Learn about any challenges that might be facing your prospect’s industry.

2. Ask intelligent questions

Use the info you gathered to help prepare intelligent questions. With your product and service in mind, prepare questions that uncover challenges you can help them solve. Be ready to ask follow-up questions that probe even further.

3. Polish your presentation

Never prepare a canned, memorised presentation. Your prospect will see right through it and feel like the 100th person this week to hear that pitch from you. Instead, prepare talking points that are flexible enough to be interwoven into a sales discussion.

4. Utilize your sales tools

In the classic Batman television show, the one starring Adam West, it was impressive that the superhero always had exactly what he needed within easy reach on his utility belt. Before facing off with the dastardly Mr. Freeze, Batman made sure that he had ice-thawing Batspray on his hip.

When you’re selling, anticipate the tools you’ll need in each upcoming encounter so that, like Batman, you can pull out the right tool at the right time. Be sure you have the right samples, literature and other resources readily available.

5. Overcoming objections

Sales managers tell you to anticipate the objections you might hear from customers. That’s fine, but anticipating is not enough. You need a well thought out plan for responding effectively to the objections you anticipate.

What are the five most popular objections you encounter? What are the five toughest objections you hear? Invest a couple of hours in developing great responses to those objections and watch your sales success rates rise.

There aren’t too many volunteer salespeople around. By default, that makes the rest of us professional salespeople. As professionals we must be prepared to demonstrate the professional level of service and preparedness that will help us succeed.

If you decide to “wing it” on your next sales call, a well-prepared competitor might be the one who writes the order with your prospect.

About the Author
Al Uszynski is a sales trainer and author of “15 Ways to Grow Your Sales Tomorrow” - a proven, quick-start sales training program that ignites immediate sales growth. If you want to grow your sales - immediately – visit www.GrowYourSalesTomorrow.com. To learn how Al's professional sales presentations can supercharge your next sales meeting visit www.Uszynski.com