The Sales Training Series: Who Is This Customer Really?

The Sales Training Series: Who Is This Customer Really?n nA lot of salespeople are good at organizing. Some are even good at sales strategy. But very few know how to use those sales skills to devise an effective, repeatable plan for gaining commitment from customers—a plan that begins to take shape before you make your first sales call. If you can’t answer these questions before the call, uncover the answers during the call. The more you know about your client’s business before the call, the better equipped you are to ask excellent questions that uncover needs your products can address and that tell you how to present them in the form of a solution. Before making a sales call, do some digging (on Web sites, for example) to answer the questions on the prep list below. If you can’t answer them all before the call, at least you’ll know what information you need to dig for during the call.nnQuestions to Organize for the Call: What does the company do?nWhat does it currently buy from vendors similar to yours?nWhat are its key business issues (problems and opportunities)?nWhat does your individual customer do (the person upon whom you’re calling)?nWhat might be his or her personal stake in a solution you could provide?nnQuestions to Strategize for the Call: Who is my competition for this sale?nHow is my company or my product better?nWhat needs are most likely to exist for my solutions?nWhy will this customer buy? That is, what are the personal, emotional issues underlying the business needs?nWhat is the time frame for the customer’s buying decision?nWho makes the ultimate buying decision?nHow will the decision be made (e.g., in consultation with a group of stakeholders)?nnQuestions to Shape a Game Plan for the Call: What commitment do I intend to gain as a result of this call? (A buying decision? A future meeting with all of the decision-makers? Preferred-vendor status?)nWhat are the key sales questions I need to ask?nWhat ultimately will cause this person or company to buy from me? If you can answer all of those questions, you’re ready to make a professional sales call. If you don’t have all the answers yet, these are questions to ask during the call. Either way, you will be well organized, you will have a strategy, and you’ll have a solid game plan. When those pieces are in place, your chances of gaining commitment from the customer increase dramatically.nnIn The Field: “I’ve seen a definite improvement in the professionalism of my sales force since implementing the skills taught in the Action Selling Sales Training Program,” says Richard Grey, regional vice president of Rochester Midland Corp. The Rochester, N.Y., company sells specialty chemicals to a variety of markets through 33 branch offices in major U.S. cities. “Preparing for sales calls is far easier with the logical, step-by-step process of Action Selling,” Grey says. “It’s easy for our salespeople to remember and use. And the pre-call process that the program teaches reinforces the Action Selling techniques with every sales call.” Action Selling helps salespeople prepare the sales strategies and tactics needed to close more sales consistently. “It has been very valuable to Rochester Midland,” Grey says.nnAbout The Author: Duane Sparks is owner of www.TheSalesBoard.com, a sales training company that has trained and developed more than 200,000 salespeople in the Action Selling Sales Management Process. To improve the call preparation of your sales force, visit http://www.thesalesboard.com or call 1-800-232-3485.n