Why Prepare for Sales Appointments?

Why Prepare for Appointments?

Scheduling appointments with prospects is hard work. You not only have to arm-wrestle with gatekeepers, but then you have to contend with voice-mail. But eventually, whether by sheer persistence or a little luck, you get through to the intended prospects and you schedule appointments. All of those efforts, however, are wasted if you’re not properly prepared for those appointments.

How do you properly prepare?

The preparation process actually begins before you schedule the appointments. That’s right…BEFORE you schedule the appointments—before you even make the first prospecting call. It starts by specifically targeting your prospects. Doing a little research if necessary and identifying market segments for which you know your product or service is particularly well suited. With a target market segment in mind, you will need to develop two groups of questions to ask during the resulting conversations.

The first group of questions will help identify specific problems prospects are attempting to solve or goals they’re attempting to achieve—areas in which your product or service is highly effective. Here’s an example:

Lately, we’ve had a number of requests from companies in your industry to help them develop cost-effective methods for complying with the new EPA requirements for storage and disposal of industrial solvents. Has your company established such an initiative yet?

The second group of questions will reveal aspects of your product or service that help prospects with their efforts, and establish reasons for them to meet with you. Here’s an example of such a question:


Would there be any value in exploring the specific ways we’ve helped other companies not only minimize the impact of the new compliance requirements, but at the same time substantially reduce their recurring solvent expenditures… and then determine if those methods would work for your company?

Asking, and obtaining answers to these questions will facilitate scheduling appointments that are decidedly relevant and focused for both you and the prospect. In other words, they represent substantially more than suggestions by prospects to “Stop by when you’re in the area.” And, they are more productive than those appointments where you have pleasant conversations and leave literature which, after the meetings, is promptly filed away, and just as promptly forgotten.

There's more to do.

After you schedule the appointments, there’s still more preparation work to do. You should learn as much about the prospects as possible. Visit the companies’ web sites. Google the key players and learn what you can about them. Check the web sites of trade associations to which the prospects might belong and search for articles about them or submitted by them. The more you know about the prospects, the more intelligent and relevant the discussions will be.
More questions.

Just as you prepared questions for the initial prospecting call conversations, you should prepare questions to ask during the appointments—questions that will control the subject matter and direction of the conversations.

Develop the questions you’ll ask or third-party stories you’ll tell to expand on the initial reasons for meeting and help prospects discover specific reasons to do business with you. Also, decide on the strategy and questions you’ll use to obtain the additional information required to fully qualify the opportunity—investment issues or timing of a buying decision, for instance. You need not memorize each and every question. But, you should begin the appointments with a sense of how and when you will bring up the relevant topics.

And finally...

Be prepared to ask for a commitment—whether it’s to take the next step in the selling process or to make a buying decision. All the preparation is for nothing if you leave things open-ended at the conclusion of the meeting. Be prepared with a specific strategy and specific questions to ask.
So, why prepare for your appointments?

The more you prepare for appointments, the more control you’ll have over the selling process. The more control you have over the selling process, the more frequently you’ll “go to the bank.” And, that’s a pretty good reason.

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Thank you to Steve D'Agostino from Avega - http://www.avega.ca/ for sharing this article with me!
 
Happy Selling!
 
Susan

Cold Calling: How many calls should you be able to make an hour?

So how many cold calls should you or your team be expected to make in an hour? The answer has many variables. Depends if you are selling B2B (Business to Business) or B2C (Business to Consumer). It depends if you are using a CRM, how many fields and/or pages you have to fill out. Is your list is ready or are you making it up on the fly.

The short answer is 12 - 15 calls an hour.

In a perfect world your list would be prepared, you would know who you were calling and your introductions ready. If you are using a CRM, your list is in the CRM and you are using a filter so you can make one click to pull up your next lead record.

It can take 1 to 4 minutes to dial and reach your intended target. (Depends on if you have to go through a switch board or direct dial.) Depends on if you know who you are asking for or if ou are fishing for a contact. It will take another minute or so to leave a message and if you are a good multi tasker, you would have been entering or writing notes.

A minimum of 2 minutes a call x 12 calls = 24 minutes
At 5 minutes a call X 12 calls = 60 minutes

You can see how an hour can get used up pretty quickly.

If you are lucky, you will get someone who is interested in your service and you may only make 8 calls but gain a qualified prospect.

Here are some tips on Cold Calling Best Practices:
- Have your list ready and if you are interested in making commission, do your lists outside of prime cold calling hours.
- Make your notes while you are on the call if possible. As you are listening to hold music or waiting to leave a message.
- Make good notes when you find a prospect. Outline hot buttons, objectives, other buying influencers in the organization and the general conversation. If you are making 50 + cold calls a day, you can't remember everything. Your notes will save you!
- Don't stop! Don't stop for a coffee, don't start a follow up email, set a minimum number of calls or a time frame and stick with your goal
- Get their email address and set a follow up. Even if they are not interested, set a follow up for 6 to 9 months out. Their requirements may have changed or your contact may have left the company which makes a new opportunity.
- Do your follow up emails during non peak cold calling hours. Maximize your time.

If you look at the math, if you generate one more cold call a day x 220 work days and your close ratio is 10% - you could generate 22 more sales a year. If your sales are worth $1,000 = $22,000 more in sales.

1 extra call a day could be the tipping point to bigger commissions!

Good luck and happy calling!

Susan Corcoran

What truly Motivates People?

This is a fascinating study on motivation and what truly moves people to achievement.

Every entrepreneur should watch this. This is the future

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=channel

If you like this video, RSAnimates.org has many topics such as Freakanomics, How the Past Present and Future shape actions, Left Brain/Right Brain etc.

Time well spent.

All the best,

Susan Corcoran

Glass Door: What are your employees saying about you?

www.GlassDoor.com is an unmoderated web site where employees can post comments and feed back about their employer.

I have to admit, I had a good laugh. I looked up my old employer, NetSuite, and there were, in my opinion, a few truths as well as just a lot of disenchanted people looking to vent.

For Example:

“Roll the Dice” written be a former NetSuite Toronto Sales Rep.

Pros
interesting product
SaaS is hot
not a lot of competitors in space

Cons

management steers good leads to its favorites
churn and burn approach to reps
selling to micro companies, less than $10 million in revenue
former uk based vp of sales was a jerk
oracle wannabe
immature attitude
being successful seems to be more a matter of luck than skill and hard work (and having manager feed you the good leads)
Advice to Senior Management

grow up; treat sales people well

To avoid going line by line, I will keep it short. Clearly an unsuccessful rep looking to deflect lack of achievement. Managers can't feed leads. The lead queue is automated by the NetSuite software. In my opinion, they held on to too many bad reps out of affection or sheer hope they could turn it around.

The VP from the UK, Dean, was a jerk. BUT, he was a jerk with a purpose. Skillfully delivered Simon Cowels (American Idol) type communication style which he executed on flawlessly. His tirades were legendary! Like Good Cop Bad Cop. He was the bad cop and I will tell you, he scared people straight and kept the soldiers in line. He was/is a GENIUS. If you take the fact that he has a photographic memory into account, he was the hired gun slinger that made sure reports were accurate, Managers managed their reps and the company objectives were moved forward. You could never pull a fast one on him. He could recall every detail of previous meetings and nail your coffin shut with your own words. Silly rabbit, look beyond the "jerk" and think about what people do and why they do it! He is probably one of the smartest, most effective people I have ever worked with. Now don't confuse respect for fondness, because I didn't bond with him either. If you take the personality out of the job and ask, did he do his job? The answer is - better than anyone.

If you are looking for a few moments of entertainment, look up some old employers, but remember, this is for entertainment only. Truth here is warped like a good movie script.

All the best,

Susan

The 8 Secrets to Success

Every once in a while I come across a truly brilliant diamonds of wisdom. This is one of these diamonds.

The premise is a young person asking "what leads to success". After 7 years and 500 interviews, here are the 8 secrets to success.

http://daily.finerminds.com/success/8-secrets-to-success-richard-st-john-te/

Enjoy!

Susan Corcoran

How to be more effective

I came across one little nugget of a tip on how to be more effective - the one handed password.

If you have a password for your PDA, Black Berry or iPhone, consider choosing a password that you can one thumb. Same with your lap top. Consider a password that you can enter using one hand. Saving the other hand for holding that all important coffee!

Feel Felt Found: Objection Handling for Sales

‘Feel Felt Found’ is a common method used by top salespeople to overcome objections. It first empathizes with the prospects objection, then relates to how others have had the same objection while sharing a positive outcome.

FEEL: This first step shows you care and lets them feel understood and their concern is acknowledged: "I know just how you feel." "I understand your point" "I get it!"

FELT: The next step lets them know that they’re not alone and that others have felt this way: "Some of our clients have felt that same way."

FOUND: Now provide examples of how those clients overcame their concerns, discovered how good your product/service was for them and vindicated their decision to buy with a successful outcome: "However, what they found was…"

Prospects may give false objections which needs to understood. Objections are an important part of the sales process and must happen in order to get to a close. Ask if they have any other concerns or queries. Then you can address them all. Don't' be afraid to keep asking until every conceivable objection has been uncovered. Handling objections calmly, rationally and with confidence will build credibility and rapport as you add another deal to the board!

Happy selling!

Susan Corcoran