Pre-Call Preparation: The 10 Commandments of Sales Success
Are you following the 10 commandments of sales success? Our new video series with Mark Trinkle introduces the 10 Commandments of Sales Success. Today we start with number one- Pre-Call Preparation.
Transcript:
Hi, this is Mark Trinkle, Chief Growth Officer with Anthony Cole Training Group, and welcome to the first in a 10-part series that we are calling the 10 Commandments of Sales Success. The first commandment is Thou shout never, ever skip pre-call preparation. Pre-call planning is one of the hallmarks of great salespeople, and it’s always interesting to me the answers we get around the country when we ask the question, “If you know you should do it, why aren’t you?” And we hear, “Well, I’m busy. Hey, I’m experienced. You know what, I’m gonna wing it. I’ve done this before. I’ll give it a few moments thought on the drive out to see the prospect or while I’m waiting to be seen in the lobby.” The bottom line is most salespeople think they’re going to rise to the occasion… you’re not gonna rise to the occasion.
You will rise or you will fall in direct proportion to your preparation. And pre-call planning doesn’t need to be anything that’s overly complicated. In fact, this slide has everything that you need to know because when it comes down to it, a pre-call plan is simply about you thinking about the questions you all ask your prospect and how you anticipate they’ll respond. It includes you spending some time thinking about what are the questions they’re likely going to ask you. And if they do ask, and how will you respond? Curve balls. You need to spend a few moments thinking about curve balls. Curve balls, by definition, quite frankly, those are the questions you’re hoping they won’t ask. Those are the questions that will make you nervous. Those are the questions that you would prefer to avoid, but you do need to spend a little bit of time planning how you will respond if a curve ball is tossed at you. And then the fourth element, role play. I know you’re not crazy about role play. I don’t love it myself, but it’s necessary. And in some cases, it is incredibly valuable and productive to actually role play with a colleague or your manager, on how that call is going to go. Are you willing to honor the first commandment? Remember thou shout, never ever fail to remember pre-call planning. Thanks for listening. Have a great day.
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