Natural Entrepreneur: Professional Goals for a Sales Call

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Professional Goals for a Sales Call

Making a professional sales call means conducting a sales interview

-- by Kevin Hallenbeck, Sandler Sales Institute/BestSalesPeople.com, Bedford, NH

You’re a “Professional”, not a "Salesman". Still, you sell your services, right? Are you comfortable doing it?

You phone a prospect and request “just 15 minutes of your time”. (After all, when they see the value of your service, you’ll be hired!) Now you rehearse your demonstration covering all the benefits of your service. For any benefit that can not be demonstrated, you bring along literature!

Since 15 minutes was allocated for this meeting, the first order of business is to perform the demonstration, quickly, excitedly. You work yourself up for this. You conduct A Million-Dollar Demonstration! Presentation completed, probing questions asked, you ask for the order using some carefully rehearsed closing technique. Result: Order or no order, you are left confused and harried!

Sound familiar? Try this instead:

On the initial phone call, ask, “Would it be alright if I ask you a few questions?” Devise questions that would let you know if the prospect has a good reason to buy your service.
If the prospect has a reason to buy your service, ask when they would like to invite you in? With him or her, set realistic goals for your meeting, including a reasonable amount of time and permission to ask lots of questions.
At the meeting, omit the demonstration. Instead, (after getting permission) ask questions to get to know the prospect and their business.
Once you are certain that you understand the prospect’s business and that your professional services can help them, ask this question; “What would you like me to do now?”

The goal is to sell the product/service if appropriate, not to provide an education through demonstrations. The professional salesperson knows this and works with a system. A system allows you to conduct an interview designed to reveal relevant information and lead to a logical conclusion: Sale or No Sale. There is no confusion, and… a “professional” comfort level is maintained.

Kevin Hallenbeck is President of BestSalesPeople.com in Bedford, NH., an affiliate of Sandler Sales Institute. Kevin conducts sales and sales management training. Contact Kevin by phone at 603-472-9195 or email kevinh@bestsalespeople.com To attend a free seminar conducted by Kevin, please visit www.bestsalespeople.com for information and online registration.

Upcoming Events

Feb 21 (8-9:30a): NH Forum on the Future, NHHTC, CR Sparks, Bedford, NH

March 1 (6:30-8:30p): Women's Business Center and MicroCredit-NH Networking Event, Bank of America, Portsmouth, NH

March 6 (10a-noon): Growth Capital Resources in New Hampshire, City of Nashua, Office of Economic Development, Daniel Webster College, Nashua, NH

March 8: (12pm -1pm) Break the Rules and Close More Sales, Amoskeag Business Incubator, Manchester, NH

March 16: Peak Pitch (pitch your plan to invstors on the chairlift), Mt. Sunapee, NH ($)

March 22: Breaking Trends in Web Develoment, UVCIA, Hanover, NH ($)

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