Why prepare for a meeting?

  • September 17th, 2019
  • Blog

Why is pre call preparation so important?

We plan our weddings, vacations and retirement, yet we don’t plan for a sales conversation!

Often our livelihood depends on these conversations!

I believe the most successful salespeople plan on a regular basis.

Those most successful at selling are also humble. They always feel they could learn more and communicate better. That is why they take the time to prepare!

Before I started Peter Webb Sales Coaching, my spouse said I needed to invest time in planning. So I read “Dare to Prepare”.

Ron Shapiros (author, Dare to Prepare) said that the secret ingredient for getting into the winner’s circle is simply the discipline of methodical preparation: that old-school, step-by-step way of having all your ducks in a row, whether you are an executive getting ready to do a deal or make a speech; a pitcher studying the traits of opposing hitters and keeping a meticulous notebook of their strengths and weaknesses.

Jack Nicklaus probably one of the best golfers of all time said the single most important reason he won the number of major tournaments he did was his pre-tournament planning.

In today’s fast paced world, it’s not easy to find time to prepare for an important sales meeting. There are many distractions and we can easily convince ourselves that we can wing it and think on our feet.

Here are 3 reasons you should prepare for a sales meeting:

  • You will be more successful!
  • You will be more successful!
  • You will be more successful!

Peter’s three tips for Call Preparation:

#1 Have an objective

Write down your objective. Visualize yourself achieving your objective… Bianca Andreescu the current US Open Women’s Singles Champion, believed her disciplined visualization helped contribute to her success.

Have a backup objective. I learned this in a course called “Professional Selling Skills”.

Currently, for every important meeting I have a primary and backup objective. It’s a great feeling to look at those objectives after the call and see what’s been accomplished!

#2 Know what you want to Learn

Develop a list of open-ended questions. Write them down and practice asking them …you‘ll be so much more effective in the call.

#3 Be ready for all of the possible objections your client can have

It’s good to have a client raise objections!

Clients may communicate objections to your recommendation for a variety of reasons. It could be a misunderstanding. Perhaps timing is an issue. The client may feel the price is too high.

Before a call, think through potential objections to your recommendation. With a partner practice listening to these objections and practice your answers.

President John Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy Attorney General practiced their talks and role-played prior to a meeting. That’s good company!

I’m here to help you! Give me a call for assistance with preparation for sales calls!