What We Need to Know

The more information we gather prior to the call the better we can plan and prepare for the call. Your product or service may very well help the customer's world move forward, but initially the customer sees you as an intrusion, an interruption. It is even worse if you arrive unprepared and ill-equipped. However, by being prepared and ready to advance the sale, your customer will be flattered by your interest and will begin to relax the barriers and perhaps even entertain your ideas. Advanced planning allows you to differentiate yourself. I am not suggesting that at the planning stage you learn intimate details about your potential customer, but rather that you acquire a conversational understanding of his or her business. Specific details come later. You need to familiarize yourself with the macro-issues of the business. Planning is knowing the following pieces of information.

type of business( its competition )

what it does ( private or public company )

location( current vendor—how long )

head office ( political landscape )

branch offices ( hiring or firing )

distribution channels ( organizational chart)

markets ( decision process )

number of employees ( decision maker )

how long in business


I'm sure there are several other issues, but this list certainly guides you in the right direction. Use this as your precall checklist. Customers no longer have the time nor the patience to educate sales representatives.

I'm sure there are several other issues, but this list certainly guides you in the right direction. Use this as your precall checklist. Customers no longer have the time nor the patience to educate sales representatives.

I have personally experienced the plight of no planning. With hesitation, I share my story. A few years ago I was trying to get an appointment to see Mr. Ray, VP of sales with a large Calgary company. I was selling sales training. Mr. Ray was the decision maker (bag of money) and it took weeks to finally connect with him. My persistence paid off with a 7 AM appointment. I arrived at 6:50 AM planned and prepared, or so I thought. Ten minutes into the call, Mr. Ray looked me straight in the eye and asked, "So, what can you tell me about my company?" I responded with my usual, "That's why I'm here, to learn more about your operation and your specific sales training requirements." Mr. Ray then said, "That's nice, but what can you tell me about my company?" With terrifying speed, I realized my dilemma. I put down my pen and responded with a deafening, "Nothing." Busted! I didn't know a darn thing about his company, didn't even know what they did. What the heck, wasn't it easier to just jump in the car and show up to another sales appointment? Mr. Ray wasn't finished. He knew I was selling sales training so he pondered for a moment (I'm sure it was 20 minutes!) and then asked: "Sales training, eh? Can you teach my representatives to show up unprepared?" I thought I was going to die. I'm not sure what color my face turned, but it was either red, white, or blue. It was 7:15 in the morning and I was experiencing the call from hell. Needless to say, I was utterly embarrassed. Oh, the joys of professional selling. If this situation hasn't happened to you, consider yourself fortunate. The customer hasn't tested you.

This has never happened to me again and it never will. That experience proved to be one of my most valuable lessons of entrepreneurial selling; the value of planning. All I needed to satisfy Mr. Ray's question was this: "Your company is in the business of data management and has been since 1977. Your head office is in Houston and your Canadian office is in Calgary with approximately 40 employees." I'm sure Mr. Ray would have been satisfied with my conversational knowledge of his business and the call would have proceeded. I would have earned the right to continue.

By the way, after about 30 minutes with me doing the backstroke in Mr. Ray's office, he finally agreed to evaluate our seminars by attending himself. We eventually did business.

I want to make it clear at this stage that we are not out to identify our customers' specific needs and requirements or identify how we can help them out. We can't possibly learn their specific needs until we meet them face-to-face and conduct a needs analysis by asking a series of probes. Annual reports and company brochures do not reveal customer needs. Only customers themselves can reveal their specific needs. Our precall planning is done to reveal only the macro-issues of their business. Face-to-face dialogue with the customer is the only means available to reveal the micro-issues, such as specific requirements, nuances, ,and particular needs.