You Have Planned, but Are You Prepared?

History has long confirmed that success is created by proper planning. Imagine a commercial pilot without a flight plan, a builder without blueprints, a coach without a game plan, or a sales entrepreneur without a business plan. Successful sales entrepreneurs plan their work and work their plan. They know the pitfalls of aimless activity, guesswork, or relying on occasional luck.

What's the difference between planning and preparing? I offer you Webster's definitions as well as my own. Webster's suggests that planning is: 1) to formulate a way to achieve or do. Preparing is: 1) to produce by combining elements or ingredients; 2) to make or get ready for some purpose. I augment Webster's definitions by suggesting that planning is doing the necessary things to arrive at the appointment ready to do business. Planning includes making the initial appointment, doing your precall homework, knowing your product, developing a sales call objective, and packing your briefcase with the appropriate tools, samples, and order forms. As Webster's says, "Formulate a way to achieve."

Preparation is being in a state of readiness once you arrive. Good preparation ensures that you are ready to perform guided by a sales call objective. Thus, by our definition, planning is stuff we do prior to the call and preparation is being ready to perform at the call. Customer feedback consistently tells us that sales representatives may have indeed planned, but they are seldom prepared. Once sales representatives have secured an appointment and confirmed the address, they rejoice in a false sense of accomplishment. At best their precall planning is weak and their preparation is nonexistent.

But don't be too quick to view planning and preparation as a laborious exercise. At first glance it may appear to be extra work, but compare it to the consequences of not planning and preparing. The consequences come in the form of longer sales cycles, repeat sales calls, and aimless activity. Good planning does not increase your workload but instead helps you to work more effectively and productively with less physical effort. You may end up with fewer appointments throughout the week, but the time spent planning and preparing will be rewarded with higher close ratios.

Successful entrepreneurial selling demands both planning and preparation. Remember, your Sequential Model allows no missing pieces.