Pre call planning is for rookies. WRONG!
Experienced successful sales engineers know that call planning is the foundation for a successful telesales call.
Why you should create a telesales pre call plan
Call planning enables you, the seller, to accomplish your objectives and progress the sale forward. If you aren’t directed in your efforts, you may end up wasting both you and your customer’s time. In order to accomplish your objectives, you need to create a sales call plan.
What does a pre call plan look like?
With a clear goal and approach, a seller can control the direction of the call, move the sale forward, and avoid wasting valuable time. More on this in a second.
When should you create a pre call plan?
Generally, you should create a pre call plan before every telesales interaction. While this may not be completely realistic for every sales engineer, you should at a minimum aim to create a pre call plan before any engagement with a major customer or during prospecting efforts. Why? You MUST be prepared.
Where to document your pre call plan
Two popular tools to document your call plan (and take notes while on the call) are Evernote and OneNote. Both are great and selection often comes down to personal preference. We prefer OneNote.
How to create a telesales pre call plan
An effective pre call plan will have a clear goal and approach. The goal is the overall objective of the call (what you want to walk away from the call with) while the approach is how you will achieve your goal.
An example of pre call planning
Goal: The customer will…
Share information about her decision making process.
Approach: I will…
Ask about the customer’s role in the project.
Discuss who else needs to be brought in to the conversation.
Ask how they have made decisions like this in the past.
Notice that the goal is the objective and the approach is specifically how the goal will be accomplished.
To Recap…
Experienced sales engineers prepare before every telesales call. At a minimum, a pre call plan will consist of a clearly defined goal and approach. To collaborate with fellow professional sales engineers, visit the discussion boards.