Customer visit checklist

This customer visit action plan is designed for sales persons, helping them to look and behave
correctly during visiting their potential customers in order of making good impression, and
representing their products/services in the best manner. This customer visit action plan contains
recommendations on the following:
1) Personal preparative customer visit plan;
2) Business-related preparative customer visit plan;
3) Behavior during customer visits;

Personal preparative customer visit plan:

 Schedule a visit with your potential customer. Agree its duration.
Plan and agree a specific day and time to have a meeting with your customer(s). If you have
several customers per day avoid composing tight customer visit agenda to avoid any time conflicts.
 Before the visit get a good night sleep to have clear mind and to look fresh.
 Prepare your business attire (make it clean and ready to be worn).
Select appropriate clothing reasoning from the type of customer you are visiting.
 Make sure of bathing, cleaning your shoes, having good smell (but not overdo with perfumes!).
 Decide in advance how you will get to the customer's location.
 Estimate how long it may take to get there.
Depart beforehand, so if you lose your way, you have some time to resolve this and not to be late.
 Take city map with you and write there your routs and directions.
 Get clear on procedures required to pass reception/security desk without problems.
Know about regime of visitors allowance established on the object where customer’s office is
located, you may need to carry some documents or invitation with you to get a pass for entering the
building.
 If you are a smoker, avoid visiting customer with cigarette smell on your clothes.
If you smoke or drink coffee, don’t forget to brush your teeth or chew some gum after this.
 Eat a light, but energetic breakfast.
Obviously, do not eat some smelly foods like onion, garlic etc.
 Have extra visiting cards for receptionists to help them to announce your arrival if required.
 Arrive at the customer's location at least 15 minutes earlier than it was scheduled.
 Right before the contact check your appearance in the mirror and make sure that your hands are
clean.
 Smile, be polite, personable and keep friendly behavior with everyone whom you may meet.

Business-related preparative customer visit plan:

 Thoroughly prepare the main object of your presentation, including samples etc.
For example if you are going to present the software product, prepare your laptop beforehand,
ensure if it is clean, everything is workable etc.
 Prepare your company literature and put it into a packet that you can hand to your customer and
present to him/her.
This package may include current catalog of products and services, your calling card, customer
visit letter, quotation and other promotional materials.
 It is better to supplement all customer visits with certain presents and souvenirs.
It is desirable to include into your customer package some special free souvenirs decorated with
your company or product colors, logo etc.
 Compose and follow your customer visit program.
Reasoning from the customer’s specificity, create and confirm step-by-step plan of how you are
going to represent your products/services in a favourable light.
 Compose your speech with regard to customer’s requirements.
Your presentation should be brief, meaningful and object-related, explaining to the customer things
that he/she would be interested to know.
 Set customer visit objectives and outline them in a customer visit report form (customer visit
report template).
Customer visit report format can be predefined by your organization, or if you are a freelancer, you
may design your own to control your performance.

How to behave during customer visits:

 Divide your presentation in two main parts – introductory speech and dialog with the customer.
Politely communicate to customer that you would like to take some time introducing your product
(with regard to customers needs), and then you will be glad to answer any questions.
 When conducting presentation speak slowly and clearly.
 Stay calm and friendly no matter what is happening.
If your speech is interrupted with some question or remark, politely answer without any debating.
 No way stress customer’s mind with a flow of excessive information, unintelligible facts and
terms.
Abstruse talking won’t make you sound more competent, but on the contrary can make your
customer tired very soon, and even create an impression that you are trying to baffle or trick him.
 Pay courteous attention to all customer’s wishes and questions.
 When answering make eye contact as much as possible.
 Make sure that customer’s interest is satisfied and no unclear points remain.
 Make sure that all necessary messages are clearly communicated to potential customer.
 When presentation is finished thank the attendees for their attention and make sure again that all
questions are answered.
 Get clear on the next steps. Make sure that customer has all samples and business information.
Often, customers would like to have some time for considering your business offerings.
 Follow up with your potential customer by sending them a thank you note, or making a personal
call.
 Fill up the customer visit report to check if all goals are reached.
 Make a copy of your customer visit report. Provide your superiors with one customer visit
report sample while another one keep with you.