Sales Call Planning

Planning The Sales Call:

Steps To A Successful
Approach
Figure 4.1:
The Personal
Selling Process
(PSP)

• The second
and third step
in the 7-stage
professional
personal selling
cycle
Why Plan the Sales Call?

"Failing to plan is planning to fail"

• an old saying with a lot of truth in it
Why Plan the Sales Call? (cont’d)

Top professional sales representatives thoroughly

plan all their sales calls to ensure success by
1.Establishing Sales Call Focus
Generate sales — sell particular products to target
customers on designated sales calls.
Develop the market — lay the groundwork for generating
new business by educating customers and gaining visibility
with prospective buyers.
Protect the market — learn competitors’ strategies and
tactics and protect relationships with current customers.
Why Plan the Sales Call? (cont’d)

2. Improving Effectiveness and Efficiency

3. Preparing for Customer Reaction
4. Enhancing Self-Confidence and Professionalism
5. Determining Which Selling Strategies to Use
6. Avoiding Errors
Sales Call Planning Importance
Sales call planning increases in importance when
• the customer's decision is a complex, high-involvement,
high risk one;
• future interactions and negotiations with the customer
are expected;
• the customer's needs are unique;
• a range of alternatives is available to the customer; and
• the sale is very critical to the salesperson.
Planning for the Sales Call: Six Steps to Pre- Approach Success

There are at least six general steps that

ought to be considered in preparing for a
sales call
1. Prepare the prospect for the initial sales call
"Seeding"
prospect-focused activities carried out several hours, day or
weeks before a sales call
2. Sell the Sales Call Appointment by pre-
notification
cold call
e-mail
fax
mail
telephone
Planning for the Sales Call: Six Steps to Pre- Approach Success (cont’d)

3. Gather and analyze all relevant

information about the prospect
Gathering Information About Consumer
Prospects
Consumer credit bureaus
Market research
Library sources
Gathering Information About Organizational
Prospects
In-house purchasing agents
Electronic directories and databases
Library sources
Planning for the Sales Call: Six Steps To Pre- Approach Success (cont’d)

4. Identify the prospect's problems

and needs
Organizational Problems and Needs
SPIN approach
Situation
Problem
Implication
Needs Payoff
5. Choose the Best Sales Presentation
Strategy
6. Rehearse Your Approach
Initial Sales Call Reluctance – Sales Stage Fright

One of the biggest problems new salespeople

face is fear of making the initial contact with
prospects
Sales Call Anxiety (SCA)
SCA (sales call anxiety) can be attributed the fear of being negatively
evaluated and rejected by customers

SCA has 4 components

1. negative evaluation of the self
2. imagined negative evaluations from customers
3. one’s physiological symptoms
4. protective actions
Overcoming Sales Call Reluctance

• Many of the barriers to making sales calls can

be overcome through the following efforts
– Listen carefully to the excuses other salespeople use to justify call
reluctance and learn to objectively analyze your own excuses
– Use supportive role-playing and discussions with sales colleagues to
overcome fear
– Make some initial prospect contacts with a partner for support; then make
calls without partner support
Overcoming Sales Call Reluctance

– Review and re-enact recent sales calls with sales colleagues to

constructively critique performance for signs of progress
– Shift the focus from individual prospect personalities to sales objectives by
setting them down in writing prior to making a sales call
– Rehearse sales calls with sales colleagues to reinforce positive behaviors
– Observe and model the behavior of successful salespeople
 LORD GANESH JI

Lord Ganeshji’s big head inspires us to

Think big and think about the customer

The big ears prompt us to

Listen to the needs of the customer

The narrow eyes point to

Deep concentration to do what the
customer wants well and quickly

The long nose tells us to

Poke around inquisitively to learn
what the customer wants

The small mouth reminds us to

Speak less and listen to the customer

Worship Lord Ganeshji

Learn to worship your customer
 Approaching the Prospect

The old saying that "you never get a

second chance to make a first
impression" indicates how important that
first face-to-face contact with the
prospect can be
Greeting the Prospect

• Mood
– positive
• Facial Expression
– warmly smiling with mouth and eyes
• Proper Body Posture
• Good Handshake
• Presenting Your Business Card
Interaction with the Receptionist

What determines whether salespeople receive the

receptionist’s assistance or not is dependent on the
behavior they exhibit with that person.

A common complaint of many buyers is that salespeople

are oftentimes rude, particularly to receptionists. So,
professional deportment with the receptionist is critical.
Improving One’s Self-image

Because failure is so prominent in selling,

salespeople may need to reprogram
themselves so that they can focus on their
successes rather than on their failures.
Key Terms

Preapproach
The approach planning stage of the selling process.
Approach
The first face-to-face contact with the prospect.
Seeding
Prospect-focused activities, such as mailing pertinent
news articles, carried out several Days or Weeks
before a sales call.
Pre-notification
A technique using an in-person cold call, a mailing, or
a telephone call to send a strong signal to the
prospect that the salesperson would like to schedule a
sales call appointment.
Key Terms (cont’d)

Cold Call
Initial face-to-face contact with a prospect who is not
expecting the salesperson to call.
SPIN
A selling technique that allows the salesperson to
identify a prospect’s major needs quickly. The acronym
refers to Situation, Problem, Implications, and Needs
payoff.
Customer-Benefit Approach
An approach whereby the salesperson offers the
prospect a specific benefit that can be realized from
using the salesperson’s product.
 Key Terms (cont’d)

Survey Approach
An approach whereby the salesperson asks the
prospect to answer a few survey questions, the
responses to which establish quickly whether or
not the prospect has a need for the salesperson’s
product.
Open call and build rapport

Senser - Dominator Thinker - Analyst

- Gets to the point quickly - Just the facts
- Impatient, not a good listener - Detail-orientated
- Very self-confident & results-orientated - Quantitative, not qualitative

Then: Use quick summaries, simple charts, focus Then: Use facts, spreadsheets, graphs, back
on results up your ideas with facts

Understand personality
styles
Feeler - Friends Intuitor - Planner
- People are the key, focuses on relationships - Long-range thinker, focuses on
more than results implications/consequences
- Values the “whole” person; diversity, - Creative, reaches beyond facts
participation, involvement
Then: Create value with creative solutions that
Then: Invest time in the relationship, show include longer-range implications and/or
positive impact on people consequences
Investigate and prioritize needs
Ask open-ended questions 

WHAT
WHAT WHEN

WHY HOW

WHERE WHO
 Possible sales call questions
1 5
st
01
minutes
are critical
STEP 1
Step 1:
 Ask for a reflected ceiling plan: “Tell
me about the project”
 Ask about design intent (what are
they trying to achieve/focus/
requirements): “What is your
current design intent?”
 Ask about drawing and explain
certain elements of interest
 Always complement on architect’s
work: fe. “That looks interesting”
Reflected ceiling
plan
Project
questions
02
questions
STEP 3
STEP 2
Step 2: Use discovery questions
starting with “What”
 Name and location of project, owner
occupied or tenant/leased
 Type of building contract
(traditional, design build etc)
 Quantity (m2) and estimated ship
date or completion date
 Current stage of the project?
(concept, design, construction
documents, bid/tender)
 What is the tender process? Is
there a GC/main contractor
appointed?
Summarise and close
03
STEP 5
Step 4:  Use confirming
questions
STEP 4
 Discuss possible
solutions, show samples
(at the end of the
discussions)
 ALWAYS establish next
step, mockup, pricing,
detail drawings,
samples, etc
 Who’s making the
Step 3: Use open-ended questions like “Who, what, when decisions on the
and where” ceilings?
 Building module, ceiling module, if non-standard “Why?”
 Follow-up – confirm
 Acoustical requirements? Partitions go to deck? Open or
proposals and solution
closed plan lay-out? Level of privacy desired?
options in writing (email),
 Type of grid they are thinking about (concealed or exposed,
attach in SFDC: “When
width 15mm or 24mm)?
 Access/maintenance requirements is best to contact you or
 Type of lighting (direct or indirect, fixture size), HVAC fixture follow-up with you?”
sizes
 What types of ceiling materials are you considering (MF,
fibreglass, metal, wood etc)?
 Budget for ceilings, total installed cost (material and labour)
 Other concerns or considerations, past situations you wish to
avoid? Quantify?
 Other special areas or applications, lobby, corridors,
conference rooms, café areas etc. Any highlight or statement
areas in the project?
 Specifications: Influence them early!
1. Lead generation: Find the jobs!
• Learn about projects before any competitors
2. Pre-call planning: DO IT.
• Find out as much as you can and plan your call
• Ask process questions to expose decision makers and process for selection
3. Appointments: Make them!
• Why would a customer want to see you?
• See every customer you think may influence decisions - owner, main contractor, acoustician, etc.
4. Follow: Need – strategy – product. Ask questions!
• Discover needs or help customers discover their needs
• Associate your unique solutions to solve customers’ problems
• Never assume you know what’s best for them
5. Plans: Ask to see them on every call
• Doctors see patients, they don’t prescribe over the phone. Plans are like a patient.
• Ask ahead of time if they can have a set of plans with them for the call
6. Listen: Focus on what they say
• If you’re talking more than they are, you’re talking too much
• What are the critical decision criteria that architect or owner is using?
 Specifications: Influence them
You’ve made a couple of calls, now you need to reinforce the selection for Armstrong!
1. Spec writer: Find out who is writing the spec and how they are writing it
• Don’t let your hard work get marginalised – know why your product was specified
• Be helpful! Remember, a poorly-written/coordinated specification = lower-quality product, potential claim
• Ask for draft spec from architect. You can assist them by proofing their document to ensure there are no loop
holes for contractors and that they are going to get what they are asking/paying for!
2. Letters: Write them
• A follow-up letter reinforcing why a product was selected is critical
• Include a guide specification or short form spec or proprietary language so they can get the quality they
specified
3. Competition: Beat them with basis of design
• Basis of design specifications with approved equals keeps the decision-making power in the architect’s
hands, not the sub-contractor’s!
• Avoid mentioning competition unless necessary or architect brings up!
4. Budget: Don’t just hope they have one
• If they can’t afford it, you won’t sell it. Verify they have the money
• If it feels like a VE potential, suggest an alternate bid be added. This puts the power in the architect’s/owner’s
camp rather than the sub-contractor’s
 Track and defend specifications
1. Draft specification: Get it in writing
• Ask to have a copy of the specification – you’ll see if your work paid off
• Project specifications help you figure out a closing strategy
2. Addendums: Get in them.
• If you’re not specified, get added. Most require 10 days prior to bid
3. Competitive specifications: Break them if possible. Note they are time consuming!
• Alternate  Addendum  Mock up  Money
• It’s not your spec so your goal is to win. This may mean using price?
4. Submittals: Track them.
• You can’t defend what you don’t know. Stay close to the contractor to find out what they intend to use
• Competitive submittals (stay in front of them). Help the architect know how they can reject them
5. Downstream chase - know the critical players
• Touch as many players on the project team that could influence the ceiling decision
• GC, CM, owner rep, consultant etc.
6. Experience: Learn from it.
• You will lose jobs. Find out what happened and why – use it to learn how to be better next time!
Consultative selling tips for architects

 Plan project calls to be 15-20 minutes, don’t oversell and

respect their time

 Ask open-ended questions about specialty areas and

transitions. Listen for customer needs? Discuss relevant
installation details

 Probe their need to access, privacy, module size, lights and air
diffuser sizes etc

 Reference industry knowledge and experience

 Apply “unique” product capabilities to fit customer needs

 Summarise solutions by application and how they satisfy

customers’ needs

 Discuss effective specification options to ensure their client is

able to get what they require and avoid inferior substitutions.
Questioning
Rep So, thank you for seeing me today.
ArchNo problem. So what can I do for you?
Rep I would like to talk about the new hospital project.

ArchYou mean the St Paul Hospital addition? Notes on

Rep Yes. What are you planning to use in the corridor effectiveness of
salesperson.
and patient room areas? What could have
ArchWell, our plan is to use some plasterboard ceiling been done
differently?
Rep I see. Did you know that we have suspended ceilings
that would work very well in all those areas?
ArchNo, but we don’t want to make a change at this time. The
designer has selected the lighting and paint colours and
any changes must be approved by the owner
Typical scenario: meeting with an architect

Tell me what you

have and what’s
new ?

Oops… how should I

start
 Typical scenario: meeting with an architect

Let me tell you

everything I know
about ceilings!

Does this look attractive if you were the architect?

Understanding the specifier’s needs

“Are you trying to sell something or

are you trying to help solve a problem?“

The art of asking the right questions

 The post selling close…
I recently purchased a car. Less than 72 hours of bringing the car
home. This is the letter I received.
Dear Mr. Khetarpal,
This is just to thank you for your courtesy and the trust and
confidence that you placed in buying the car from Vivek
automobiles yesterday. I very much enjoyed talking to you. I am
proud that you are now the owner of a car from our showroom. I
am sure that you will be pleased with the performance of the
vehicle. I shall be in touch with you in the future to see if I can be
of any service to you. If you should need any assistance of any
kind please feel free to contact me.

Yours truly,
This letter gives assurance to me that I purchased the right car. It
also told me that the dealership appreciates my needs and will
look after my interests.
 The post selling close…
Activity

You have just made your first sale to your customer …

What letter post sale would you write to him so that you create a
long term relationship.