Pre-Approach: Steps to a

Successful Approach

Session 12
By: Arpan Anand
Pre-Approach
 Importance of Planning the Sales Call

“Failing to plan is planning to fail”

Top professional sales representatives thoroughly plan all their sales calls to ensure success by:
a) Establishing sales call objectives
b) Improving effectiveness and efficiency
c) Preparing for customer reaction
d) Enhancing self-confidence and professionalism
e) Determining which selling strategies to use
f) Avoiding errors
 A. Establishing Sales Call Objectives
• When establishing objectives for a sales call, set:
Primary
Primary objectives
objectives
(targeted
(targeted outcome)
outcome)

Minimum
Minimum objectives
objectives
(lowest
(lowest acceptable
acceptable outcome)
outcome)

Optimal
Optimal objectives
objectives
(best
(best possible
possible outcome)
outcome)
 A. Establishing Sales Call Objectives
• Use “S M A R T” steps to set sales objectives:
Specific: Establish a specific, major objective for the sales call.

Measurable: Ensure that your major objective is measurable or

quantifiable, e.g., a certain number of units or dollar sales volume.

Achievable: Make sure the goals you set are realistic and
achievable.

Relational: Always try to develop a long-term relationship with the

prospect even if the major objective on this sales call is not
achieved.

Temporal: If you can, establish with the prospect a specific

 A. Establishing Sales Call Objectives
Ultimately, most sales calls should achieve one or more of three overall objectives:

• 1. Generate sales: Sell particular products to target customers on

designated sales calls
• 2. Develop the market: Lay the groundwork for generating new
business by educating customers and gaining visibility with
prospective buyers
• 3. Protect the market: Learn competitors’ strategies and tactics and
protect relationships with current customers.
B. Improving Effectiveness and Efficiency

• Effectiveness: Results-orientation by
focusing on achieving selling goals

• Efficiency: Cost-orientation by making

the best possible use of the
salesperson’s time and efforts
C. Preparing for Customer Reaction
• Prepare for sales calls by anticipating
prospects’ possible responses to each
step and statement in the selling
process
• It’s better to respond to the prospect’s
question with “I don’t know” than to
make up an answer
• But it’s far better for establishing your
credibility as a professional to have the
necessary information before you see
the prospect
D. Enhancing Self-Confidence and Professionalism
• You will significantly add to your perceived
professionalism when prospects see that you
have an organized, confident sales presentation
that demonstrates in-depth understanding of
their needs and perspectives

• When prospects sense your confidence

and professionalism, their own confidence
in your knowledge is enhanced, and they
typically become more receptive to sales
negotiations
E. Determining Which Selling Strategies to Use
• The objective of the sales call could be to:

• Introduce yourself
• Gather more information about the
prospect’s needs
• Develop a closer relationship
• Win a large order

• Each objective requires the selection of an appropriate sales

presentation strategy.
F. Avoiding Errors

• Gathering prospect information ahead of the sales call helps salespeople reduce their chances of
making serious errors in front of the prospect.
Lets Learn from Bisleri
Seven Steps to Pre-approach Success
• 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
• The sale is very critical to the salesperson

• Ensure success plan for the sales call by using seven steps
Seven Steps to Pre-approach Success
1. Prepare the prospect for the initial sales call

2. Sell the sales call appointment by prenotification

3. Gather and analyze all relevant information about the prospect

4. Identify the prospect’s problems and needs

5. Identify the product features, advantages, and benefits

6. Choose the best sales presentation strategy

7. Plan and rehearse your approach
Seven Steps to Pre-approach Success
1. Prepare the prospect for the initial sales call

Prepare prospect for the sales call using 4 "Seeding" steps:

a) Identify industries or customer categories that offer high sales potential and
make a file folder for each
b) Learn as much as possible about the most important concerns of these
industries, such as needs in the areas of new-product development, product
quality, return on investment, or raw material supplies
c) Keep these needs in mind while browsing through newspapers, trade journals,
or general business magazines, and cut out pertinent articles
d) Select specific companies with high sales potential from each of the industries
and find out the names of one or more key people in the buying center at each
company
Seven Steps to Pre-approach Success
2. Sell the sales call

Sell the sales call appointment by pre-notification using:

• Cold call
• E-mail
• Fax
• Mail
• Telephone
Seven Steps to Pre-approach Success
3. Gather and Analyze Information
• Gather information on prospects such as:
– The prospect’s name and its pronunciation
– Nickname if preferred
– Job title
– Duties
– Superior
– Education
– Work experience
– Level of technical expertise
– Purchasing authority
– Buying behavior
– Personality
– Prospect’s family
– After-work activities, hobbies, and interests
Seven Steps to Pre-approach Success cont’d
3. Gather and Analyze Information (continued)
• Gather information on prospects from:
• Departments in the salesperson’s company • Online and off-line directories, indexes, and
—marketing, accounting, credit, bibliographies
purchasing, and data processing • Mailing lists bought from commercial
• Federal, state, and local government companies
reports • The prospect and the prospect’s business
• Trade association newsletters (through observation)
• Brochures, and literature from trade • Current customers of the seller
shows and exhibits • Consumer credit bureaus
• Trade journals • In-house purchasing agents
• Electronic directories and databases
Seven Steps to Pre-approach Success cont’d
4. Identify the prospect’s problems and needs
• Identify organizational problems and needs using S P I N approach:
• Situation: First, the salesperson tries to learn about the
prospect’s situation.
• Problem: Second, the salesperson identifies a problem that the
prospect regularly encounters with products presently in use.
• Implication: Third, the salesperson learns the implications, or
results, of the problem.
• Needs Payoff: Finally, the salesperson proposes a solution to the
problem and asks for some kind of commitment from the prospect.
Seven Steps to Pre-approach Success cont’d
5. Identify the product features, advantages, and benefits

• Identify the features of the products being

considered for this sale.
• Enumerate the advantages of your products
relative to competitors’ products.
• Determine as exhaustively as possible the
observable value and benefits of each product
that will be sold to the customer’s firm.
Seven Steps to Pre-approach Success cont’d
6. Choose the best sales presentation strategy

• Truly customer-oriented salespeople identify and

solve customer problems by skillfully observing,
listening, and asking probing questions.

• Most successful salespeople learn how to “flex”

(adapt) their communication styles in accordance
with their prospects’ communication styles.
Seven Steps to Pre-approach Success cont’d
7. Plan and rehearse your approach

• Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse until you have mastered your

total sales presentation and feel comfortable and confident
about it.

• Do not memorize a canned spiel, but keep in mind the key

points you want to make in each of the stages of the selling
process.

• Carefully planning, preparing, and rehearsing each sales call

will spell success.
Initial Sales Call Reluctance: Sales Stage Fright
• One of the biggest problems new salespeople face is fear of making the initial
contact with prospects
Initial Sales Call Reluctance cont’d
• 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
Initial Sales Call Reluctance cont’d
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
• Observe and model the behavior of
successful salespeople
• Rehearse sales calls with sales colleagues to reinforce positive
behaviors
 Thank You
and
Happy Selling