{"id":105,"date":"2015-07-29T22:41:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T22:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/salesx17xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=105"},"modified":"2015-07-29T22:41:33","modified_gmt":"2015-07-29T22:41:33","slug":"identify-precall-objectives-getting-smart-about-your-sales-call","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/cerritos-sales-1\/chapter\/identify-precall-objectives-getting-smart-about-your-sales-call\/","title":{"raw":"Identify Precall Objectives: Getting Smart about Your Sales Call","rendered":"Identify Precall Objectives: Getting Smart about Your Sales Call"},"content":{"raw":"
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Learning Objective<\/h3>\r\n
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  1. Learn how to set SMART precall objectives.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\nIdentifying your prospect\u2019s need is only part of your preapproach research. There\u2019s still more research and planning for you to do before you meet with or speak to the customer.\r\n
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    Determine Your Objectives<\/h2>\r\nIf you haven\u2019t determined what you hope to achieve before going into your sales call, it will be difficult to figure out what to say once you arrive or once you have your prospect on the phone. Setting precall objectives<\/span><\/span> is a strategically important step. If you have clear goals, you will be more confident and appear more organized, and it\u2019s more likely that you will see results. Your customers are busy people, and you don\u2019t want to waste their time. They will appreciate your organization and will be more likely to trust your judgment if you come prepared. You also don\u2019t want to waste your<\/em> time or your company\u2019s time. According to Hoovers, the average sales call costs a company nearly $400![footnote]Gary Duncan, \u201cEvery Sales Call Requires an Objective and Decision,\u201d Denver Business Journal<\/em>, October 13, 2006, http:\/\/denver.bizjournals.com\/denver\/stories\/2006\/10\/16\/smallb8.html<\/a> (accessed July 15, 2009).[\/footnote]<\/span>\r\n\r\nAs you plan your meeting, ask yourself this question: \u201cWhat will success look like for this call?\u201d[footnote]American Institute of Public Certified Accountants, \u201cSuccessful Selling Tips: The Sales Objective,\u201d http:\/\/www.aicpa.org\/Professional+Resources\/CPA+Marketing+Toolkit\/SellingTips6.htm<\/a> (accessed July 15, 2009).[\/footnote]<\/span> That may seem like a question with a straightforward answer, but success doesn\u2019t always mean closing the sale. In some situations, you\u2019ll experience a one-call close<\/span><\/span>, but with larger sales, particularly in B2B sales, the sales cycle<\/span><\/span>, or the length of time it takes to go from the first contact with the customer to closing the sale, is generally longer\u2014sometimes even taking up to a year or longer. Consider Telegraph Hill Robes, a San Francisco-based company that sells bathrobes to upscale hotels with spas. Buying enough bathrobes to stock a hotel spa is a large investment, one that most customers have to carefully consider. The sale has to clear with two contacts at every company: the general manager and the head of housekeeping. As a result, when Telegraph Hill first started selling its product in 1996, its average sales cycle was two years![footnote]Susan Greco, \u201cThe Need for Speed,\u201d Inc.<\/em>, April 2007, http:\/\/www.inc.com\/magazine\/20070401\/salesmarketing-smart-selling.html<\/a> (accessed July 15, 2009).[\/footnote]<\/span>\r\n\r\nIf you know that you are facing a longer sales cycle, the goal of your initial call might be gathering and conveying specific information to move forward in the sales process or further qualify your prospect. According to Gary Duncan, principal of the sales training organization Leadership Connections, \u201cIn more complex sales it\u2019s realistic to set a precall objective of establishing rapport and trust, making new contacts in the organization, qualifying your prospect\u2019s budget, or discovering what your prospect\u2019s decision-making process is. For instance, you might decide you want to find out who your prospect\u2019s current vendors are, any issues your prospect has with the services she is receiving, and what her goals are for future purchases.\u201d[footnote]Gary Duncan, \u201cEvery Sales Call Requires an Objective and Decision,\u201d Denver Business Journal<\/em>, October 13, 2006, http:\/\/denver.bizjournals.com\/denver\/stories\/2006\/10\/16\/smallb8.html<\/a> (accessed July 15, 2009).[\/footnote]<\/span> You should also consider your prospect\u2019s objectives: what outcome is she hoping for from this call?\r\n\r\nSometimes, setting strategic, information-gathering objectives may actually help you shorten your overall sales cycle. Take Acumen, a company that sells high-capability accounting software to corporations. Originally, the company\u2019s sales cycle lasted around nine months. However, once the company became more strategic in its precall planning, designing a system of rigorous qualifying questions that its salespeople had to resolve before making a sales pitch, Acumen actually decreased its average sales cycle to somewhere between three and six months. Asking detailed questions during early sales calls allowed the company to cut back on the time it wasted brainstorming solutions and making sales pitches for underqualified leads.[footnote]Susan Greco, \u201cThe Need for Speed,\u201d Inc.<\/em>, April 2007, http:\/\/www.inc.com\/magazine\/20070401\/salesmarketing-smart-selling.html<\/a> (accessed July 15, 2009).[\/footnote]<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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    Make Your Objectives SMART<\/h2>\r\nSo it\u2019s early in the process of a complex sale, and you are setting your goals for your next meeting with your customer. You know it will primarily be an information-gathering session because you need to know more before you can propose a workable, specific solution. However, if you go into the meeting with a vague plan like \u201cI want to find out more about my prospect\u2019s business,\u201d you won\u2019t accomplish much.[footnote]Skills Connection, \u201cHow to Get Better Results from your Sales Meetings,\u201d video, March 3, 2008, http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1P6bU1efZbI<\/a> (accessed July 15, 2009).[\/footnote]<\/span> Instead, you might come up with a goal similar to the one mentioned earlier: \u201cBy the end of this meeting, I want to know who my prospect\u2019s current vendors are, what issues or challenges he faces with this vendor\u2019s services, and what three priorities he has for future purchases.\u201d This objective, like all effective precall objectives, is SMART<\/span><\/span>. That is, the goal is S<\/strong>pecific, M<\/strong>easurable, A<\/strong>ctionable, R<\/strong>ealistic, and T<\/strong>ime-bound.[footnote]Virtual Strategist, \u201cHow to Set SMART Goals,\u201d video, M3 Planning, October 17, 2008, http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uThBb3kGf4k<\/a> (accessed July 15, 2009).[\/footnote]<\/span>\r\n