Be prepared!
An excerpt from Jeffrey
Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling
What do you need to know about the prospect's business to engage? I mean if you
just walk in the door and say, "Tell me a little bit about your business," how unprepared
does that make you look? Answer: TOTALLY UNPREPARED. Prepared is going to their
website and printing out several strategic pages, reading them, and making
notes so you can ask about what you don't understand, or need elaboration on --
not asking about them from TOTAL IGNORANCE.
NOTE: Just so we understand each other, "Tell me a little about your business,
" is the third dumbest thing you can say to or ask a prospect. The second is
"Let me tell you a little about my business." The prospect couldn't CARE LESS
about you or your business, and probably already knows enough to not want to
hear it again. The first most dumbest? I'll tell you later. Let's talk about
where to find out information about a prospect and his or her business before
your sales call.
1. The Internet.
Don't just look up their site. Enter their company name on Google or other
search engines like dogpile.com and see what pops up. There may be an article
or other important information. Then enter the name of the person you're meeting
with. Then enter the name of the CEO. Then tell me why you're not meeting with
the CEO. (Just a little jab there.) By the way, if you look up the name of the
person you're meeting with and you find nothing, that also tells you something.
2. Their literature.
Even though it's we-we, it has the basic "brags" covered and may talk about
shifts in emphasis and market coverage. It also tells you what they think of
themselves and their products.
3. Their vendors.
Usually reluctant talkers, but they can tell you what it's like to do business
with them and all about how you are going to be paid. Valuable information to
say the least. Vendors are a rarely used resource.
4. Their competition.
Oh man, talk about dirt, here it is. Just ask casual questions about how they
win business -- it will tell you what it will be like to negotiate with them.
By the way, the more their competition hates them, the better they usually are.
Competitors hate the people who take business away from them.
5. Their customers.
Customers talk. And they are the real word on delivery, organization, quality,
and the subtle information that can give you an insightful competitive
advantage.
6. People in your
network who may know them. A quick e-mail to your inside group
asking for information will always net a fact or two and may just be the
bonanza you were looking for.
7. Their other
employees. Occasionally the admin will help, but don't count on
it. A better bet is their PR department or their marketing department.
8. The best and least
used resource: Their sales department. Salespeople will tell
you anything. You can get details you won't believe.
8. 5 Google yourself.
Want some pain? Look up your own name. Where are you? What's your Internet
position? Suppose they are looking you up. What will they find? If it's
nothing, that's a report card on you.
And it's not just Internet preparation. It's other research like finding mutual
friends, calling a few vendors, maybe a few customers. Getting VITAL
information as it relates to the buying of your product or service. There's one
more thing in preparation: Be prepared with an objective or two about what you
want to accomplish in the meeting.
Proper preparation takes time, but I assure you it's impressive to the
prospect. He or she knows that you have prepared, and is silently impressed.
It's an advantage that very few salespeople use. They make the fatal error of
getting all their own stuff ready. PowerPoint slides, samples, literature,
business cards -- you know, all the same things the competition is doing.
Biggest mistake in sales. And almost every salesperson makes it.
And it's not only preparation about the sale -- it's your personal preparation
for sales -- your personal training. How ready are you? Get ready baby. Turn
off the TV and get ready.
Want a list of places you can gather information about the sales call? Sure you
do. Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you
are a first-time visitor, and enter the word RESEARCH in the GitBit box.
Click
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