SALES & MARKETING
Pre-Gaming a Sales Call A manager’s coaching guide BY JAY SPEILVOGEL, VENATOR SALES GROUP, LLC
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Jay Spielvogel is CEO of Venator Sales Group, a sales consulting and training firm specializing in boosting Welding and Gas distribution sales performance. Contact him at: Jay@ venatorsalesgroup.com
y reps are winging it on sales calls.” “Our salespeople are acting in an entirely reactive mode when in front of prospects.” “When I ride-along with my reps, I am surprised at how unprepared they are for each call.” We were all taught at a young age Napoleon Hill’s famous quote, “plan our work and work our plan.” Many might also be familiar with Ben Franklin’s quote, “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” The challenge for most sales managers is that their people, both seasoned and brand new, are ignoring this wisdom when it comes to their sales calls. Regardless of whether it is an inbound lead, referral, or a follow up to a cold call, most reps are engaging without a strategic “pre-game” sales plan.
STAYING ON TOP OF THE DEMAND When asked, the primary reason salespeople will give for the lack of planning is having no time to do so. Although pre-call planning has always been a challenge, the issue has been amplified in recent times by an increase in demand and the lack of supply. The overabundance of pricing and product inquiries and the perceived need to respond quickly is pushing even the most experienced salespeople into a reactive price-quoting and order-taking mode. Unfortunately, salespeople who have fallen into this transactional “customer service” approach are vulnerable to heavy price competition, as well as pressure to give additional profit-reducing 100 • First Quarter 2023
concessions. The problems associated with this mindset are especially evident when salespeople are working on strategic bulk gas opportunities, long-term product supply agreements, and transformative equipment purchases. Many of these deals fail to close due to a lack of alignment with the key decision makers that are above the purchasing and lower-level technical contacts. Even when presented with an opportunity to expand existing accounts, things fall apart in the absence of a strategic plan.
“I HAVE A PLAN…IT’S JUST NOT WRITTEN” Talk with the salespeople, and they’ll say that they are planning every call. From their perspective, a plan should be focused on how best to fulfill the prospect’s request for information and pricing. It is driven by the goal of setting themselves up as a “valued resource” to the prospect. The approach is more of a tactical routine vs. a strategic plan and tends to be a one-size fits all that lacks any critical thinking. Typically, this consists of the following steps: • Prepare all relevant supporting product material, demos, and pricing information. • Pull together any available technical resources to bring to the sales call. • Prepare questions to ask regarding technical needs and usage data to create a quote or proposal. The missing piece in this plan is a route for qualifying the opportunity, gaining clarity on the decision framework, and securing next steps.
