Mastering pre-call planning for telephone sales success

We discussed how to cultivate a positive mindset in our previous blog.  Once you have your mindset under control, it’s time to look at the preparation you need to do before you pick up the phone for your sales calls. Successful pre-call planning means being organised, to ensure you are clear on your structure, focus areas and priorities.

Making sales calls is one of the main duties of a salesperson.  Whether it’s cold calling or talking to warm leads, preparation is something you and your team must master to be successful.  Regardless of the selling stage you are at with your prospect, preparation will always be key to making every interaction a rewarding one.  

Having a pre-call plan is crucial to making successful sales calls. What should this plan involve?

 

• What is working well

Having a dedicated space, removing distractions, creating a ‘rhythm’ to your day.

Letting any distractions know when you are ok to be interrupted and when it’s not ok.  Knowing how to use background filters on your video conferencing. Having great headset for phone calls.  Keeping your space orderly, tidy and ‘in control’.  Using great systems for notes and keeping you and your team in the loop. 

 

• Structure is key to achieving more

 

Top tip: Structure and flexibility are your best friends.

It is important to both plan your day and your next few weeks.  Having a clear structure helps you define who you are going to speak to and what it will be about. It creates clear priorities, focus areas and deadlines.  Those that plan effectively are three times more productive as they know what they have to achieve and by when. 

When identifying the best time to call your clients, you need to be strategic and flexible in your approach. Many of you clients may no longer work standard 9-5 business hours, so it’s important to be flexible to their schedule. 

Ensuring you have a dedicated desk, managing distractions and creating a structure are important, but before you pick up the phone, it’s vital you do your research, so you have a solid understanding of your client and their needs.

 

• Do thorough research

 

Top tip: Build up a solid background on your client before you call.

Before you dial, make sure you properly research your prospect. You need to know how you are going to add value. You can do this by looking at your prospect’s:

• Website – under their company profile
• LinkedIn page – undertake thorough research, by looking at their profile, plus gathering all of their posts to see what is important to them. 
• LinkedIn company page – what does their business value, what are they posting about? What are other senior people in that company posting about? Do you have common connections? If you know that person, call them and say you think you can add value to John Smith at xxx and you notice they are connected, thought you would see if you know them well. What you are doing is seeing how you can add value to them. 
• Twitter account – if your prospect has a Twitter account, spend some time getting a sense of what they’re interested in.  

Try to do enough research so you have a good understanding of your prospect and their potential pain points. With sufficient information, you will feel confident striking up a meaningful conversation with whoever picks up the phone.

 

• Practice all variables

Top tip: Practice makes perfect.

The number one thing that creates the biggest effect, is also the number one thing people overlook. Practice.

If you don’t practice, you’ll risk your mind wandering and being distracted when on a phone call with your prospect.  This prevents you from being ‘present’ with your client and they will sense that.

Here are some simple steps to achieve perfect practicing:

1. Think ahead about what you are going to say as well as what the prospect may ask.
2. Practice out loud, whether it be in the shower, in the car or walking about in your home. 
3. Practice the different scenarios and check if it’s understandable, makes sense, is clear and lands the way you want. Does it succinctly explain the message you want to convey?
4. If you prefer to ‘write out’ (script) what you intend to say, remember that the written word is not designed to be spoken out loud, so it sounds unnatural in a conversation. Instead, put down key words as prompts so that your conversation remains natural. Again, practice so well that the sentences are ingrained, and you won’t need the prompts. 

 

6. Eat smart and stay hydrated

Top tip: Eat frequent healthy snacks and drink plenty of water.

It may sound strange to talk about food in a blog about sales skills. But what and when you eat affects your blood sugar and brain chemistry.  You don’t want to feel sluggish and tired when you speak to a prospect –nor do you want to be frenzied and manic. 

So, get into the habit of eating small, healthy snacks throughout the day, and stay hydrated to keep on an even keel.

 

7. Don’t call a prospect when you are desperate

Top tip: Always call when in a positive mindset.

Avoid making phone calls to your prospect if you are feeling desperate for a sale.  If you call a prospect in this mind state, they’ll be able to hear your neediness on the phone.  You might even find yourself discounting heavily just to close a sale.  

If you start feeling desperate, step away from your workspace, and revisit the general mindset techniques in the first blog. Get back into the right frame of mind before picking up the phone again.

 

In conclusion – show up prepared  

The most successful sellers and the ones who lead masterful sales conversations and show up prepared.

Successful pre-call planning means you need to be organised, and you’re clear on your structure, focus areas and priorities.  Calculated preparation is key to addressing all those points.

Together with a positive mindset and an effective pre-call sales strategy, you can achieve sales excellence with ease.