10 Easy Steps to Call Planning

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Quick and Easy!
Call planning can be quick and easy most of the time. Occasionally, it is more time consuming and intense depending on the nature of the opportunity, complexity and dollar amount. Either way, it is helpful to have a format. I’ve shared the format I use and teach.

Details:
Write down all the details. Date, time, place and who is attending. You may be bringing a sales engineer, product manager or another team member with you. Side Note: This really belongs in the Prepare section but it’s critical so I am mentioning it here as well. Figure out who is attending from the prospect company. Surprise visitors can be derailing. Ask in advance to find out who is coming, their title and their role. Get their email address if you can and then send an email to all of them confirming the details of the meeting and the agenda. Always ask if they would like to add anything to the agenda. Then look for them on LinkedIn and Twitter. Connect and interact with their posts by clicking like, commenting or sharing. If they blog, read one of their posts and make a comment.

Stage:
Figure out where you are in the sales process. If you use a hungary telegram data funnel or pipeline you have well-defined stages. For this sales call you are planning, what stage is the opportunity in? Write out the opportunity. To sell. That’s what you are trying to sell but is it what they are trying to buy? Of course, that is what you determine as you move forward in the sales process and you shorten your sales cycle by planning for each meeting.

Prepare:
Determine what you need to do to be prepared besides writing down your call plan. What research do you need to do? Will you look online for news about the company, their growth, see if they are hiring, what awards they’ve won recently, or senior management changes? What connections do you need to make? Are you connected with all the people who will be attending the meeting? Are there key players you should be connected to? What internal resources do you need to gather What do you need to do to prepare the prospects for the meeting and get them in the right frame of mind? Do you have a champion or a coach? Is there one you are developing and should talk with prior to the sales call?

Need:
Write down everything you know about the prospect and their goals and their need for your solution. If this is your first call, your research will reveal some things but you may know very little going into the call. If you are prospecting in an account you have done business with in the past you may have more information and your research will reveal more. Spend some time putting yourself in the prospect’s shoes.