Sample research and planning (customer/prospect) profile template

Having researched and gathered information from various sources, the sales person is better informed as to how and whom to approach in the prospect organization.

Generally the first serious approach should be made to a senior decision-maker, normally the finance director/chief financial officer or the managing director/CEO. This is because only these people have the authority to make important strategic budgetary decisions in the organization; other managers simply work within prescribed budgets and strategies established by the FD/CEO.

There are other reasons for planning to make the approach at the highest strategic level:

If the sales person begins a sales dialogue with a non-decision-maker, it is very difficult to raise the contact to the necessary higher level afterwards. This is due to the perfectly normal psychology of politics and pecking-order in organizations. Everyone, when presented with a proposition which concerns their own area responsibility, by a person who reports to them, is prone to the initial "not invented here" reaction. The reaction of the recipient is largely dependent not on the nature of the proposal, but upon their relationship with the proposer.

The sales person's proposition should ideally be based on serious strategic implications and benefits, which will not typically match the motives of a lower-ranking influencer.

The sales person must avoid a situation developing where he is reliant upon someone in the prospect's organization having to 'sell' the proposition to a decision-maker on the sales person's behalf. This is because it rarely succeeds, not least due to the 'not-invented-here' reaction of higher ranking people in the prospect organization.

make the appointment - open plan selling - step 2

The most important rule about appointment-making is to sell the appointment and not the product. The sales person must never get drawn into having to sell the product or service, either in writing or on the phone, while trying to arrange an appointment. The sales person cannot sell without first understanding the real issues, and the real issues may not even be apparent at the first meeting, let alone before even making an appointment.

Appointment-making is a skill in its own right. Some selling organizations use canvassers or telemarketing staff to do this for the sales person, but for large prospects it's useful for the sales person to combine the appointment-making with the initial researching activity. When combined in this way it helps to build initial relationships with helpful people in the prospect organization, and the sales person can collect additional useful information that would otherwise be missed or not passed on by a separate appointment-maker or canvasser.

Introductory letters are a useful and often essential requirement before an appointment can be made. See the section on introductory sales letters. Generally the larger the prospect organization, then the more essential an introductory letter will be. This is mainly because pa's and secretaries almost always suggest that any approach to a decision-maker (ie the boss, whose time the secretary is protecting) be put in writing first. It's simply an expected part of the process by which credibility and level of interest is assessed by the prospect.

Remember AIDA - it applies to the appointment-making process as well. The aim is the appointment not the sale. When telephoning for an appointment, with or without a prior letter, the sales person typically must first speak to a switchboard operator or receptionist, then be put through to the targeted person's secretary or pa.

Bear in mind that the pa is there as a defence for the boss, and rightly so, or the boss would never get anything done. So for any approach to succeed in getting through to the boss, the pa must effectively endorse its credibility. Whether by writing or telephoning, the reason for wanting to meet must be serious and interesting enough, which is why researching and understanding the organization's strategic priorities are so crucial. Generic product and service approaches do not work because the are not seen to relate or benefit the prospect's own strategic priorities.

A carefully thought-through UPB (unique perceived benefit) forms the basis of the appointment approach. If it strikes the right chord the appointment will be granted. A good introductory letter may win an appointment without the need even to speak to the decision-maker. Imagine what happens: the letter is received by the pa. If it looks interesting and credible and worthy, the pa will show it to the boss. If the boss is interested, and in the event that the pa keeps the boss's diary (as is often the case), the boss often instructs the pa to make an appointment when the phone call from the sales person is received.

Calling early or late in the day, or at lunchtimes, often enables the sales person to circumvent the pa, but generally it's best to work with secretaries and pa's; they are usually extremely capable and knowledgeable people. They can be immensely helpful, so it's best to work with them and certainly not to alienate them.

In modern appointment-making, calling out of normal hours is advisable only in instances where both pa and boss are extremely difficult to reach during normal working hours.

The sales person's attitude towards the pa is very important. Imagine a pa who has taken a dislike to a pushy arrogant sales person - even if the approach is enormously well researched, relevant and appealing, the pa will for certain tell the boss about the sales person's attitude, and it is virtually inconceivable for the boss then to agree to an appointment. The sales person should always assume that the loyalty and mutual trust between boss and pa are strong. Most pa's can exert positive influence too; some will even make appointments for the boss with little reference to the boss, so there are lots of reasons for a sales person to make a favourable impression with a pa.

The use of serious-sounding language is important also in presenting the reason for wanting the appointment. The pa will generally try to divert the sales person's approach to a less senior member of staff. By orientating the reason to fit into the contact's responsibility, there is less chance of the approach being diverted. So it's important to tailor the approach to fit with the level of, and functional responsibility of the person being approached for the appointment.

For example, a managing director's pa will refer anything purely functional to the functional department concerned, ie., HR issues will be referred to personnel; IT issues will be diverted to IT department; sale sales and marketing will be referred to those departments. The only issues which will win appointments with MD's, CEO's, or FD's (the main decision-makers) are those which are perceived to significantly affect or benefit the profit and/or strategy of the business.

Therefore if the sales person seeks an appointment with one of these decisions-makers, the approach must be orientated to have a potentially significant affect or benefit upon profit or strategy.

On occasions, the sales person will not be granted an appointment with the targeted main decision-maker, but instead will be referred by them to make an appointment with a lower ranking manager or director. If this happens it's no problem - the sales person then proceeds with the MD's or FD's endorsement to develop the situation with the lower ranking contact. The fact that it's been referred by the MD or FD gives the sales person vital authority and credibility.

Being referred down is fine; but trying to refer upwards for eventual purchase authorisation or budgetary approval is nearly impossible, which is why appointment-making should always aim high, with a strategically orientated proposition.

Avoid scripts - everyone recognises and reacts against a script. Just be your honest self. You must, however, smile and mean it. If you don't feel like smiling, then don't do any sales calling - do some paperwork instead until you cheer up. If you rarely cheer up then you should get out of selling, because unhappy people can't sell. You must also smile on the phone, because words spoken with a smile or a grimace sound different, and people can tell which is which. Just say "Hello, I'm/this is (first and last name), from (your organization), can I take a couple of minutes of your time please?", or "are you okay to talk for a minute?"

Let your personality shine through - don't force it, don't try to be someone that you're not, just be you. If you are door-knocking and personal cold-calling - which is only recommended for smaller prospects - be professional, enthusiastic and straight-forward. Resist any temptation to employ gimmicks, jokes and flashing bow-ties - your credibility will be undermined before you even open your mouth.

Some trainers talk about PMA - Positive Mental Attitude - and suggest that this is some kind of magic that anyone can simply turn on and off at will. For all but the most experienced practitioners of self-hypnosis or neuro-linguistic programming, this is nonsense. If you're not feeling good, don't force it or you'll waste the call and feel worse. Just wait until you're in the right mood and everything will be fine.

Sales people were, and still are, taught to use an alternative close when making appointments, eg., "What's best for you, Tuesday morning or Thursday afternoon?..." This can be quite insulting to another person, who'll have heard the technique about a thousand times just in the past week, so it's best avoided these days. Just ask when would suit best; or initially, "What week are you looking at?..", and then take it from there.

Don't suggest appointments at 9.00am or 4.30pm, or at lunchtime, but if they're offered don't quibble.

Here is a simple stage-by stage 'script' for beginning the initial approach to a new prospective company, through the PA:

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 852