© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

CHAPTER 8

Planning the Sales Call

Some questions answered in this chapter are:
• Why should salespeople plan their sales calls?
• What precall information is needed about the individual
prospect and the prospect’s organization?
• How can this information be obtained?
• What is involved in setting call objectives?
• Should more than one objective be set for each call?
• How can appointments be made effectively and
efficiently?

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 “I finally accepted that a good plan
doesn’t stay constant but instead is
constantly changing to reflect
current conditions.”
~Rachel Fisher

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 Why Plan the Sales Call?

• The buyer’s time is valuable

• The seller’s time is valuable
• Planning must fit into the
salesperson’s goal for the account
– Some accounts have greater strategic
importance and require more planning

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 Obtaining Precall Information

• The more information the salesperson

has about the prospect, the higher the
probability of meeting the prospect’s
needs and developing a long-term
relationship.
• There are costs involved in collecting
information.
• Can reduce embarrassing situations.
• Don’t assume that your knowledge of
the account is automatically up-to-date.
• Information gathering is not usually
quick and easy.

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 A Flow Diagram of the Planning Process

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 The Prospect/Customer as an Individual

• Personal
– Name (including pronunciation)
– Family status
– Education
– Aspirations
– Interests and disinterests
– Social style
• Attitudes
– Toward salespeople
– Toward your company
– Toward your product

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 The Prospect/Customer as an Individual
(continued)

• Relationships
– Formal reporting relationships
– Important reference groups and group
norms
– Bonds that the prospect has already
formed with other salespeople
• Evaluation of product/services
– Product attributes that are important
– Product evaluation process

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 The Prospect’s/Customer’s Organization

• Demographics
– Type of organization
– Size, number of locations
– Products and services offered
– Financial position and its future
– Overall culture of the organization
• Prospect’s customers
– Types
– Benefits they seek from the prospect’s products and
services
• Prospect’s competitors
– Who they are
– How they differ in their business approaches
– Prospect’s strategic position in the industry

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 The Prospect’s/Customer’s Organization
(continued)

• Historical buying patterns

– Amount purchased in the product category
– Sole supplier or multiple suppliers – why?
– Reason for buying from present suppliers
– Level of satisfaction with suppliers
– Reasons for any current dissatisfaction with
suppliers or products
• Current buying situation
– Type of buying process
– Strengths and weaknesses of potential
competitors

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 The Prospect’s/Customer’s Organization
(continued)

• People involved in the purchase decision

– How they fit into the formal and informal
organizational structure
– Their roles in this decision
– Who is most influential
– Any influential adversaries
– Current problems the organization faces
– Stage in the buying cycle
– Policies and procedures
– About salespeople
– About sales visits
– About purchasing and contracts

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 Sources of Information

• Resources within your company

– Sales portals
– Selling center
• The Internet
– Prospect company’s own Web page
– Personalized Web pages
– Hoovers, JustSell.com, etc.
• Secretaries and receptionists
• Noncompeting salespeople

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 Sources of Information (continued)

• Traditional secondary sources

• The prospect
• Other sources
– Trade show
– Lists and directories
– Center of influence
– Outside consultant
– U.S. government’s export portal
– U.S. Commercial Service market research
library

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 Setting Call Objectives

• Review what has been learned from precall

information gathering
• Understand what relationship the firm
wished to have with the prospect
• Call objectives should be developed while
taking into account:
– The firm’s goals
– The sales team’s goals
– The salesperson’s goals
• If you don’t know where you’re going, you
may wind up somewhere else
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 Criteria for Effective Objectives

• All objectives should be:

– Specific
– Realistic
– Measurable
• Set objectives that require a buyer’s
response
• SMART
– Specific
– Measurable
– Achievable
– Realistic
– Time-based

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 Setting More than One Call Objective

Minimum call
Primary call objective
objective The minimum a
The actual goal salesperson
the salesperson hopes to
hopes to achieve.
achieve.

Optimistic call
objective
Secondary call
The most objectives
optimistic
Remaining
outcome the
objectives after
salesperson
the primary
thinks could
objective.
occur.

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 Setting Objectives for Several Calls

• Keep good records

• Make necessary adjustments in long-
term call objectives
• Prepare for the next sales call
• A good primary objective for a first
session is to have another chance to
visit
• Consider whom to call on in upcoming
meetings

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 Buyers are Setting Goals Also

• Based on perceptions of how the

salesperson’s product or service can add
value
• What buyers look for to increase value:
– On-time delivery
– To-spec quality of products
– Competitive pricing
– Proper packaging/paperwork
– Technical support service
– Quality of sales calls
– Level of technological innovation
– Good emergency response

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 Making an Appointment

• The right person

– Focus of receptivity
– Focus of
dissatisfaction
– Focus of power
• The right time
• The right place

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 Making an Appointment (continued)

• Cultivating
relationships with
subordinates
– Work “through the
screen”
– Go “over the screen”
– Go “under the screen”
– Bypass the screen

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 Telephoning for Appointments

• Most often used to make the initial

appointment
• The goal is to make the appointment,
not sell the product or service
• Salespeople need to anticipate
objections and decide exactly how to
respond

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 Additional Planning

• Plan how to make a good impression

• Plan how to further uncover the
customer’s needs and strengthen the
presentation
• Plan to answer anticipated questions
and concerns
• Practice
• Seeding

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 Summary

• Planning of sales calls is critical.

• Salespeople need to gather as much
information about the prospect as possible
before the first call.
• A call objective should be:
– Specific
– Realistic
– Measurable
• Salespeople should make appointments
before calling on customers.
• A number of methods can be used to make
appointments.

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