1. Gather Info about prospect & firm
2. Setting Objectives for Call
3. Making Appointment 

Why plan the sales call?

• Buyer & your time is valuable 
• must fit into the salesperson's goal for the account 
• some accounts have greater strategic importance and require more planning

The Prospect/Customer as an Individual 

What 4 things should you consider?

• Personal 
• Name (pronunciation), family status, education, aspirations, interests & disinterests, social style
• Attitudes
• toward salespeople, company, & product
• Relationships
• formal reporting relationships, important reference groups & group norms, bonds that prospect has already been formed with other salespeople
• Evaluation of Product/Service
• attributes that are important, product evaluation process

What things should you know about Prospect/Customer's Organization?

• Demographics
• Type of organization, size & # of locations, products/services offered, finanical position & future, overall culture
• Prospects Customers
• Types, benefits they seeks
• Prospect's competitors
• who they are, how they differ in business approaches, prospect's strategic position in industry
• Historical Buying Patterns
• Amount purchased in product category, sole or multiple suppliers? level of satisfaction & reason for buying from present suppliers, any other reasons for current supplier dissatisfaction
• Current Buying Situation
• Type of buying process, Strengths & weaknesses of potential competitors
• People involved in purchase decision
• How they fit into org chart, their roles in decision, who is most influential (any other influential adversaries?), current problems organization faces, stage in buying cycle
• Policies & Procedures
• about sales people, sales visits, and purchasign & contracts.

What are the multiple sources of information?

• Resources within your company
• Sales Portals
• Selling Center
• the Internet
• prospect company webpage
• prospect personal webpage
• Hoovers, FB, Linkedin
• Secretaries & receptionists
• Noncompeting salespeople
• Traditional Secondary Sources
• The prospect
• Other sources
• trade show, lists & directories, center of influence, outside consultant, US government's export portal, US commerical services mk reaserch library

Setting Call Objectives 

Call objectives should be developed while taking into account....

1. The firm's goals
2. The Sales team's goals
3. The salesperson's goals

Setting Call Objectives

"If you don't know

where you're going ...."

You may wind up somewhere else

Setting Call objectives 

What is the criteria for Effective Objectives?

Setting Call Objectives 

What is the SMART CRITERIA for Effective Objectives?

• Specific
• Measurable 
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time-based

Setting More than One Call Objective

1. Primary Call Objective 
2. Minimum Call Objective 
3. Optimistic Call objective
4. Secondary Call Objective 

1. Actual goal salesperson hopes to achieve
2. miminum salesperson hopes to achieve
3. Most optimisitic outcome salesperson thinks could occur
4. **Remaining objectives after the primary objective**

Buyers are setting goals also

What do 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 tech innovation
• good emergency response

What are the three key points to Making an Appointment?

• The right person
• focus of receptivity
• focus of dissatisfaction
• focus of power
• The right time
• The right place
• Cultivating relationship with subordinates 
• Work "through the screen"
• Go "over the screen"
• Go "under the screen"
• Bypass the screen 

Telephoning for appointments 

• Most often used to make initial appointment
• goals is to make appointment, not sell product/service
• salespeople need to anticipate objections & decide exatcly how to respond

Look into Responses to Objections Concerning Appointments! 

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What can be done for some Additional Planning?

• Plan how to make a good impression
• Plan how to further uncover customer's needs & strengthen presentation
• plan to answer anticipated questions & concerns
• Practice 
• Seeding