10 Things to Know Before the First Contact

Mike Sigers of Simplenomics.com guest-blogs this next post. Some great advice that simplifies the pre-call planning process for sales professionals.

(If you haven’t checked out the Simplenomics.com site, you are missing out. Get over there after reading this…)

10 Things You Absolutely Must Know About an Account…Before You Make That First Sales Call

1. How big, or small, are they? And where do they rank within their industry? This will be a good indicator of how you’ll have to handle them. Really big companies have lots of “firewalls” between you and the decision-maker. Smaller companies will often have people with multiple duties.

2. How often they buy and in what quantities. If you can’t find this out before you go, don’t go. You aren’t ready.

3. Total sales last year. This gives you something to work off if pricing comes up too soon into the process.

4. Their primary competition and how much business your company does with them. Obviously you’ll have to sell to everybody in their industry. Remind them that they do it too, if they get an attitude with you.

5. What plans they have that might impact your sales and your product. Monitor their news releases so you’ll never be caught off guard.

6. The job responsibilities and purchasing power of the person you’re meeting with. If the person you’re with can’t make a decision, why are you meeting with them ? If it’s a step to the next level, okay – if it’s not, don’t go til you can meet with a decision maker.

7. The personal interests of the person you’re meeting with and their business background. Again, if you can’t find this out, you shouldn’t go. Your chances are very slim if you know less about them than they know about you.

8. The financial standing of the company and their history with your competitors. You absolutely must know more about them than they know about you. Just the perception that you’re ” in-the-know “ will give you an edge.

9. Who their customers are. You need to know who else their customers buy from and in what quantities.

10. Lastly, you need to know that you know something that they don’t. Find an avenue that they aren’t exploring and ask why they aren’t there. If you alert them to something they don’t know about, you’re golden. If they’ve already explored that avenue, at least they’ll think you’re very interested in their welfare. That’s another way to get an edge over your competition. Never make a sales call without an idea for them to explore. Never.