Why Is Preparation the Key to a Successful Sales Call?

Whether you own a business and have employees or you are a salesperson, you know how important calling is. You make calls all day long in order to sell products and services. If you aren't doing that, you won't be selling anything.

That being said, preparation is really important, long before you pick up the phone.

Here are some reasons why.

• It increases the chance of a successful call. This means that the person whom you are calling is more likely to do what you are asking him or her to do.
• A lack of preparation means that things may not go according to your plan. If you are prepared and have a plan, nothing can stop you. No matter what the person on the other line says, you know what you are going to say.
• In fact, you may be thrown for a loop by the caller. When you don't have a plan, and the caller says something unexpected, you are not going to have any idea what to say. If you made a plan, you thought of all of the possibilities of what could be said, so you know what you need to say.
• This can make you look unfavorable. People who call without a plan may sound unprofessional on the phone. This makes it harder for the other person to say yes, which leads to fewer sales.

How can you prepare?

Here are some ways that you can prepare for your call.

First, you need a strategy.

• You should start by writing a sales playbook. This will be helpful for any of your employees. They will know what to say no matter what someone on the other lines says. This will save you a lot of time and effort, though you may have to put in a lot of time and effort to get it started.
• In your sales playbook, you may want to establish best practices and brand guidelines ahead of time. This will also help your employees stay on brand as they make their own phone calls. They will have a good idea of what is expected of them and how they should act before they even pick up the phone.
• That being said, it is a good idea to have a plan, not necessarily a script. Though you might prefer a script (and your employees may, too), the truth is that a plan is a much better option. There are plenty of times when a script sounds scripted, and you don't want your employees to sound like that. You hired them for a reason, so let them be their charming selves (with a little guidance).
• You might also give them the right questions to ask. Unfortunately, you need to ask the right questions in order to get the answers that you are looking for. For this reason, you may want to have a list of questions that your employees can ask, in order to be more successful with their calls.

You can't forget to do research (but not too much).

• Many people like to do research, but then they never act on it. Instead, they just keep researching more and more. So decide to do your due diligence and then move onto the action stage.
• It helps to know the industry before you pick up the phone. It will give you an advantage over others who don't really have any idea about what they are talking about. For this reason, you may also want to include this in your playbook. Give your employees some background so that they really understand whom they are selling to and why.
• You also need to know what the competition is doing. Though you can't copy your competition, you can look around and see what is working and what isn't.
• Know the pain points that your customers are feeling. What are your customers struggling with that you can help? By offering solutions that make sense to them, they are more likely to listen to your sales call and do what you are asking.
• It is important to remember that, no matter how good you are, there is always room for improvement. Things are constantly changing in the world of business and sales, so it is always a good idea to brush up on your skills.

It also helps to set goals before you start calling.

• By knowing your goals and KPIs, you can measure and improve your performance. When you have a specific goal in mind, it helps you and your employees to stay on track and focused while you are on a call.

Though you may not think about it, you really need to prepare for any call before you pick up the phone. By preparing, you have a better chance of selling something (or getting the person on the other end to do what you want). To do this, you may want to create a strategy, but not a script. You don't want to sound like a script because it can push people away.

Previously published on Medium and/or Newsbreak.