| The other day I was working out in the gym | | | | to gather all of the data needed to put |
| when a guy asked me to spot him on the bench | | | | together a pricing proposal, the game plan is |
| press. For those of you not familiar with the | | | | to ask all questions needed to craft a |
| term "spot," it means to watch and assist the | | | | solution for this prospect. |
| lifter if they need help. Of course, I agreed | | | | |
| to do this. As is customary when spotting, I | | | | From a prospect's point of view, they have no |
| asked him how many reps (number of times | | | | time or tolerance for sales people who show |
| lifting the weight) he planned to do. He | | | | up on their doorstep and ask pointless |
| looked at me very puzzled and said he didn't | | | | questions for an hour. They are busy and very |
| know. Humorously, I followed that with asking | | | | sensitive about their time. If they accept a |
| if he expected to do it once or a hundred | | | | meeting with a sales person, they expect that |
| times. He laughed and said it would be more | | | | sales person to arrive having done their |
| than one, but not sure how many he would do | | | | homework on their company and with a laser |
| beyond that. | | | | focus approach to the meeting. Remember, |
| | | | sales is a profession. They expect a |
| He began the lift and performed three reps. I | | | | professional experience. |
| asked him if he felt it was a good set. Was | | | | |
| he happy with his performance? Did he achieve | | | | Another common time when sales people lose |
| what he set out to do? He said, "Yeah, I | | | | their way is when they are notified that they |
| guess so." I went back to my workout | | | | are a finalist for an opportunity and are |
| wondering how he could determine if he had | | | | invited to come in to deliver a presentation. |
| met his goal. If you don't have a goal, how | | | | In essence, they are told that they are one |
| can you determine if you achieved it? | | | | of a handful of providers that are being |
| | | | considered for the business. The typical |
| This experience reminded me of a time when I | | | | response is to say "Great!" almost like Tony |
| went to Chicago on a call with one of my | | | | the Tiger. They hang up the phone, do the |
| sales reps. Prior to the meeting, the sales | | | | happy dance, and send an email to their |
| rep, his manager and I met at a coffee shop. | | | | manager telling them that they made the |
| Over coffee, I asked the sales rep to imagine | | | | finalist list. There is nothing wrong about |
| that it was now an hour and a half later. The | | | | being excited to hear the news. You've |
| meeting was over and we were back sitting at | | | | probably worked hard to get to this point. |
| the same coffee shop debriefing on the | | | | However, you can't cash that commission check |
| meeting. I asked what I thought was a fair | | | | just yet. How can you develop a game plan for |
| question of the rep. I asked him, "This was a | | | | this meeting if you don't know who will be in |
| great meeting if what happened?" (By the way, | | | | the room, what is important to them, or even |
| this is one of my favorite questions to ask | | | | why you made the finalist list? |
| of sales reps.) I received a blank look and | | | | |
| finally a request for help. Mind you, we were | | | | Recently, a colleague shared with me a story |
| fifteen minutes away from being in front of a | | | | about her experience as a finalist. The RFP |
| prospect and clearly there was no game plan. | | | | questions that the prospect had provided |
| | | | lacked focus. It was not clear what they were |
| We talked for a few minutes and developed our | | | | hoping to accomplish by selecting a new |
| success metrics for this meeting. With those | | | | provider. She called the Procurement Agent |
| identified, we developed our game plan to | | | | and began asking a series of questions about |
| achieve our success metrics. Many of you are | | | | their objectives and goals. The Procurement |
| thinking that a successful meeting is defined | | | | Agent told her she was the only sales person |
| as being awarded the business. You would be | | | | to contact them and ask these questions. The |
| right if it was that type of meeting. | | | | Agent agreed that the RFP lacked focus and |
| However, this was a second call in a business | | | | could not fathom how the other selected |
| environment where the buying process is | | | | finalists could prepare. Needless to say, |
| typically twelve to eighteen months. In this | | | | this sales person won the business. (Need |
| environment, other success metrics are needed | | | | help putting together a game plan when you |
| for each step of the process. | | | | are a finalist, send me an email and I'll |
| | | | email you back a checklist that will lead you |
| Defining success metrics allows you to | | | | to victory.) |
| formulate a game plan for your meeting. If | | | | |
| you know what you need to accomplish, the | | | | Ask any successful person how they became |
| roadmap becomes very clear for what you need | | | | successful. They will tell you that they had |
| to achieve. If your success metric is defined | | | | a vision and developed a game plan to achieve |
| as your having a comprehensive picture of | | | | that vision. Sales is no different. Know your |
| their challenges with their current provider, | | | | success metrics and develop your game plan to |
| you can prepare questions that will expose | | | | achieve them. |
| their challenges. If your success metric is | | | | |