Sales Training Tips: Increase Sales Around Stamford CT

How to Approach Your Prospect to Increase Sales

The more you think like your prospect the more easily you will increase sales. Thinking like your prospect starts in the “pre-approach” phase of your presentation. Thus much thought should go into thinking about your prospects needs and what you will say to satisfy them before you even begin speaking with the prospect. The reason many salespeople fail to launch the start of a presentation effectively is due to a poor pre-approach. Prior to calling a prospect, you should do your research and find out their needs and wants. This puts you in a better position to speak intelligently about the ways your product will benefit them. Discounting or cutting corners on this step will likely hurt your chances to close the sale.

The preplanning and research step in the sales process is referred to as the pre-approach. As a sales professional you need to get information about the prospect and their needs before making your sales presentation. Otherwise, you won’t be able to capture their attention quickly and distinguish yourself from the competition. As the conversation progresses the info you have gathered will help you continue the sales talk effectively. Too many salespeople ignore this step, and it costs them a lot of sales and money.

Sales Training Tips: Approach Your Prospect in Stamford CT

What are the top 5 Pre-Presentation Errors to Avoid?

• Some salespeople want to make the sale so bad they jump right to presenting their product and attempt closing too quickly. They get too eager to close and don’t take the time to prepare.
• Salespeople aren’t trained well enough. Either the people who trained them didn’t tell them about this step, or they didn’t stress its importance. Knowledge is power. Knowing your product is important, knowing your prospect is even more vital.
• Some aren’t aware of where to find information on their prospect’s wants and needs.
• Sadly, some salespeople are, admittedly, too lazy to go through this step.
• The most common reason – they may have not put this step into their plan, or not planned in the first place.

Why the pre-approach step so important:

• You will make fewer assumptions about the prospect’s needs, save time and avoid mistakes.
• Knowledge obtained in this step can help to qualify your prospect. Do they have the money, need and authority to buy?
• You will find out what information will be most useful in all future steps.
• Getting this information before calling the prospect keeps them from seeing you as a “pesky” salesperson – it helps you stand out amongst many other salespeople as the expert or consultant that offers value.
• Knowing enough about the prospect gives you more confidence to meet more prospects and answer their questions.
• You will have an advantage over your competitors, assuming they haven’t done as well at preparing for the sales appointment as you.

In summary, you should be getting information on the needs and the wants of the prospect in the pre-approach step. Understanding what these are, and how they relate to the product you’re selling, will give you an advantage going into your sales presentation.

Mark Anthony presents sales training and customer service workshops in Connecticut and throughout the country. For more tips or information on training and one-on-one coaching, contact him at (203) 987-3570.