Preparation is the hardest part of any project. That includes building the perfect sales call. In this listicle of preparation tips for a grand-slam sales call we walk you through some of the best tips that will brighten up your A-game.
1. Understand the Entire Sales Process
We have a sales chain for a reason. The first preparation step is to focus on understanding the differences between one link of that chain and the next. Customers are not always going to be exactly on the sales link where your pitch starts. By recognizing that you can prime your sales pitch and bring a lagging prospect up to speed quickly. If you are lucky, your sales target may be a few links ahead of you in the sales process. Recognizing that allows you to strike up a deeper conversation, close a sale, or move the prospect closer to becoming a buyer.
2. Do Your Homework
If you are preparing to talk to a specific person, then get to know them. Review their Facebook or social media page. Get to know who this person is. Find their interests. Create common ground. People tend to be a little more open to someone who shares their interests. This is not a recipe to fabricate likeability. There is plenty in a social profile that helps you build real connections. Use those connections to prepare what you are going to say in your sales call. Specifically, find ways to use their social information to create anecdotal analogies that support the elements of your sales pitch. In short, put your pitch into terms that your target recognizes and to which they can relate.
Also, you can always learn from mistakes. Think back on your last sales call and what you could do differently.
3. Show Them Rather than Tell Them
People learn by a variety of methods. Some of us learn by reading. Others are visual or auditory learners. Be prepared to do more than just talk. Offer them a visual such as a video or an infographic. Give them something they can listen while they read your brochure. It is much easier to convince people of an important facts truth by showing them
4. Speak Easy
Take the technical gibberish out of your sales call and speak on the same level as your customer. Convert difficult concepts into stories that your audience can relate too. By helping people understand your message you not only gain more attention, but you gain trust, and appear as an authority. What that means is that people will be able to ask you questions and engage you in conversation.
5. Sell to Yourself
Practice what you are going to say in the mirror until you can recite your message without the need of notes. Record yourself so that you can hear how you sound, how your message sounds and can identify where problems arise. Your goal is a smooth dialog that allows you to focus on what you are saying and not on reading cue cards. Learning your pitch helps you sound like you are an authority. It also gives you options to make changes to your pitch midstream without getting wet.
6. Build your Pitch with Thought and Care
Sales pitches have a beginning, middle and an end. Just like a news article. Know what goes in which part. A good tip is to make your big reveal somewhere past the middle and a while before the end. You want to give your audience some time to digest what you have said to them and come up with questions to ask. If needed ask your own questions that help your audience get into the frame of mind to ask questions of their own.
A sales pitch is as unique as each individual who hears it. Be sure to take that into account. Change up your pitch so that it remains fresh. The last thing you want to do is seem bored while talking about the same old thing. These tips help you not only prepare for a perfect pitch but help you prepare the perfect pitch.
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Source: http://www.slideshare.net/MAPCommunications/anatomy-of-a-sales-pitch-map-communications
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