No sale, Sherlock
by Andrew Shedden
If you, or your company has been systematically prospecting it is inevitable that on some glorious day you will land an appointment with a large account-I don't mean any account, I mean the kind of account that could make your business, or sales career.
Oftentimes, landing an initial selling appointment with a large company is a mixed blessing. This is it, you're meeting the grand poobah, the head gink, the one who signs the cheques. This type of appointment can be simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying.
In fact if the truth were known many of you would rather go to the dentist for multiple root canals. You're probably lying awake at night obsessively ruminating about how many pieces your head will be chewed into.
If past selling performances are any indication you are going to be spending a great deal of time becoming incredibly prepared. There's not a chance you're going to lose control of the sale. You have rehearsed in front of the mirror, in the local bar with your cronies, and at the local grocery store. Many are considering you certifiable. Your handouts are polished and beautifully printed in four colours. You've got a new battery in your laptop and the latest version of Power Point. In fact, you have everything at your disposal except background information.
Never enter a sales call without doing background check.
For some strange reason many salespeople take great pleasure in placing themselves in selling situations without performing their "due diligence." You can always identify unprepared salespeople by the inanity of the questions they ask during the initial interview.
"So, how many people ya got workin' here?"
Or even better, "You really make hubcaps here?"
Many prospects will find this line of questioning extremely annoying. Before making any sales call you should do a little bit of amateur sleuthing. If you want to maximize the probability of making a good first impression get your deerstalker on, Sherlock. Getting background information about a company is really quite easy and can be done in no time at all.
The first stop you need to make is on the prospect's company web site. Many of these sites have a great wealth of information about your target company. In less than ten minutes of surfing time you can ascertain many things about their company culture, product and service lines, and history.
The second option is to contact someone you know in the sales profession who is already calling on the account you are trying so hard to land. Providing you trust that person's judgement you can glean useful information about your prospect.
The third option is for you to call the company you are trying to sell and ask to speak to one of their salespeople. When you talk to the company receptionist and ask for someone in sales you always will get through. Once you are talking to a salesperson within your target company you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much they will tell you about the people with whom you'll be meeting. Some salespeople will mail you background information! There seems to be an unwritten peer to peer respect amongst all professions and the selling profession is no exception.
The fourth available option open to you is to consult the many compiled professional and industrial directories and databases. Some options open to you are the Thomas Register, Cahner's, Dun and Bradstreet, Info USA, Info Canada, Scott's Directories, and Fraser's. Other areas to look in are association directories, and chamber of commerce directories.
You know the validity of the old cliché, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." The preliminary sales call is of critical importance. Make sure you have done your homework. If you remember only one thing from this newsletter remember the following…
"Never ask prospects obvious and offensive situation questions that could easily be answered by even a modicum of preliminary work."
