CHAPTER 10

Mentally Preparing for the Face-to-Face Sales Call

To me, the initial face-to-face call with a target prospect is the pinnacle of what we do as sales professionals. Securing this meeting is the focus of all our hard work up to this point. Sure, there can be a ton of work following that first meeting, and it might be months or even years until a deal is consummated, depending on the sales cycle. Some people will argue the boardroom presentation is our finest moment, while others believe that the formal proposal is the summit of the sales effort. My experience shows that business is won earlier in the process by those who get in front of declared target accounts and set the tone for the relationship during sales calls.

It’s Your Call; You Need a Plan

Make no mistake about it. It’s your sales call. Even when the prospect pursues you and requests a meeting, it is your call. In the next chapter, we’ll review, in great detail, an easy and potent way to share your agenda, establish ownership of the meeting, and come across as a total professional to your contact.

Previously I mentioned that good things happen when a talented salesperson gets face-to-face with a target prospect. The converse is that bad things tend to happen when the salesperson doesn’t have a plan for the meeting. Most outside reps are pretty good about having a clear goal for their calls, but equally as bad about having a formalized plan for how the meeting should flow.

Not long ago I was working in the field with a client rep. I won’t name the city to protect the guilty. Before jumping out of the car to call on a significant account, I asked a pretty standard set of questions for which the salesperson had decent answers: “Tell me about the people we are meeting. Why do they think we are here today and what are they expecting? What is a win for us?”

I then asked one more question—and received quite a memorable answer. “What is your plan for the call?” I asked. The rep shared that he doesn’t like to plan out his calls because that comes off as mechanical. “Oh,” I replied. “Well, tell me how this is gonna go down, then?” The salesperson answered that he prefers his meetings to be organic. I was amused at the application of this overused word and figured I was in for an adventure.

What transpired was predictable. I never felt comfortable the entire meeting. The sales rep did not find a groove. It was organic alright, vacillating between the buyer controlling the meeting (since we did not attempt to) and the buyer sitting quietly while the salesperson babbled on nervously in front of me. If I had known this rep better or worked with this client longer, I probably would have thrown him a life preserver by interjecting a few pain- or opportunity-seeking questions. But I refrained and experienced the agony of defeat along with my client. And honestly, the benefit from this coaching opportunity outweighed the failure of this one call.

That lovely organic experience heightened my awareness of the widespread nature of this issue across sales teams today. Very few salespeople at small and midsize companies are being mentored on the basic fundamentals of sales. I began asking every sales leader and rep how they were planning for and conducting sales calls. What I heard was not pretty.

Kicking off a coaching session for a team of five seasoned reps at an old-school manufacturing company, I asked them to share the last time someone reviewed how to structure a sales call. Zero out of five could answer. I dug deeper to discover that none of them ever had a manager, coach, or trainer model how to plan a sales call before. And these were veteran salespeople, not rookies. Frightening.

That same week I was meeting one-on-one with producers at a first-rate insurance agency. One producer was heading out for a full week on the road to renew several clients and meet with a couple of large potential accounts. We talked through her strategy and sales story talking points (which were excellent), and I inquired about her thoughts for structuring these meetings. After pausing for a moment, the producer admitted it had been a long time since she was challenged to visualize and plan the flow of a sales call. We dug in together and thirty minutes later, she had a clear structure and agenda for both client and prospect meetings. That Friday she left me the most thankful voice mail message sharing how confident and in control she felt going into those calls with a plan.

Avoid Defaulting to the Buyer’s Process

Said simply, if we don’t have a plan and process when sitting down with a prospect, then the meeting will default to the buyer’s process. Keep in mind that our potential customers are accustomed to suffering through poorly run sales calls. That’s the norm. And they are tired of salespeople wasting their precious time.

We’ve got to walk in prepared to lay out our own plan for the call. If we don’t, expect the prospect to quickly jump in the driver’s seat and you’ll be the one taken on a ride. How often have you seen a sales call begin with the prospect asking, “What do you have for me?” Salespeople are completely thrown for a loop by the buyer who starts things off by saying, “You’ve got your thirty minutes. Go.” They usually go alright, all over themselves. Even worse is the aggressive prospect who goes on the offensive, peppering you with question after question right from the outset. Before catching your breath, you’re back on your heels being led down paths you didn’t intend to travel. Thirty minutes later you’re still playing defense and haven’t learned the first thing yet about the buyer or his situation. Not good.

Bring a Pad and Pen; Please Leave the Projector at Home

“Presenting” is not a synonym for “selling.” Just because you can build a slick PowerPoint presentation doesn’t mean you should. It would take an incredibly strong argument and unique set of circumstances to convince me why anyone would need a projector for an initial meeting with a prospect.

Recently I was contacted by a company referred by a client of mine. It’s always nice when a potential customer pursues you. We set up a meeting, and I could tell right away the company had some big sales problems. I walked in the room and the entire senior management team was seated at the conference table. I worked my way around the room, shaking hands and repeating the name of each person I met. The younger guy in charge of sales looked surprised that I wasn’t setting up any equipment. In a concerned voice he asked if I had everything I needed for my presentation. I smiled, debating with myself whether to give a smartass answer. Choosing to be respectful, I simply said yes, opened my notebook, and pulled out an expensive-looking pen. I did have a one-page handout that provides an overview to my coaching framework, but that remains tucked in a folder until I gather the information needed to connect my approach to the company’s issues.

For the life of me, I cannot figure why salespeople see initial meetings as opportunities to present a capabilities overview. I hear it all the time. “They’ve asked us to come in and do a capabilities overview. Let’s pull together our best stuff.” Huh?

New business development success results from creating a sales dialogue, not perfecting a monologue. One of my sales laws is that discovery always precedes presentation. Always. It’s sales malpractice when it doesn’t. Pitchmen and product-pushers present before they fully understand the customer’s situation. Consultative sales professionals gather information, connect with the prospect, and begin building a relationship before presenting solutions.

Years ago, my former partner Donnie and I were leading a client’s national sales team meeting and sharing perspective on conducting sales calls. We were having fun and teasing the reps who had fallen in love with the sound of their own voices. To drive home the message, we had the team share horrific examples of what we called the “show up and throw up” sales move. One of the young stars in the room yelled out that he had a better name for it. He called it the “spray and pray” approach. The salesperson goes first and just sprays out everything he can to the prospect. Then he prays he hit on something relevant. Perfect.

Stop confusing presenting with selling! At initial sales calls, I’m betting on the sales pro with the pad and pen defeating the pitchman with the projector every time.

God Gave You Two Ears and One Mouth

Newsflash: Salespeople like to talk. Unfortunately, most of us talk a disproportionate amount of time when in front of a customer. When joining reps on calls I like to track the percentage of time the salesperson talks versus the amount the buyer talks. After the meeting we debrief and I ask a handful of questions to get the rep’s assessment of the call. Then I ask about the rep’s talk-listen ratio. The salesperson usually admits that he should have asked more questions, but feels good about the balance. The results are often mind-blowing when the salesperson learns he spoke 80 percent to 90 percent of the words during the meeting.

One of the most memorable sales lessons came early in my career. I was the traveling assistant to Danny Abraham, the founder and CEO of Slim-Fast Foods. Danny was the ultimate marketeer and consummate salesman. He was in his mid-sixties and very much at the helm of the company as it became one of the hottest brands in the country. I was fortunate to spend two years as his assistant, attending everything from TV commercial shoots with celebrities to late-night dinners with Dodgers’ manager Tommy Lasorda. When Danny tired of chartering private jets, he entrusted me with the task of buying his first Gulfstream. Let’s just say it was a cherry assignment. Nothing was more fun than christening the plane by pouring a can of Slim-Fast over the nose cone.

While running the flight department and flying in the jump seat were the glamorous parts of the job, the real-life MBA education came from sitting beside Danny in meetings with major suppliers and customers. We would regularly head out for cross-country trips that included seeing key accounts such as Walgreens, Target, and Albertsons in the same week.

Danny loved to sell, and he was extremely critical of how the sales force would represent the company and our products, which he considered his babies. It was quite a scene when we would show up in a regional sales manager’s territory to call on an account. The nervous local sales manager would meet us at the airport with new product samples, milk on ice, and blender in tow. The local manager, the vice president of sales, Danny, and I would pile into the back of the limo and head to the customer’s buying office. You could tell the sales manager was keyed up and anxious to present our new flavors and line extensions in front of Danny and the merchandise team at the account.

My memorable lesson came on a particular trip to Minnesota to meet with Target at a time when Wal-Mart was cleaning everyone’s clock in the health and beauty aids category. This was billed as a critical meeting with very senior people at Target. The sales manager in Minneapolis was named Keith, and it was obvious how well prepared he was for the big meeting. He executed what seemed like a perfect presentation of our programs and products, and you could tell he was pleased with the meeting. On the limo ride back to the airport, Danny was kinder than usual in his evaluation of the meeting. But then he leaned forward and put a hand on Keith’s knee.

I can hear Danny’s voice every time I retell this story. “Keith, you did a nice job today with our products. Thank you for the care you put into the presentation. But you talked too much. We didn’t learn what we should have about their business. God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason, and that’s the percent you should use them. When you’re talking you aren’t learning. Two ears, one mouth. Remember that for next time.”

Today, Danny is a billionaire after selling the company to Unilever. He knew a thing or two about sales. I’m thankful for the opportunity he provided and the invaluable education I received. Twenty-two years later, I still share that lesson with every salesperson who will listen.

Selling from the Same Side of the Table

It has always bothered me that the seller-buyer relationship is set up as adversarial. Why do sales calls feel unnatural? How come we can sense tension in the room? That’s not how it’s supposed to be. Is it?

But what if your prospects sensed that you were on their side of the table? If you had their best interest at heart and were working to see the world through their eyes? What would be different in the dynamic of the sales call if you approached the prospect as an ally and created an environment where it was natural to dialogue with the buyer instead of talking at the buyer?

I ask salespeople to do everything possible to create a selling environment where it feels like we’re on the same side of the table as the buyer—figuratively and literally. Why do most people choose to sit on opposite sides of the table during a sales call? That doesn’t make sense. It sends the wrong message and perpetuates the adversarial dynamic we should be working to change. I understand it can be weird to sit down right next to the person, especially when it’s only the two of you at a rectangular table. So sit perpendicular to the buyer at a ninety-degree angle. It’s not as odd as it sounds, and it creates a completely different aura than sitting opposite the person. (At a round table, you can absolutely sit down next to someone without it being awkward.) I don’t want to start the relationship feeling like we’re opposed to each other. Before sitting down, especially in a very large room, take a second to decide the best way to physically communicate that you are there as an ally, not an adversary.