Sales isn’t all front-line activity, dynamic meetings and hustle. In this article we explore why excellent preparation is a skill worth developing for consistent sales performance.
Recently, I baked my first ever loaf of sourdough bread (pictured). Unlike other breads the baker uses a combination of flour, water and airborne-yeasts, meaning that much more effort is required. This isn’t a cookery website, so I won’t dive into lots of detail. The main point is before baking you need to invest time nurturing and creating what is known as a “starter”. The starter is used to make a sponge and then the sponge is mixed with flour and a little salt to make a loaf.
The time taken to make a starter is typically 7-10 days, with daily feeding of the mix, checking and measuring along the way. This required effort puts many people off making sourdough, even though it is a popular bread. Those that do put in the time and energy are rewarded with a delicious loaf plus the pride that all the excellent preparation has paid off. Wonderfully, the living starter can be used again and again to make loaves when required.
Enough about bread…
This is a wonderful analogy for Sales. There are so many crucial components of selling and specifically to any sales cycle. Many sales people are targeted on both lead indicators (activity levels, the number of meetings they are attending, pipeline, etc) and lag indicators (revenue or profit achieved). As a result, a lot of focus in a busy sales office can be on these key elements only.
Consequently, there may be little emphasis on excellent preparation and “quiet time” set aside to improve outcomes. Given the level of understanding, problem-solving, empathy, planning, project management, consultation and design that often goes into a typical B2B* sale, I find this tragic.
There is lots to prepare
Think about all the aspects of sales that would benefit from some excellent preparation:
- Prospecting activity: Why are you reaching out to a particular person or organisation? How do they suit your strategy (or are you contacting them just because they are in your CRM?)? Is there a particular market or vertical you feel would benefit from your help?
- Telephone conversations: Preparation and research would allow you to talk with a crucial prospect in a relevant, meaningful way. Surely that is better than saying the same bland sales message to everyone you contact? There so many places to research: the press, social media (good for researching businesses and individuals), the gov.uk website, investor pages on corporate websites, the list goes on.
- Customer or Prospect Meetings: How much time do you actually put in to preparation prior to attending a meeting? Especially with a new contact? My suspicion is that across sales industries there is a lot of “winging-it” going on. Remember, our task is to diagnose problems and provide real help to solve them – not shift product at all costs. To develop the understanding required to diagnose correctly, surely you need to spend a lot of time preparing questions specific to the situation you may be encountering? (As an aside, Justin Leigh talks brilliantly about preparing High Quality Questions in his book Inspire, Influence, Sell).
- Sales Processes: Where should a sales process start? Many formal sales processes start with lead generation (via any number of channels), then pushing for meetings, then progress from there. Surely a sales process should start with why you want to contact a particular organisation in the first place? Are they credit worthy? Are you likely to be able to help them? Do you have relevant case studies or references? Once identified, you ought to research them, understand their priorities (easy to do by reading their annual report if available), map the key people, and only contact them when you know you can sound genuinely curious, informed and relevant.
These are just a handful of examples, but each one could really benefit from preparation time.
How detailed should the preparation be?
The amount of preparation time should be in proportion to the potential outcome. Clearly a sales worth thousands of pounds towards your revenue goal would command more preparation time than one that will only deliver a few hundred pounds. However, the principle should be the same. As a Sales Professional you want to be helpful and deliver a great outcome for your client. To do this you will need to prepare good questions, research well and hold conversations relevant to the customer. These should be gold standards for all selling.
For larger opportunities you might additionally consider multiple research methods. You could create detailed maps of key people in the buyer organisation or prepare for multiple meetings with different stakeholders to get a wider picture of the problem. It may be useful to hold brain-storming sessions internally to explore possible eventualities or solutions, you may prepare fine-tuned, detailed approach emails or letters, based on significant research.
Over time you’ll learn the level of prep needed to influence the outcome, dial back on some opportunities and allow more time for others. It’ll come if you practice.
Take time out to develop the skill
There are many reasons why excellent preparation is a key component of selling. It is a true skill and like all skills requires regular development. My strong advice is to always allow time in your routine for preparation. It is your choice whether to do this as a scheduled event (some people I have worked with set aside the same mornings each week for prep) or as part of the rhythm of your sales cycles.
Whichever works for you, please be sure to do it. Well prepared sales people stand out from the crowd. Choosing to be one will really help you shine. Just like the loaf of sourdough, thorough preparation and maximum effort upfront, greatly improves the chances of an outcome to be proud of.
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Image by Ben Gaston
*Business to Business – just in case you’ve not seen the abbreviation before!
