problems or needs. Nothing was covered that would prevent Phil from shopping around. Valuable time was wasted, and it will take a couple more calls to determine Phils exact needs and expectations for a financing package-what Steve asked did nothing to uncover that information.

DOING YOUR HOMEWORK

If you want to learn whats on your clients minds, its important these days to do your homework. Tell me about your business, which used to be an acceptable sales opener, now just shows ignorance. Customers dont want to educate you about their business. Why should they? Good customers have more than enough information about you. They expect you to know as much or more about them, say Kevin Hoffberg and Kevin J. Corcoran.33

Heres an example of a preplanned and more effective approach:

Dave was calling on a customer in the live sound business who had purchased 25 acres and built a 14,000-square-foot building financed through a competing bank. Dave had identified that the purpose of the call was to determine whether there were any needs or expectations that this customer felt were not being met by his current bank. By thinking through the questions he wanted to ask and spending a few minutes thoughtfully writing them out, he developed some really smart questions he could ask regarding issues, concerns, and need development during his one-hour-and-twenty-minute sales call:

A Can you tell me about the issues you face using your current system?

A Do you think the issue with collateral will eventually affect your cash flow?

A At the time, your biggest concerns were getting a Small Business Administration loan and the personal guarantee-which was the bigger concern for you?

A Did it bother you to give a personal guarantee to your bank?

A Did the personal guarantee affect your financial condition at all?

A What other challenges do you have currently? (Problem question)

A Any other challenges-is your equipment up to the level you need?

A How comfortable are you with leasing?

A Can accounting or data entry be a challenge for you?

A Are there other things, say in the next one to three years, that you envision for which you may need additional financing?

A And the implications of your having truck problems are . . .?

A Is that something youd like us to consider?

A Did the lender provide you with the flexibility you needed? Is there a way you can see that we can help you do that differently?

A Do you see any benefits from us being local in the cash management side?

If you are serious about learning whats important, its better to write down key questions you might want to ask so that you dont

forget them during the sales call. Planning the sales call is essential. Good sellers have plans for territories, accounts, and career paths, says John F. Monoky, president of Monoky & Associates. For complex, multilevel, long-sales-cycle accounts, they have action plans that identify the specific steps needed over two or three years to capture the business. 34

ACTION POINTS

4 Establish the purpose of your call. What do you expect, anticipate, or know is the reason for the consultative visit? The purpose is what you and the customer will agree upon as the reason why you are meeting; it is normally agreed upon prior to the meeting. For example, the purpose might be to explore ways that we might be able to manage your health care costs more effectively.

4 Establish your call objective. What is it that you would like to accomplish during your visit with the customer? It should be something that can be measured objectively. For example, identify at least three client problems and secure a second meeting to explore these three problems more thoroughly.

4 Write out really smart questions before the call. Write out the significant information that you will need in order to explore areas that you might be able to help with. Write out questions that will probe into the needs of customers.

4 Identify the potential impact to the customer of not solving those needs. If appropriate, dont forget to ask the customer why it is so important to address those needs.

SALES TRUTH 18: Skilled salespeople do need to plan their sales calls.