Problem: Ever go on a sales call where there seemed to be little structure, where both parties seemed to be on different pages, where expectations were not met, and little was accomplished? Even worse, you expected something positive to occur but simply got a luke-warm response such as, “I need to think it over. Call me in a few days.” Opportunities are squandered and the buyer seems to be in control.
Problem: Jenny came to sales training class one morning and asked the class to assess what had gone wrong on a sales call that she had made the week before. She was frustrated that she had spent 45 minutes on one call with no results. She explained the call in detail and after a short, but very focused Q & A, it was determined that the “suspect” she had spent her time with was not a good prospect after all. Jenny reluctantly agreed, but said that this happened more than she liked, and lamented that “some prospecting calls are just a waste of time.” With that admission, she received much sympathy from some class members who agreed with her perspective on prospecting. Jenny admitted that her prospecting activity had declined in recent months and that she was no longer the leading salesperson in her region.