Pre-Call Planning...The Most Powerful Sales Tool!
The preparation you do prior to a sales call or client meeting is one of the most important things you can do in sales.

"You win not by chance, but by preparation."
—Roger Maris, baseball great and former single-season home-run champ (1934-1985)

The preparation you do prior to a sales call or client meeting is one of the most important things you can do in sales. In fact, proper preparation through pre-call planning is considered to be the most powerful sales tool for increasing effectiveness and results in business development. Unfortunately, observations show that pre-call planning is one of the most overlooked and poorly executed steps in the selling process within the A/E/C industry. Put simply, if you pre-call plan and properly prepare for sales calls and client meetings, you will sell more—guaranteed!

Without pre-call planning, you will often find yourself spinning your wheels and "winging it" on sales calls or at client meetings. Ineffective or lack of pre-call planning can lead to frustration, poor sales results, and missed opportunities. It is amazing that, after all the effort it takes to get an appointment to meet a prospect or client, anyone would overlook or ignore pre-call planning to help assure the desired outcome of a sales call or client meeting. Regardless of your experience or who you are going to see, taking the time to prepare and determine how to best manage your sales call or client meeting will pay off, and it can be a competitive differentiator.

Pre-call planning gives you direction specific to each sales call or client meeting. By being organized and prepared, you will be more effective and confident. The better prepared you are, the more professional you will look and feel, and that helps give the prospect or client confidence and trust in doing business with you. You will come across as more knowledgeable and professional in the eyes of your prospect or client when you are prepared. And most importantly, having a game plan or strategy for the call or meeting increases your chance to make the sale or achieve your goal!

Planning takes discipline, effort, and time. It is a lot easier to assume sales will happen because you're working hard. There are lots of hard-working sales people who don't meet their sales goals. Unfortunately, sales don't just happen because you work hard. Every day, many good, hard-working business development and sales professionals put themselves, their families, and their careers in jeopardy by not understanding the importance of planning and then working the plan. Planning applies to many facets of business, but since nothing happens until you make a sale, proper pre-call planning should be a top priority. Sales call planning can transform your desires (goals) into reality (results)!

What are some of the sources of pre-call data and information that could help you prepare better? Where can you get the information that could prove invaluable to you as you prepare for your call?

•The Internet. Go to the Internet and look up information that is publicly available on your client or prospect (or project). Use a good search engine and check out your target. Go visit and review the client's/prospect's web site before the meeting with them. Check the site for current press releases, articles, and news.

•Subscription research services. Consider subscribing to one of the many research services that support and track the A/E/C industry, real estate development, construction, vertical markets (e.g., hospitals, schools, transportation, etc.), and specific clients. The list of potential resources is extensive, and the quality and value vary. Review sources carefully before subscribing and ask for a free trial. Also, you can contact one of the editors of The Seller (see contact info at the end of this article) for their opinion of sources you are considering or currently using.

•Your firm's accounting or CRM system. Look up or ask someone in accounting for a history of projects billed or completed for the client firm. Or check your firm's CRM system or database for projects completed or a work history for a client. It is important to know what work your firm has done for a client (and the client's satisfaction level with past work); this information can be invaluable.
 
•Your co-workers and peers within your firm. Talk to those in your office and/or to others within your firm and ask about the client or prospect you will be visiting. What history or past projects does your firm have with the client or prospect? What experience does your firm have with the prospect or client firm, or with similar firms (or for similar projects)?

•Trade and professional associations. You can sometimes learn a lot about your clients or prospects from info available from associations in which they are active.

•Your networking sources. To be successful, you need a good network of contacts within the A/E/C industry and your marketplace. Use your network (SMPS is a great source for networking contacts) and ask your peers for information or guidance to help you prepare for a call or meeting.

Now that you are prepared and have appropriate information to best plan your sales call or client meeting, it is time to focus on the pre-call planning process. Here are the Four Steps to Effective Pre-Call Planning (don't just talk or think these steps, write them down for each call/meeting and be properly prepared):

1) What is the objective (goal) of this call or meeting? What is the purpose of your call or meeting? Why are you making this call? What agreement or decision are you hoping to obtain? Define the goal of the call in one sentence. For instance: "My goal is to get a 'yes' commitment to start work on the XYZ project," or "My goal is to get the client to agree to receive a proposal for their upcoming development." Remember the goal of any sales call or meeting typically is to move the client or prospect forward to take an action or to make a decision that hopefully is "yes." Understand the client can change the objective of your call at any time, but without proper planning you can end up scrambling when the client or prospect says, "OK, I am really busy, and you have 10 minutes."

2) What's in it for the prospect or client? Remember, in sales everything should be thought of from the client's perspective. That's the only perspective that matters. Before each call or meeting you must ask, "What benefit will my prospect/client receive from this meeting? How can this call or meeting make the client/prospect feel good about the time he or she spends with me?" If you can't determine a serious or real benefit for the person or firm you are calling on, then it is time to step back and take a good look at why you are even making the call or having a meeting. This is the hard part of sales: determining what's in it for the client, how your firm is different or better, and why your firm is the best choice. Take the time to really determine this, and you will definitely sell more and build your business!

3) What questions are you going to ask? This is what separates great sales people and business developers from the rest of the pack: their ability to prepare and ask open-ended questions. It is tempting to go in and see a prospect/client and just "throw-up" your firm's infomercial, and then go on and on about how great your company is. STOP! DO NOT DO THIS! Instead, put together a list of open-ended questions, write them down, take them with you, and ask them. A brief intro on who your firm is and what you do is expected, but then you should shift into asking effective questions. It is OK to tell the prospect/client you have some questions to ask so that you can best understand them, the firm, needs, problems, upcoming projects, etc. Assure the client your questions are intended to determine how your firm can best meet their needs and service them. Ask questions that begin with what, where, how, when, and why. Avoid simple yes/no-answer type questions. Listen carefully, take notes, and don't interrupt the client or dominate the conversation. (Remember: Two ears, one mouth—listen more than you talk). And, if the purpose of your call is to get a "yes" for your firm to do work or be awarded the job, then by all means ask for the job!

4) What (and who) will you need with you to make this call a success? Many sales calls don't go well because people don't prepare and take with them what (or who) they need to make the call a success. The question you need to answer is this: "Based on the objective of this call or meeting, do I have everything I will need to help the prospect/client make a decision?" Sometimes, it's a buying decision. But most of the time, it's a decision to take the selling process to the next step (moving forward). What materials, sample reports, brochures, SOQs/proposals, testimonials, references, etc. do you need for the call or meeting? Consider preparing a meeting or call agenda, with topics or issues to be discussed, and sharing this with the client/prospect to best manage your time. Who (if anybody) should attend the meeting with you from your firm? Do you need to bring the project or operations manager, your boss, or a technical specialist to the meeting? Remember to not only ask what you need to make the call a success but what will the client/prospect need (or want to see) that you can provide to get the decision you want at the meeting.

High-performing sales and business development professionals write specific objectives and plan for each and every sales call or client meeting in which they participate. Proper pre-call planning will reveal to you exactly which questions to ask. And here's the best part: Selling anything is a function of intelligent questioning, coupled with an appropriate strategy designed to allow the prospect to tell you exactly what, why, how, and when they will buy! Challenge yourself to embrace the discipline of pre-call planning, to do it consistently and effectively, and to make it a routine part of your selling process. Pre-call plan, prepare better, and differentiate yourself and your firm and you will sell more efficiently and effectively. Try it and see!

"Whatever failures I have known, whatever errors I have committed, whatever follies I have witnessed in public and private life have been the consequence of action without thought."
—Bernard M. Baruch, U.S. businessman and politician (1870-1965)

About the Authors
Richard Cilley, CPSM, is CEO of Transcendent Consultants (www.transcendentconsultants.com), and Tom Boogher, CPSM, is Executive Vice President of Professional Service Industries, Inc. (www.psiusa.com). Richard and Tom have a combined 50-plus years of experience in marketing and sales within the A/E/C industry.

This is the second column in a new monthly series. Hosted by SMPS' Business Development Institute, this column will provide tips, best practices, and suggestions on how to excel at sales and client development. Remember that nothing happens in business until you make a sale! The Business Development Institute is a Specific Interest Group of SMPS with the goal to promote, inform, and educate the A/E/C industry on the importance of sales and the necessity for business development best practices.

Your comments, feedback, suggestions and questions are encouraged. Please drop either editor an e-mail with any input. You can reach Tom Boogher at tom.boogher@psiusa.com or Richard Cilley at rcc@transcendentconsultants.com.
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