Mistake number 1 – are you too worried about yourself?
In my experience when training businesses and salespeople, I’m often told that most are more concerned about their own preparation, such as: Have I got enough business cards? Are my Power Point slides done right? Or, have I got my product samples in my case?
This is a big mistake in my opinion – surely you should be more worried about your client than yourself?
Mistake number 2 – Are you doing enough client preparation?
This brings me onto the second mistake most people make when it comes to preparation and, be honest, how many of you out there can say that you are more concerned about preparing for your client than you are for yourself?
The best preparation is client preparation, such as looking at and printing out pages from their website. You’d be surprised how many people do not even visit a prospect’s website before meeting them face to face, only to be left faced with awkward situations that involve them asking questions such as: “tell me a little about your business”.
Mistake number 3 – Not using Google!
There is no excuse for not even carrying out basic preparation – after all, anyone can use Google.
Googling the company name (to see what else comes up, not just checking out their website), googling the name of the person you are meeting, checking out their competition and looking who you’ve worked with in a similar industry or situation.
What sort of difference do you think it would make to the prospect if instead of asking questions like “tell me a little about your business” you were asking questions like “I was looking on your website and noticed that….” or “I noticed on your website that you worked with…and I wanted to know a little more about it…”
Do you think these have a different impact on the person you’re meeting? You can bet on it! Do you think they would perceive you differently than your competitors who ask the same tired old questions, time after time? You can bet on it!
If you do the right kind of research, do you think it might have a big impact on the results from your sales calls and appointments? You can bet on it!
Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on.
