Sales Pre-Calling Planning Checklist

Sales calls are intimidating—there’s no doubt about that. Buyers in today’s world have less time to offer you than ever before, if you’re even able to get them on the phone, which means that every second counts when trying to pique their interest in your company’s products or services.

The most successful sales representatives across all industries seem to know exactly what to say and when to say it, landing deal after deal with what appears to be little effort. However, many of those same reps also use a key strategy during the sales process: thorough preparation.

A large chunk of sales success can be determined before you even pick up the phone and call the prospect, and that’s because it lies in you—the sales rep—to do research and ensure you’re fully prepared to bring this prospect to conversion.

Preparation doesn’t just help your sales calls go more smoothly. It can actually show the prospect that you care enough about their company to learn more and ask meaningful questions. Additionally, preparation can help you qualify leads to prevent wasting your time and prioritize the leads that your products or services can have the most impact on.

This pre-call planning checklist can help you go into sales calls better prepared and hopefully make you more successful in converting quality leads for your organization.

Learn about the company

Taking an in-depth look at the company you are trying to sell to should be your first priority. Your products and services are likely going to affect the company as a whole, helping it to reach its goals and achieve greater success. In order to prove that you have solutions for the company in question, you’ll need to really understand what the company does and its plans for the future.

• Check for history with your company: Look up the prospect company in your company’s CRM to see if you have any history of working with them. Note prior deals, conversations and interest between your company and theirs.
• Research the company: Type the company name into Google and read all the information on its website to get a firm grasp of what the company does, its proclaimed strengths, the market it serves and more.
• Look for recent news: Check out recent articles that might show up in the search results that feature news about the company. Look for items highlighting new business ventures, challenges the company is facing or other major changes.

Learn about the industry

Next, you’ll want to examine the industry the prospective client serves to note market trends, potential opportunities and threats and more that could influence the way the company runs in a few months or years.

• Research their competitors: Knowing what your prospect’s competitors are doing and whether or not they are finding success is great information to have on hand during a conversation. Most companies want to differentiate themselves from the competition, but are also looking for ways to follow their lead and do better to overcome them in the market. You may discover a shared challenge and offer the prospect a solution that will help them shoot to the top.
• Read industry news articles: Know what state your prospect’s industry is currently in and where it is projected to go in the coming years. Look for recent and upcoming trends and see if your products or services fit with those trends as a selling point.
• Research top issues in the industry: There are associations in every industry that publish information about some of the biggest issues facing industry leaders. Knowing what these pain points are ahead of time can help you formulate potential solutions for the prospect so you’re not stumbling through an offer on the phone.

Learn about the contact

Although you are looking to sell products or services to a company, there is a real person behind the computer screen or telephone that you’ll need to connect with in order to make a good impression. Without hooking the buyer right off the bat, you might lose their interest—and the sale. Take time to learn about who you’re calling to help grab their attention right away.

• Identify the buyer: The first thing you’ll have to do is identify exactly who it is you’re trying to reach. Research company personnel online or search LinkedIn to find the person in the role of making buying decisions for the prospective company. Get their name, phone number and role and log it in your company’s system. If there is more than one buyer in the company, try to figure out exactly who might be involved in the decision and do thorough research on them, too.
• Research their professional life: You should have a clear understanding of the buyer’s professional career, if for no other reason than to use it as a talking point. They may have a background in something different from their current role that you can use to connect with.
• Discover their interests, recent events and more: It’s important to remember that the people you are calling are more than just their day jobs. They have families, interests, hobbies and more going on. Finding some information on these things might help you make a more personal connection that strikes deeper than a connection based on sales alone.  

Solidify your calling plan

Once you have all the background you need on the prospective client, you’ll want to ensure you know exactly what you’re talking about for your own company. Identify solutions that you think might benefit the prospect based on what you already know, and gather a packet of resources like case studies and examples to send to them upon request.

Additionally, make a list of open-ended questions about the prospect and their company that you weren’t able to answer on your own or need more information for. Be sure to ask about future goals of the company and major pain points, even if you already have an idea.

Going into a cold call armed with all of this information will help you feel more confident about the pitch. It will assure the prospect that you both know what you’re talking about and take time to learn about clients, and will put you on the path to have the most effective sales calls possible.