"Wish I had that one back"

Have you ever been in a discussion and you said something that you wish you could take back? If you are like me, one more than one occasion you watched the words come out of your mouth and float in the air and wish that somehow you could have the last few seconds back.

Its bad enough in a social situation to commit a minor faux pas, but in a business situation it may cost you money, reputation, credibility or worse. I read recently that on average 85% of all salespeople do not sufficiently prepare for their meetings with clients or prospects. This blows my mind because it seems so backwards. How many times have you been in a sales situation and you were not sufficiently prepared? C'mon be honest. Maybe you were prepared, but could you have done more? Should you have done more investigating within the company you are calling, different departments, influencer's, other colleagues that have called on them? Did you look at their website?

Most importantly; DID YOU PLAN THE FLOW OF THE MEETING IN DETAIL?

In doing this, we will be prepared when the meeting goes in a different direction, or we must adjust to the needs of the business as they are ever changing in todays environment.

Here is the real truth: You cannot over prepare!

The access we have with a prospect is valuable, and we work so hard to get our foot in the door. So why do we waste these precious opportunities by going in under-prepared, hurried, and wing it?

If you are like most of us your schedule is beyond full. You have internal meetings, external meetings, forecasts, email, reports to your boss, and you are always trying to pack more into your day (like putting 10 lbs. of bologna into a 5 lbs. bag). All to often we lose sight of the importance of the first impression we make as a sales professional. And truthfully, the more educated buyer today will sense your lack or preparation. Put yourself in their shoes. Have you ever been in a situation where a salesman you are talking with rattles off the features of his product without really understanding what is most important to you? Annoying isn't it?

THE POWER OF THE TORCH: The fix is easy and if you do this, you will not waste time in front of prospects and you will be viewed as a trusted advisor rather than just an other sales person giving a canned sales pitch. When we are not truly prepared we all go back to the crutch of that canned presentation which makes us look like a sales hack.

Do this: Spend about an hour (maybe a little more of less depending on your process) preparing every aspect of the sales call and plan your outcome. Develop what you are going to talk about and when, pre-think your questions, and even rehearse them outloud beforehand. Speak to the value your product or service brings to the buyer and talk about the benefits to them. And finally, see yourself executing perfectly. I know this sounds simple, basic, and elementary, but trust me IT WORKS!

Being a sales professional requires that we are better than our competitors by standing out and differentiating ourselves and a huge part of that is in our preparation.

I wish you the very best in life and remember to "Light your passion"