January 5

A Sales Call Needs a Purpose

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Sales Calls are Expensive, So Better Do Them Right!

According to AllBusiness.com the average cost of a sales call ranges from $100 to $250 (depending on years of experience and salary.) Think about that, if the average sales person makes three calls per day over the course of a year (allowing for vacations and holidays) that is annual cost ranging from $75,000 to $187,000 per year.

If you are investing that much money in making sales calls, don’t you want to ensure that you make money. Or more importantly, you don’t lose money?

When successful, sales calls yield the highest rate of return, and without them you cannot stay in business. But keep in mind they are expensive. So if the investment is high, you need to do everything you can to ensure that that your return on that investment worth the effort.

Define Your Purpose Upfront.

Defining your objectives and stating your purpose before you make a sales call greatly increases your chance that investment will yield a high rate of return.

Before you make a sales call you need to know why you want to make that call. Oh I know, you want to make a sales call because you want more business. But beyond that why are you making this call? What is the purpose and what are you trying to accomplish–what do you want? In other words, what is your goal for that sales call?

Sales Objectives Should be Actionable.

The purpose of your  sales call needs to be written down, actionable, measurable and be time specific. Your purpose needs to ensure that you hold yourself to accomplish something on this call, and that this purpose moves the call forward to the next step.

Sales success comes from a series of sales calls in which each call moves the prospect one step closer to doing business with you. To make this easy to remember and easy to use, many people often use the acronym SMART–specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable and timely.

The point is you need to define a purpose and hold yourself accountable to complete it. More importantly, by writing it down, stating it and thinking about it, you get the opportunity to think about how you are going to transition into the purpose. Think about what the call will look and feel like, role play the call before you actually make the call.

This is very important if you want to make an effective call and you want a high rate of return on your investment.

Each Sales Phase Should Have Unique Purpose.

It is important to note that your purpose will be different given the stage of the sales process you are in. For example, if this is your first call on this prospect, your purpose may be to establish rapport with the client, learn more about the client’s business, and gain permission to set up a second call (within the next two weeks) with the prospect to share information about how your services could benefit their business.

If this is perhaps your third call, your purpose may be to present the proposal that you have prepared for the prospect, gain the prospect’s feedback and input, and get the prospect to commit to act on the proposal within thirty days.

In both examples, the purpose is written down, specific, actionable, measurable and timely. More importantly, both require that you think about how you are going to structure the call so that your purpose can be achieved in a natural and comfortable way for both the prospect and for you as the calling officer.

Define the Purpose to Turn Your Prospects into Customers.

If you want to turn your prospects into customers, then taking the step of defining the purpose of your sales call will help you do it. Remember, a sales call is a privilege and stating and defining your purpose ahead of time shows you respect your client and you value your time!

Voted Top 15 Business Growth Experts to Watch, and Top 41 Motivational Speakers, Meridith Elliott Powell is a business growth strategist who helps her clients learn the techniques they need to turn uncertainty to competitive advantage. An award-winning author, Meridith’s latest book, with co-author Connie Podesta, is The Best Sales and Sales Leadership Book Ever!

Meridith Elliott Powell


Voted one of the Top 15 Business Growth Experts to watch by Currency Fair, highly engaging corporate motivational keynote speaker Meridith Elliott Powell delivers a cutting-edge message, rooted in real-life examples and real-world knowledge. Meridith’s presentations are full of powerful content, highly interactive, and fun. She helps her clients learn the leadership development, sales and business growth strategies to turn uncertainty to competitive advantage.

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