How would you like to really improve as a sales person, almost overnight! Then make sure you become a Jedi Master when it comes to preparation.

Prepare for everything you do in your sales career whether making a phone call, dropping by randomly on a cold call, or showing up to a scheduled meeting. Have everything mapped out in advance. Let’s say you are going on a first-time meeting with a prospect. Learn as much as you can about the prospect and their business in advance of the meeting:  their goals, their successes, their strengths, their weaknesses. Learn about their service or their products. A great deal of this information can be obtained from their website, through social media (LinkedIn), and by using library research. Think about ways to have strong bonding with them, finding those levels of commonality. Reflect on what objections you may get. Have powerful questions you hope to earn the right to ask. Plot out how you want the entire meeting to go and what your intentions are. Role play with a colleague. Have them be the prospect that you will be seeing.

I always like to say that you don’t win the football game the day of the game. You win it the week prior while you are on the practice field, studying the playbook, in the weight room, breaking down tape, preparing your body. When the coach says “we had a great week of practice”, that is his way of saying “we are prepared to win!”  You will know whether you are going to win the game before it is played. Sales is the same way. As a matter of fact, sales are often closed before the meeting even starts because you know that you are prepared for almost any situation (and have that positive mindset.) Be prepared for every possible scenario, like a chess match. Prepare to come across as a true sales consultant, a sustaining resource and that you are always trust worthy.

Indeed…preparation IS the key to success.