Fear Can Be Useful! – The Pre-Sales Call Checklist

Since they are about to engage in something potentially dangerous, they spend some time finding out how each one is feeling and responding.  If someone had bad eggs for breakfast, just broke up with a girlfriend, or is coming down with a cold, he might not feel affected, but his performance might not be one hundred percent. And a less-than-perfect performance might impact the success of the mission or even the safety of the team! The team can figure that out BEFORE they get in the air, where they depend on one another's reactions. They might not even realize they are performing an assessment and reacting on their findings. In the same way, I may have picked up on our partner's lack of energy in previous conversations and conveyed it subconsciously to our prospect. I remember thinking after the sales call, "why didn't I get a commitment on this item, or been more enthusiastic about that point?" After finding out about our partner's back surgery, I mentally went back over the sales presentation, and was not quite so critical of my own performance. I should have done what pilots do!

The Fear-Busting Pre-Sales Call Checklist

I don't have to be obnoxious and start pushing my team and suppliers around,  but I do have to be perceptive. Here's a list I use before an important sales call or presentation.  While I created it to prevent problems, it has the added benefit helping me convey absolute confidence and enthusiasm, which has vastly improved our close rate. Feel free to "swipe & deploy" it for your own use. Note that most of these questions are best answered in person, which is why it can be such an advantage to spend in the same room with your team, suppliers and clients. If that isn't possible for financial or logistical reasons, then videoconferencing is the next best thing, with LOTs of phone and written communication as well.

• Do I really want this project?
• Do I really like this client enough to work hard for his success?
• Am I comfortable standing behind and marketing this product or service?
• Is my team up to speed about the particulars and 100% onboard?
• Do the numbers make sense?
• Who else are we dependent on to deliver results on this project? Have we talked very recently and very specifically about the particulars?
• What are the known unknowns?  Do we have a process for finding or getting what we need?
• Does anything about this make me uneasy? (Even if I can't "put my finger on it?")

Depending on our answers to these questions, we might postpone or even cancel a sales call. No point in wasting our time or a client's time on a sale we won't win; or even worse, on a project we DO win that causes problems!}..