How to make a sales call more successful

Sales meetings, with targeted prospects, are hard to achieve. It can take months of research and work to get in front of someone. So when you get there...try not to waste the opportunity!

Having recently been on the receiving end of a bad sales call (as in, someone trying to sell something TO me) it reminded me that the most fatal mistake you can make is this: Forgetting that there needs to be a benefit for BOTH parties.

You often need to "sell" more than your product or service. You may need to sell:
- your point of view,
- you might need to sell a partnership opportunity,
- you might need to convince someone to speak at an event,
- you might need to get someone to cross-promote with you.
All of these are "sales" opportunities.

So consider this perspective of your "prospect".....Just because you want to sell to me, doesn't mean that I should buy from you. It has to be a smart choice for BOTH of us. That means, you might need to LISTEN TO ME about what I need - and work out if you can deliver that. You absolutely will no be able to magically convince me to buy something (or buy into an idea) if you're the only one that will "win" from the deal. Know that even if you're dressing it up well, if you're a slick sales person, I'll still be able to spot a bad deal. So don't waste my time.

Sales is such a critical part of marketing - give it the respect and effort it deserves.