How prepared are you?

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

Charles Darwin

Many companies are looking for a formula that should answer the question: What factors determine the success of sales in today’s market?

Most industries are looking for a way to reach out to customers and attract them to use their product. Wherever a customer turns, he has the opportunity to spend money. On the other hand, customers today have less money at their disposal compared to the ever-growing range of products and services.

Most products and advertising campaigns are focused on instant gratification, the ability to immediately enjoy the benefits that can be gained from it. Therefore, making a long-term decision simply requires more time, and therefore better preparation and greater persistence in sales.

For this reason, sales today are becoming more complex than ever, and products or services are more complex. The complexity of products or services causes the complexity of the requirements that clients have, and both lead to a longer decision-making process and more meetings with the same client.

Greater focus and more precise answers

– Sales today require more focus and more precise answers to questions:

– Who is your ideal client?

– What are his demographic characteristics?

(Gender, age, education, income, location, occupation, family situation)

– What are his psychological characteristics?

(Desires, ambitions, hopes, worries, fears, aspirations for the future)

A sales strategy requires answers to questions:

– Why would an ideal customer buy from you and not from someone else?

– What is your competitive advantage?

– What makes your product or service superior to competitors?

Nowadays, sales require more preparation than ever. One of the most important factors of business success today is CREDIBILITY.

The better prepared you are and know the answers to questions that haven’t been asked in advance, the more superior and credible you will look.

 Good preparation consists of 3 steps:

1. Research – detailed research, especially information from the Internet, before meetings with clients. If you know someone who already knows your potential client, call them and inquire.

2. Strategy – prepare in advance all the questions you will ask a potential client, define all possible questions you will receive from the client, as well as the answers you will give. Also, prepare in advance all the benefits and advantages that the client may have from working with you and your company.

3. Analysis – after talking to the client make an analysis of everything you prepared and what really happened at the meeting. Write down situations in which you were great, and situations that gave you trouble. Create a new strategy that will help you be better in a similar situation next time.

Sales consultants who do not prepare in advance for meetings with their clients are actually preparing for failure.