DOJO
Preparation and debrief for client interactions is much like cooking. We need to prepare the meal, and after cooking and eating we’ll also need to clean up and have the kitchen ready for the next meal. In sales interactions, preparation includes getting ready to collect and clarify the expectations of those involved and deciding on your own tactics for the appointment. You can also prepare your guiding questions. Florian also shares tips here on how to jazz up your own energy and feel positive before meeting with your client. How do you debrief after a call? Let’s talk about methods that keep this task quick and painless. Yes, debriefing can be tedious, but it can also help you in a big way moving forward with your client.
Note: This exercise is intended for individual or team sales agents as a way to practice and reinforce learning. Incorporate this practice into your day and, if possible, into your ongoing sales work. This practice shouldn’t take you more than 10-15 minutes a day. Good luck and have fun!
Introduction: In this exercise you’ll practice listening for key information and asking useful questions. Your main goal is to understand the needs and emotional drivers behind a decision. You're also keen to understand who the involved decision makers are.
Step 1: Find a friend or colleague for this exercise. You’ll need about 10-15 minutes.
Step 2: Ask your friend to tell you the story of one of her upcoming purchases and her decision making process so far (aim for something more interesting like a piece of furniture, car, computer rather than daily purchases like fruit and bread). The greater her current discomfort and hence need for this purchase the better. Ask her to tell you about the need(s) behind the purchase, the decision buying process, how she is weighing the pros and cons of various choices, and the other people involved or impacted by this purchase.
Step 3: Time your friend’s storytelling to 3-4 minutes. Your only job here is to listen without interrupting too much (only prompt for more information if needed) and to take notes (ideally, you’ll take notes in the same way that you would on an actual client call - hint: practice fast typing!)
Step 4: Look through your notes and search for any missing information. Did you fully understand all parts of her story? What did she emphasize the most? What feelings and emotions arose? What do you know (or not know yet) about the role of other decision makers in this story? What "problem" does the product, your friend is aiming, for solve?
Step 5: Once you have a few questions ready ask your friend to provide answers so that your "understanding" of her buying motives and process will be as complete as possible to you. Remember: You want to dig deep and question every "reason" she mentions to really understand the underlying drivers of behavior.
Step 6: Transfer this into real sales situations. Have your set of questions to dig deeper ready at every customer interaction. Take notes during your sales calls and save your gathered knowledge in your CRM system. Immediately after the call write this down, complete your notes, derive open questions for the next call and plan your next action with this customer - including setting a time and date for said the action into your calendar. Only then, you should allow yourself to move on to the next task/customer.
Goal for the week:
Tuesday: Practice “Listen & Learn” with 1 friend
Wednesday: Practice “Listen & Learn” with 1 friend and 1 client (when speaking with a prospect aim to learn about how they are currently solving the problem that your product solves)
Thursday: Practice “Listen & Learn” on 2 client calls
✅You can find more practice for preparation and visualization before sales calls here: “Preparing for a Sales Call”