Here’s what to include: 1) Business status: You’ll need a refresher on all aspects of your current dealings with this customer, 2) Company news: You don’t want to be surprised by their new acquisition, divestiture, VP, etc. 3) Market trends: You’ll be able to engage your customer more deeply if you’re conversant in the trends they’re facing, 4) Common problems: If your customer brings up one of these problems, you’ll be prepared to discuss it, and 5) Process steps: This lets you explore steps you could help them to accomplish faster, better or cheaper.
More in white paper, Sales Call Preparation with AI
The research on B2B sales call preparation isn’t encouraging: 75% of B2B executive buyers say salespeople are not knowledgeable about their business… and do not understand the issues they face. Unsurprisingly, only one in four salespeople get agreement from these buyers to meet again. AI can help salespeople prepare in two ways: 1) rapid pre-call customer reports, and 2) role-playing their conversations with an AI agent.
More in white paper, Sales Call Preparation with AI
In the landmark book, SPIN Selling, Neil Rackham’s research on 35,000 sales visits found the best salespeople engage customers in discussions about their problems. Consider your own stage-and-gate process: After Concept Development, Feasibility, Development, and Scale-up, your best salespeople ask customers, “What problems are you facing?” Why not pull this question to the front end and ask it before developing your product? This engages customers in a genuine manner and starts the “selling process” before you have something to sell. See video at www.vocforb2b.com.
More in article, The Missing Objective in Voice of Customer Interviews
