If your sales reps tell you their goal for an upcoming sales meeting is to “build relationships,” chain them to their desk. Don’t let them leave until they come up with a goal that is sound.
“Building relationships” is double talk for “nothing will happen in this meeting that will move the sale forward.” Get your team great at setting great sales meeting goals and great results will follow.
A great planned sales meeting goal is measurable, moves the sale toward closure and involves both buyer and seller commitments.
Measureable: when the meeting is done you can say “I achieved my goal or I did not.” A second meeting with the right buying influences was booked or it was not. Sign off by legal was obtained or it was not.
Moves the sale toward closure: securing a product test with commitment to buy should success parameters be met moves things toward closure. So does an introduction to the person who signs the cheques for your services.
Involves both buyer and seller commitments: the buyer will aggregate his current performance data and you will analyze it. You will run a plant-wide needs assessment and the buyer will enrol his staff in the process. See the pattern?
Building relationships falls short of being a sound sales goal by all three of these measures. To begin, how do you accurately measure the relationship built in a sales meeting? “They really seemed to like me by the end of the meeting” is great but is purely subjective.
Was the buyer truly enraptured or just polite and accommodating?
Next, does a positive relationship move a sale forward? A positive relationship is not a strong enough lever in and of itself to move a sale forward. Anyone who has heard, “I feel we really connect well but I went with the competition” knows this to be true.
Does it involve both seller and buyer commitments? Other than a perception of positive relations, no, it does not.
Planned sales call goals are important because they act as the due north for sales calls. If the sales call zigs and zags – which they often do – one can guide them back on track to reach the right destination rather than get lost along the way.
They also positively influence seller behaviour: “If I want to uncover the pains that the accounting department is facing, I’ll need to prepare some questions to uncover them.” Forethought encourages pre-call planning.
Finally, they provide immediate performance feedback. “That call was a success, I secured a second meeting”, or “that call felt good, but I did not learn their vision for what good looks like when their pains are relieved.”
Feedback is the breakfast of champions.
Make the setting of sound sales call goals part of the sales culture within your team. During your coaching sessions set time aside to discuss with your team how to set them. To begin, get both of you on the same page with how to define a sound sales call goal.
Then look ahead to upcoming sales meetings and work together to write out (yes, write out – or type out, whichever) planned sales call goals.
Finally, agree that positive relationships are the pleasant byproduct of conducting a professional, prepared and productive sales call.
Setting sound sales call goals is sure way to improve sales results and only takes a few minutes. It is time well invested and sure beats being chained to a desk all day. •
