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Anybody who gets on a flight is going to expect the flight crew to go through a checklist before taking off.

Regardless of how many flights a pilot may have made previously, they know the importance of the checklist.

If it works for pilots, it seems like it should work for salespeople too.

I hear way too many salespeople complain about how hard it is for them to get a sales call.

I agree, due to the busy schedules customers have and the ever changing way with which people can buy, it is becoming more and more difficult for a salesperson to get an appointment.

If it’s getting harder to get appointments, then that would mean each appointment is that much more important.  If they’re that much more important, then it makes sense we need to make sure we make the most of each call.

All of this makes sense, yet far too many salespeople go into meetings unprepared.  Or, they go into a sales meeting thinking they’re prepared, only to realize after they’re through or part way through the meeting how they forgot something.

This is the reason why I believe all salespeople should have a checklist they review when preparing for every sales call.

If it’s good enough for pilots, then it should be good enough for salespeople.  I’m not going to say what your checklist should look like, as there are far too many different sales processes out there, but here are a couple of items I would have on a checklist:

What do I intend to learn on this call?

What are 5 questions I can ask?

What is my goal of the call?

How do I intend to close?

What is the reason why the customer wants to meet with me?

The items on the checklist are not things like making sure you have a certain brochure or a certain PowerPoint.  No, I think the items on the list should be geared for how you are going to conduct the call to gain the information you need.

Certainly the list above is not complete. If I were making a sales call, I would have more questions on the list, but you get the idea.

I’m confident by having a list you follow you will increase the ROI you receive from the sales calls you make.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

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