October 2, 2015 by L'areal Lipkins in Sales Process
Many salespeople spend a lot of time practicing how to present their product, when to go for the close, and how to overcome objections.
However, very little time is spent on one of the most important pieces of a sales call, the first five minutes.
The first five minutes of a sales call is critical, because it’s where you set the expectations for how the rest of the meeting will unfold.
It's also where you set expectations on getting a clear commitment at the end of the meeting.
Think about the last sales call you had, did you address the following in the first five minutes:
- Appreciation – "Thanks for taking the time to meet with me."
- Time –"When we talked on the phone, we said we’d spend 60 minutes together. Does that still work for you."
- Prospect’s Agenda – "Were there specific things you wanted to make sure we cover in the next hour?"
- Sales Person’s Agenda – "We can definitely address some of the things you mentioned, and I would also like to ask you some questions around…”
- Outcome – "By the end of this meeting, we’ll both know whether or not it’s a fit. If it’s not a fit, please let me know…no hard feelings. If it is a fit, we will discuss what our next steps would be. How does that sound?"
If you want to get better at closing, get better at setting clear expectations in the first five minutes.
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