Take fewer people on sales calls

You set up a meeting with a high level prospect which took weeks to make happen. She is a decision maker with a problem in a company which is your ideal prospect. If you are like the typical salesperson (remember 76% of salespeople are ineffective) You will take the following actions:
• Invite your boss or a technical person to come with you
• Prepare 20 PowerPoint slides to impress the prospect with
• Check out the prospects website and linkedin profile

If you are the optimal salesperson you will do the following:
• Do some research on the prospect and her problem
• Talk to your tech team and/or boss to bone up on questions you should ask
• Go on the call prepared and alone
The optimal salesperson realizes that in a preliminary meeting the primary objective is to establish a relationship, uncover the essence of the problem and the pain that the prospect is experiencing, see how much money they are willing to commit to the project and then give a summary of how your people would approach the problem or have approached similar problems in the past. The final step would be to move the project forward by setting up follow-on meetings before you leave the first meeting. The optimal salesperson further realizes that the prospect is more likely to open up with only two in the meeting and bringing the boss to an initial meeting devalues the boss and will cause the salesperson to lose control of the meeting. As a general rule take as few people to a sales call as you can get away with. The meetings will be easier to control and have a better outcome.

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