If a 24 year career in sales and sales leadership has taught me anything it’s that most sales professionals like to do things on the fly. We don’t always take the time to plan and prepare in an intentional and meaningful way.
Maybe we didn’t do enough pre-call planning before a new prospect meeting. It could be that we aren’t taking the time to review our goals to make sure they align with our strategy, or maybe we rushed through creating a presentation or proposal.
Consider the business outcomes of being prepared, and the ripple effect if we’re not
Being prepared:
Reduces nerves and anxiety
Builds confidence and destroys fear
Enhances our strategic thinking
Makes us stand out from our competition
Increases our flexibility
Develops our resilience
Increases our odds of winning
Enhances self discipline
Allows us to visualize our success!
The ripple effect of not being prepared:
Lack of focus
Potential perceived lack of competence by a prospect
Failure to anticipate questions and objections from prospects
Missing goals or coming up just short
Self-esteem might wain
Nerves and anxiety may kick in
Lack of vision and clarity
Inability to visualize your success
Take some time each week for planning and preparation. Block the time on your calendar. Try to make it the same time each week. I like to plan & prep early in the morning on Mondays, when I’m fresh. I use this time to review my goal notebook, plan for upcoming appointments, strategize, fill in any white space on my calendar I might have missed, and take some quiet time to visualize my success for the week.
Consider this: The cost of scheduling time to plan and prepare properly, is less than the cost of poor preparation. Take some “you” time, pour some coffee and prepare to WIN!