Ready for a Sales Takeoff?

It is extremely crucial for pilots to be well-prepared ahead of time with the information they anticipate they will need to have a safe flight. If they wait until airborne, they could be distracted by information gathering tasks when more critical tasks needs their attention, or vital information may well be available on the ground, but not in the air. Either scenarios could lead to poor decision making and cause an aircraft accident which could have been prevented by being better prepared.

Preparation

Similarly, preparation before a sales call is equally important. Gather information on your customers before taking off into a sales call. Being prepared will help you better understand the circumstances that the customer is going through as the discussion progress. Are they looking for enhancing or solving problems? The circumstances will bring a need.

Need Behind the Need

To lift the plane into the air, pilots need to know what the plane needs—the right speed, the amount of engine power, the wings… To safely fly the plane to the destination, pilots will need to understand the reasons behind the needs.

Likewise, you need to find out what is causing the need and why is the need so important for your customers? Most needs will drill down to these three needs behind the needs:

1. Save Cost
2. Build Organisation Image
3. Productivity

Connect the Dots for Solutions

By understanding the reasons behind the needs, the pilot can then manoeuvre through various weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances by coming up with the appropriate solutions. Customers are not interested in your products but in the solution you can provide by connecting your expertise in the product benefits and your newfound knowledge in their needs.

Close the Call – Land the Plane

Finally it’s land the plane. It may be a direct flight or a connecting flight. In a sales call, here’s where you decide the next steps. Sometimes the next step is closing, sometimes it's following up and identifying more needs.

So the next time you’re in a sales call, imagine yourself as a pilot and lead the flight towards the right direction. All plane passengers will prefer a trained skilful pilot to fly them to their destinations, and so do your customers.

Besides, as Henry Ford says,

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”

[su_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg1PzaqnGf8"]