Am I Adequately Prepared To Sell?
December 2001
What do you call a salesperson who gives such
information-bound, fact-packed presentations that he bores his prospects to
death while ignoring other prospects in the process? The experts in Sales Call
Reluctance call this person an Overpreparer. The cost of Overpreparer Call Reluctance
is great but the outlook is positive.
by Frank Lee
Sales Academy,
Inc.
Dan felt really good about this sales presentation. He had done his homework
remarkably well. He had spent the last 3 weeks thoroughly researching the prospect.
He had studied the prospect's company, their industry, and their competitors.
He could detail the company structure right down to the names of their board
of directors. Even though this was not a particularly large or prestigious account,
landing it would be a feather in his cap.
Dan felt he finally knew enough to make a credible presentation. Of course,
questions might be raised that he doesn't know the answers to, but he was even
prepared for that, although the thought still turned his stomach.
About an hour into his detailed presentation, he starts to panic. His prospects
seem mildly attentive but aloof. One person's eyes had glazed over. Had he missed
an important detail? Surely not. He was outlining in great detail all the facts
and figures. He was presenting a most logical case for them to buy insurance
from him. As he continues with his presentation, his mind is whirring. What
other important fact should he bring up? Should he go over the liability issues
again and in greater detail? His attention was concentrated more on his presentation
and what he was missing than on the people who sat before him.
Another long hour passed before he was finally through. Politely, each person
rose, shook his hand, complimented him on his depth of knowledge, and promised
to get back to him. As he was leaving their magnificent corporate offices, he
knew he should feel elated but he didn't. After all, not one person had asked
an awkward question. In fact, they had asked very few questions. They knew that
he really understood them, didn't they? He had laid out the facts in a clear,
logical manner. Those facts were blinding, and the next logical step was for
them to buy. "If it were up to me," he thought, "I would definitely buy." But
they did not.
Why Not?
Perhaps his presentation was too logical. Perhaps he had presented too many
details. Perhaps his presentation was actually boring!
Salespersons with a call reluctance called Overpreparer Call Reluctance often
feel let down by their lack of results despite the amount of time and work they
put into their presentations. They become so information-bound that they tend
to recite facts and figures in a dull and boring way. They assume that, because
they presented a logical case for buying, the prospect would automatically see
this logic and buy. Dull and emotionless, they fail to recognize the emotional
hot buttons, the feelings of the people
they are trying to sell to.
A Bigger Cost
In his effort to prepare well for this important prospect, Dan had committed
another Overpreparer sin. He had neglected his other prospects. This had seemed
perfectly logical at the time. After all, how could he waste time on other less
important issues when he had so much preparation to do?
Dan was able to justify this neglect; there was simply not enough time. He
even managed to convince his desperate sales manager whom he had seen a lot
of during this time. He had literally bombarded his sales manager with endless
questions and requests for obscure information.
His sales manager, uneasy with the situation, had no real reason to complain.
Dan always appeared to be busy. Even while sitting at his desk, he seemed to
be deep in thought. Dan was definitely not a slacker. His sales manager just
wished he would spread his energies around to more prospects.
As usual, when the sale did not materialize, Dan spent endless hours analyzing
what went wrong. And then he had to start all over again.
The Overpreparer
Salespeople with Overpreparer Call Reluctance have a mind-numbing fear of
not knowing enough. They dread the sales interview in which prospects ask questions
that they cannot answer. So they prepare. And prepare. And prepare. They go
way beyond the point where further preparation has ceased to be useful.
Overpreparers overindulge themselves in getting ready. As a result, they
often do not have the time to do the things that they are getting ready for.
They use preparation as an excuse for not prospecting or selling or doing any
of the activities that will result in sales. They tend to rationalize this to
themselves and can be very convincing when defending this habit to their sales
managers. Dan's killer response was always, "Well,
do you want me to go in unprepared?" He would recite eloquent phrases
like, "Preparation is the key to success," and occasionally might even throw in some of the greats like Vince Lombardi.
Always taken out of context, of course.
Overpreparers tend to relish information. They gather information and hoard
it. They become walking encyclopaedias. The problem is that they are unable
to translate this knowledge into sales.
Whenever they become uncomfortable with making sales calls, they hide behind
the preparation. They tend to look busy. They occupy themselves with busy work.
Put an Overpreparer in front of a computer when he is supposed to be making
sales calls and he will spell-check the spell checker. They allow this habit
to sap their energy. This leaves less energy available for prospecting.
Can We Motivate Him?
Sales managers see this lack of prospecting activity as a lack of motivation
even though the behavioral pattern tells them otherwise. They send people like
Dan to motivational workshops. This is the worst place to send an Overpreparer.
Why? Overpreparers are not motivated by hype. It does nothing for them.
The next time you attend a motivational workshop, look around and you'll
spot the Overpreparers. There usually comes a time in the workshop when participants
are asked to raise their hands. In the spirit of the workshop, most people excitedly
stretch their hands up trying to touch the ceiling. The Overpreparers are the
ones whose hands barely reach their shoulders. They have that quizzical look
that says, "What the heck is this all about?"
Rather than hype, they are motivated by logic. It is far more efficient to
appeal to their sense of logic, but even this is fraught with danger because
they often have their own ideas about what is logical.
What Is the Cost of Overpreparer Call Reluctance?
Overpreparers close fewer sales than other salespeople do. This is due to
two main factors.
- They see fewer prospects than other salespeople do. After all, they
don't have the time because of all the preparation they must accomplish.
They avoid making calls until they feel adequately prepared—and this can
be a very long time. They prepare and avoid.
- When they do see prospects, their presentations are so information-bound
that they appear boring and lifeless. They feel that, as long as they give
the right information, they will get the sale.
What Is the Outlook?
Fortunately, the outlook for Overpreparers is positive but it requires good
sales management. Often, making the salesperson aware of what Overpreparer Call
Reluctance is and how it damages sales careers can go a long way.
Overpreparers tend to require more information than most. The biggest difficulty
is determining which requests for information are genuine and which result from
Overpreparer Call Reluctance. The simplest way to determine this is by testing.
Here's another way—if the answer to the request satisfies the salesperson and
he acts on that information, fine. However, if the response results in more
and more requests for information, you may just be dealing with an Overpreparer.
Sales managers should remind Overpreparers that, while further education
and knowledge are always desirable, they should be able to act on the information
they already have and not delay. A sales management technique I found particularly
useful is to give the Overpreparer a deadline to complete a certain task and
then hold him accountable to this deadline.
Other Sales Call Reluctance articles include the following:
Call Reluctance, the Fear-Free
Prospecting and Self-Promotion Workshop, and all related terms are copyrights
and/or registered trademarks of Behavioral Sciences Research Press, Dallas,
Texas. Sales Academy, Inc., is an Advanced Authorized Dealer for the Call Reluctance®
Program. Frank Lee is an international expert on Call Reluctance®. He can be
reached at (800) 898–3743 or at franklee@sales-academy.com. He welcomes calls or e-mail from salespersons
and sales managers even if just to chat about the call reluctance problem.
Opinions expressed in Expert Commentary articles are those of the author and are
not necessarily held by the author’s employer or IRMI. This article does not purport
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