» Call Plan – Instant Sales Guides

Part of the Instant Sales Guides series ©

Here are some examples of what questions you can ask yourself prior to a call (either face to face or telephone) together with some debrief questions to help you move the sales forward. These are also detailed in the Instant Sales Guides tab together with an actual call plan for you to download and use.

Key Points

Objectives will help you improve your performance over time
Always be asking yourself
“What do I need to do/have to move the sale forward?”

Pre-Call
Questions to consider before calling on a new prospect or an existing customer:
☐ What is my call objective(s) – only 1 or 2 SMART objectives?
☐ Who do I need to speak to in this business/division/department?
☐ Who is the key decision maker(s)?
☐ Who is a main influence(s)?
☐ What specific actions do you want the prospect to take at the end of the call?
☐ What potential obstacles exist that will threaten the sale?
☐ What stage am I at in the sales cycle?
☐ How will I open the call?
☐ What information do I have?
☐ What information do I need to find out?
☐ What sort of objections emerge out and how will I handle them?

Post Call
Questions to consider when reviewing your customer sales interaction:
☐ Did I achieve my objective?
☐ What went right/what went wrong?
☐ What does the customer think about me/my company/our offer?
☐ What information did I gather?
☐ What evidence do I have that this is still a viable sales opportunity?
☐ Did I advance the sale to the next stage?
☐ Who else needs to be involved in the process?
☐ What else do I need to do to progress the sale to the next stage?
☐ When am I next going to see or speak to this customer?
☐ What will be my next call objective?

Please comment if you have any feedback – note that you can download a printable pdf version of the checklist together with a call plan and more information regarding call planning from the instant sales guides tab.