How do I start a Sales call?

Question

It is for selling cutting tools and machine tools to heavy engineering industry and other engineering industries

Answer 1

you start by making an appointment and dont be late.  you need to give more information if you want a more detailed answer.

Answer 2

Before you make a sales call, you need to do the following:

1. Research the company thoroughly and plan how you will do the call;

2. Create your value proposition for that company;

3. Get some testimonials from other happy customers.

When you research the company, you need to find out the particular situation of that company, its strategic goals, challenges and problems it might be facing in the area of your expertise. You should find out how they are handling things without your product. You should also find out the real decision maker and influencer. Don't approach the procurement department directly, they never makes purchasing decisions. They simply put the papers through. The people you should know are the problem owners (users of you product which in your case might be the head of the production department or tooling department) and the decision maker (which could be the general manager production or GM of the plant). Most of these information could be found out from the web sites or by talking to people in the company.

Armed with this information, you should now proceed to make your value proposition. What problems they might be facing and how you can help? Not just your product, but your company and you in particular? Find out what value you have delivered to your other customers. Call up and ask your current customers why they actually bought from your company. It may not be for reasons that you thought such as price, quality, superior strength, corrosion resistance, etc. Find out what your product ultimately does for the customer. For example, did your company reduce their tooling costs? Reduce waste? reduced tooling time? Prevented production outages? Reduced maintenance costs? Can you help your new company in a similar way? If so, write down how you could help this company. That is your value proposition.

Collect names, phone numbers and if possible letters from your current happy customers.

Decide whom to call and when. Decide what you will say and ask. Decide what you want from each call. This is call planning.

I would recommend that (in your case) you call up the problem owner (the person who will be actually facing the problems which you are trying to solve), such as the production manager/ supervisor or tool room manager. Don't go too low. You need to talk to the head of the problem department. Call up and after introducing you and your company briefly, mention your value proposition and ask him if you could set up a meeting to see if your services could be valuable to the company. Most reasonable people will agree.

Once you are there, don't talk about your product. DON'T. Don't even show your brochures. DON'T. After briefly introducing you and a little bit of chit chat (1 or 2 minutes) tell him that you need to ask him some questions to find out if you could really offer value to his company. Then ask questions regarding his particular situation, the problems he must be facing, how it affects his operations and goals, etc. Find out what exactly he will be seeking in a solution. It is possible that he is already using a tooling supplier. If so, try to find out if he is experiencing any problems with that and how he wants to get it solved. Find out what are his criteria for measuring effectiveness of a solution. Find out why he will seek a second source.

Don't offer any solution at this stage. You need to find out exactly what the problems they are facing and if it is possible you to realistically offer value. You may have to go and visit the production floor and the tool room, talk to the supervisors and technicians there and really dig deep, if this is possible.

Once you have gathered enough information, you can tell him that you will go back and see how you could offer value to this firm. Consider the criteria mentioned by the customer. Now, really ponder over the customer's problems and how you could help. Discuss with your management and create a very customized offer. Don't make a generalized offer. Make it truly customized.

Go and meet the problem owner again. Present your solution, after citing the problems he had explained before. You can show him any relevant brochures, samples, etc. Ask him to get you access to the decision maker, if he is not the one deciding the deal. You could also request to be introduced to the purchasing dept, if that was not already done by the customer.

Once you are with the decision maker, recount the exercise you had undertaken- the customer situation, the problems they are facing, its effect on their operations and now how your offer could help resolve these. Cite some success stories of happy customers. If you have tied up your offer to their problems, their needs, their criteria and how they want it to be resolved, you have every chance to be successful. They will start the necessary formalities for ordering from you. Be prepared for some price negotiation. Remember to talk about the value you offer (their return on investment) - the problems they face and how your offer will resolve it, whenever pricing issues are brought up.

OK, that was pretty long for "how to start a sales call"; but I had to talk about more or less the entire process since unless you know how to finish, you cannot start most of the times.

Well, I have covered some basics. But there are finer points which cannot be covered briefly. You can write to me if you need further assistance. I will be glad to mentor you (free of course) from time to time. I like people wanting to improve themselves.

Answer 3

First of all make sure to reach the right person responsible for procurement in that organisation.

Then starting with a brief introduction about yourself and your products you may proceed enquiring, understanding and appropriately matching their requirements for the products/tools. Do carry pictures. leaflets, literature etc of your tools with you with reasonable technical specifications and your contact details printed thereon. While talking, always try to assess the interest and related pointers of the person to whom you are trying to sell. You may be required to make repeated calls, but it is the part of the sales.

Answer 4

"Hello, this is (your name) with (your company). Can I please speak to the person that handles your purchasing?"