Who Should You Bring on a Sales Call?

Source: Rain Today

On a sales call, at least an initial call, go alone. Partners often feel obliged to bring the partner who made the introduction, or someone who had previously worked with the prospect, or someone urged upon him or her by a more senior partner. However, when you bring others to the meeting you may lessen the chance of staying focused on the relevant issues.

Here are problems caused when several people attend a first meeting:

• The client may become defensive because he feels he is being assaulted.
• Someone in your group may be unprepared or ignorant of the purposes of the meeting.
• People can jeopardize your presentation by trying to monopolize the meeting.
• Bringing other people is presumptuous—i.e., you have presumed what the needs of the client are before listening to him or her.
• A prospect will not be impressed by your managing partner if the managing partner does not know anything about the company.
• If politics motivates you to bring someone (e.g., someone who should get some of the credit for the account), the client will perceive it. Clients do not want to be involved in your internal politics.

The important thing is to serve the needs of the prospect. Those may not be known prior to the first meeting. Bringing other people to that meeting is about the firm, not about the prospect.

From Rain Today, www.raintoday.com, February 14, 2007. For the complete article, click on the following link: http://tinyurl.com/34xlok.