• Unit 3: The Pre-Approach

    We have all heard the phrase "You only have one chance to make a good first impression". That is especially true in the selling profession. To make a good first impression, a good salesperson must do their homework to learn as much as possible about the prospect, the company, and the industry long before a face-to-face meeting with the customer. In this unit, we will learn how to prepare for our sales meetings, including researching the customer, the company, and the industry. Before you go into your sales meeting, you will want to establish SMART objectives: specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound objectives.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 4 hours.

    • Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

      • apply different methods salespeople use to research prospective customers;
      • compare strategies to research the company and the industry; and
      • use research to identify a prospect's potential needs.

    • 3.1: The Preapproach

      The second step of the selling process is the Pre-Approach, when you must do homework on your prospective customer and the company before you actually meet. When you research your client and their business, you demonstrate that you are prepared, which gives you an advantage over your competitors. Much of your work will be done long before you have your first face-to-face meeting.

      • Planning for a Sales Call Page

        This panel discussion gives a nice overview of how to plan for the sales call and how to adapt if things have changed.

      • Learning about Your Prospects Page

        Read this section to learn how you can be prepared for your sales meeting by learning about your customer as an individual so that you can establish rapport. You should also learn about their business and how your product can satisfy an unmet need. Complete the exercises at the end of the section.

    • 3.2: Research Your Prospect

      The more you know about your prospective customer, the better rapport you can establish. You will impress them the more you know about them, their company, and their industry. Because of technology, you have many resources. You can research the company's website, look for industry news, and even research your prospect on LinkedIn and other social media channels.

      • Solving Customer Challenges Page

        As you read, keep a few key points in mind: 1. People only buy from people they trust, so you must earn your customer's trust. 2. You need to prepare SMART call objectives before you go into your call to make the best use of your and your customer's time.

    • 3.3: Research the Company and the Industry

      The more you know about the company, the more you will impress your customer. Because of technology, you have many resources to learn about the company. The company's website will provide a great deal of information about its mission, history, and strategic plans for the future. If the company is publicly traded, there will be a lot of public information through business platforms that track stock trading and industry performance.

      • SMART Objectives Page

        Once you have learned as much as possible about your customer and their company, you must formulate your pre-call objectives. This section will teach you about SMART objectives: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Pay particular attention to the examples of smart objectives. Complete the exercises at the end of the section.

    • 3.4: Pre-determine the Customer's Needs

      Salespeople don't sell – they offer solutions to a customer's problem. It is important to understand each customer's specific needs; no two customers are alike. The time taken to learn about customer needs and challenges is time well spent.

      • Buying 101 Page

        Here, you will learn about the different types of customers and why information is important in determining their needs. In this section, you will also be able to distinguish the differences between B2B and B2C selling scenarios. Take a few minutes to complete exercise 2 to reinforce this important distinction.

    • Unit 3 Study Resources

      This review video is an excellent way to review what you've learned so far and is presented by one of the professors who created the course.

    • Unit 3 Assessment

      • Unit 3 Assessment Quiz
        Receive a grade

        Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.

        • This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
        • You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
        • You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.