Sellers rarely appreciate the magic of Post Call Reports, this is often seen as an admin activity that “I’ll get round to”.
This article is written to help you see the magic of Post Call reporting and its relevance in today’s very changed selling environment.
Let’s think about why there is hidden magic in Post Call reports
According to Rain Group 69% of buyers accept cold calls.
Has the pandemic changed this?
Even if it has, and cold calling (or prospecting) has become more difficult, has this changed the amount of calls you make?
It shouldn’t because you still need to make those calls. You still need to prospect and you still need to get buyers into your sales pipeline.
You might have changed your target market or only calling warm leads but either way the one thing that hasn’t changed is how we all evaluate those calls.
Even before the current crisis Salesforce stated that 92% of all customer interactions happen over the phone.
Do you reflect on those calls?
Do you use those reflections to prepare for the next call?
If I asked you where a prospect was in their buying journey , would you know?
Do you rely on your memory which short-term can only hold up to 7 pieces of information for 20 seconds.
Have you written those pieces of customer insight down?
I appreciate I’ve asked a lot of questions but all can be answered by using a post-call report with every call you make.
What results can you expect when using a Post Call report?
Analysis of the conversation
Have you ever finished a conversation and realised you forgot to ask something, but then did the same thing next time with the same prospect?
Post-call reporting gives you the ability to analyse everything you talked about, what you asked, how your prospect replied, and then use that information to create a new pre-call plan.
Next time you’ll remember what to say but also to ask new questions that moves the conversation along.
Analysing the conversation at a later time also allows you to think about different products and services that might work for that prospect that you didn’t think about at the time.
Set yourself key action points:
Most calls involve some kind of follow up, either something in the post or a quick email with more information on.
Maybe your prospect asked for something that you don’t yet have to help them decide and you need time to create it.
If you haven’t got the time to create it the moment you come off the call could you continue to remember exactly what they wanted days later?
Write it down!
Use a post-call report and write it down, with key action points for when you’re planning to send it across.
Follow remains a key component of successful sales. It’s incredible to think that 48% of sellers don’t do it!
Read more about following up sales opportunities here 👉🏼 How Quickly Should You Follow Up On Sales Leads?
Where they are in their buying journey:
If you’re new to buying journey, for simplicity, maybe think of it a bit like a football league table.
Those at the top are closer to buying and ready to use your product taking their business to the next level.
Those at the bottom probably never will and eventually will go elsewhere or relegate their business to a cheaper or less successful alternative.
Those in the middle are in your “holding pattern” and you need to nurture and encourage them.
Read more about the holding pattern 👉🏼 The Holding Pattern in Sales
If I asked you to tell me where a team are in the table could you remember?
How far they are away from buying?
A post call report helps you analyse and understand how far they are from buying based on the answers they gave.
We advocate reviewing these 5 areas:
- Where is my prospect in SPANCOP? (your league table)
- Am I speaking to the right person?
- What did I learn about timing and timescales?
- Did I move the sale forward?
- Has any financial risk appeared?
You can have a sense of reassurance:
Buyers can be fickle at times!
They are worried about saying no and offending you, or worried about saying yes even when they want the product.
The truth is the just don’t have enough information and they’re not sure how to ask.
The onus is on you to figure out what’s said in between the lines and writing this down is key.
You must guide them with insight and not just information.
Research shows that in a presentation situation, 50% of the information presented will be forgotten within an hour and an average of 70% in 24 hours.
Writing it all down gives you a sense of reassurance.
Read more about insight vs information here 👉🏼 Sales is an output. Your customer focussed inputs will help your buyer buy.
