One of the more common mistakes I see being made around me in sales is punctuality or sometimes the lack of it. In the main sales meetings are conducted at different places and traveling between appointments is a necessary evil. Often we can get caught up in traffic or maybe we over-run our previous meeting. It vitally important that we look after our sales calls and keep our prospects informed of our time of arrival and any changes to it.
In the UK, whenever we are due to be seen or visited by the "Service Industry" we are only ever given vague expected times of arrival. For instance I recently had my satellite TV moved to my new house, I was given an installation date of 21st of the month, which was great as it fitted in with my plans. The draw back was the installer would be arriving any time between 8am-5pm.
Now if you've ever had to put up with this you'll know how infuriating it can be. Of course I had other things to do that day too, but couldn't do them because you just know that as soon as you pop out to the shops for ten minutes, it's the very time you will miss the installation visit.
When I confirm my own sales appointments I always try to narrow down my arrival times to help my prospect get on with their day. You don't want people to resent your meeting because they've had to wait all day for you. It's never the best way to start a sales call. Always phone ahead and tell them you expect to be there between 10am & 10:30am for example, this way they know what's happening.
It could be you wont be arriving until the late afternoon, imagine how you'd feel if you had to wait all day. If you phone ahead and tell them you'll be late afternoon, they can crack on with their lives in the morning and get other things done, they'll more than likely thank you for phoning ahead. This is a much better start to a meeting.
When I am faced with conflicting appointments, because they have over-run or the traffic is bad, I always, always call my prospect and let them know what's happening. Often I find if I'm late because of traffic problems, when I phone ahead my prospect will even apologise for the traffic jam near them, as if it's their fault. So take the time to be punctual and if you can't be on time make sure your prospect knows what's happening.
Good luck with your selling and I wish you every success in achieving whatever targets and goals you have set yourself.
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If you're interested in learning more about the art of sales and service, be sure to check out
http://www.beginnersguidetosales.com/ where Steve will take you on a step-by-step journey through an easy to follow sales process. You can also visit Steve at Marketing Matters by clicking
http://www.steveking.biz
