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The definition of "objective" is important. Specifically, it's what you want the customer to do as a result of your valuable selling-time investment with him. It's not what you want to do but what you want the customer to do. One of the basic principles of goal setting is this: a goal is not a goal until it is written down. When you write the objective, use an action verb. The action should be what you want the customer to do. Under each objective, write down why the customer would benefit by doing it. Before filling in objectives be sure to: 1. Check your previous call organizers for that customer. 2. Review your principals, lines and products. 3. Never write down anything you wouldn't want the customer to see.

Selling by Objectives

We have all had experiences in our lives which have affected our careers. One of the most important for me occurred at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. I had brought fifty distributor and dealer salespersons who had taken Sales Training from me, and were members of the Institute of Agreeable Selling.

We sat with seven thousand other salespeople quietly catching every word spoken by the man on the platform. It was the first time I had seen Earl Nightingale. It was at the beginning of his great career in writing and teaching, and he was heading the sales rally of the Los Angeles Sales and Marketing Executives Association.

His talk had a greater impact on me than of any other speaker I have ever heard. Among the things I remember was the way he defined "Success" that night. He said it was the degree to which you reached a goal that you had set for yourself. The "goal" was the key.

Since that time, many sales motivators have concentrated on goal setting. Recently, another seminar not only reinforced the basic organization of Synergistic Selling, but it gave me a very effective tool for management.

I made 17 pages of notes when I attended Dr. Gunther Klaus' seminar at UCLA on MBO, or Management by Objectives.

I retained him so that he could start our team on the program. The results were startling! Each person in the company set up objectives for him or herself. I monitored the progress toward those individual objectives. As a team, we achieved more than ever before and in the specific directions we chose. It was easy for us because we were already used to setting up objectives for every call. It also confirmed my philosophy that successful Synergistic Selling is really Selling by Objectives. Setting objectives on every call gives you the directions you need in Synergistic Selling.

It starts as a right-brain, imaginative function, and then, once it is put in writing, becomes a whole-brain process.

The definition of "objective" is important. Specifically, it's what you want the customer to do as a result of your valuable selling-time investment with him. It's not what you want to do but what you want the customer io do.

Let's use the creative, right side of your brain for a moment. As you formulate your objectives prior to any call, imagine that the call on the customer has just ended. Picture yourself actually leaving the customer's place of business. What do you want the customer to have done or to be doing on each product or line, as a result of your valuable time investment with him?

Write it down in abbreviated form. One of the basic principles of goal setting is this: a goal is not a goal until it is written down. Writing out your objectives accomplishes a few things. It:

* Focuses them.

* Sharpens them.

* Clarifies them.

* Motivates you to achieve them.

When you write the objective, use an action verb. The action should be what you want the customer to do. Under each objective, write down (in abbreviated form) why the customer would benefit by doing it.

Before filling in objectives:

1 . Check your previous Call Organizers for that customer. This gives you a picture of what your previous objectives have been and the results you obtained. It tells you both what happened and what didn't happen. This information obviously suggests what you should try to accomplish on this call. It also gives you a quick picture of which "why should he" worked and which did not.

2. Review your principals, lines and products. What's new on each since your last call.

3. Never write down anything you wouldn't want the customer to see. Imagine what would happen if you were to forget your call folder with all of its Call Organizers!

This, by the way, happened to me on occasion. The first time it occurred, I discovered it when I was scheduling my next call on the customer. I was terror-stricken. When I walked into his office, he was waiting with my folder in his hand. He was smiling with a very smug "ha, ha, I got you" smile.

As he handed me my folder, he surprised me by warmly saying, "I looked all through it. I just wish every salesperson took as much time preparing for a call on me as you do. No wonder you are getting so much business on so many lines. We sure get a lot done in a short time."

Here's a quick exercise:

What is the next customer call you are planning to make? Picture this. You are leaving the customer's place of business. What do you want your customer to have done or to be doing as a result of your call? Write your answers down on a piece of paper before continuing.

The things you listed in this exercise are obviously the objectives for your call. Here are some typical examples of written objectives.

If we're calling on an engineer, logical objectives might be for him to:

* Order samples.

* Test samples.

* Provide us with information on new products.

* Discuss his problems.

* Put us on the Approved Vendor list.

When calling on a buyer, likely objectives might be for him to:

* Place an order.

* Give us an RFQ.

* Put us on the Buy Cards.

* Order samples.

* Place an order with our distributors.

* Tell us what's coming up.

When calling on a dealer or distributor, the objectives might be for him to:

* Place orders for new items.

* Place orders for items he's not stocking.

* Place fill-in orders for inventory.

* Develop a specific plan for coop funds.

* Schedule a sales meeting.

* Schedule appointments at an upcoming show.

To illustrate use of the Call Organizer & Worksheet, here are two short case studies, one an OEM and the other a dealer distributor.

You're calling on one of your regular customers, Jones Manufacturing. You've been getting a fair share of their business but you feel you can do a lot more. They manufacture medical equipment, which they sell to industry, labs, medical schools and hospitals. They also sell through specialized distributors in each industry. On your last call, you unofficially heard that they are redesigning one of their major product lines, in an effort to update its appearance, features and flexibility.

On your last call, you submitted a quote for AJAX on a large requirement of parts. They should now be about ready to place orders. You also have a new line of products, NEWCO, which may have possible applications for this customer. Because of delivery problems on UPCON, you lost the last order for one series of products. The delivery situation has now corrected itself.

Make notes on your sheet of paper and use them to fill out your objectives on a sample Call Organizer. How do you quickly select the best objectives? Here are some preliminary steps that will help you make these decisions.

1 . Check your record of your previous visits. Review what happened on each line. This automatically tells you what your objectives should be.

2. Review your lines or principals to be sure you have included every line you intend to cover on the visit.

3. Consider what new products, ideas, plans, or promotions you should include as well as products the customer should be using or handling.

4. Set realistic objectives on each line. It may not be possible to pick up a production order or a full stock order on your first call. Experience dictates what you should do... and always reach farther than you think you'll be able to get.

A "dynamite" tool for formulating and recording the objectives follows in the next chapter (the March '09 issue). In the meantime, there are four simple rules to follow in writing your objectives:

1. Write each objective with a verb as a statement of action (i.e., place order, test samples, give me an RFQ, promote our line, etc.)

2. The action should be the action you want the customer to take, not yours. Unconsciously, we tend to substitute our action. Instead of thinking of what we want the customer to do, we write down what we want to do. Instead of "place order," we write "get order"; instead of "test samples," we write "submit samples"; instead of "give me an RFQ," we put "get RFQ," and so on.

3. Make the objectives as specific as possible. One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is to list the name of a principal with no statement of what action we want the customer to take. It tends to become a habit and reverts to a rightbrain, "seat of the pants" tactic, instead of a whole-brain procedure, and we all know what's in the "seat of the pants!"

4. Don't be rigid in setting and attempting to accomplish objectives. The creation of the objective in your imagination is a right-brain process. The way it which you write it, however, is part of the left-brain. As the customer participates you have to use the right brain to sense what's happening. If the circumstances dictate that your objective should be changed, settle for a bigger or a lesser goal.