Chance favours the prepared

This article first appeared August 20, 2011.

French scientist, Louis Pasteur once famously said, “Chance favours the prepared mind”. And a century or so on, his words still ring true.

When you are stressed, time poor, under pressure, and running around late all the time, chances are you are not preparing perfectly and your results will always reflect this. I recommend taking a measured approach by simplifying and slowing things down where and whenever possible.

In some cases less is more, but when it comes to preparation more is indeed more. People often prepare inadequately because they are pressed for time and some believe preparation is a luxury, preferring simply to “wing it” and hope for the best. This approach not only breeds incompetence it does little to build confidence.

Preparation isn’t a luxury — it’s mandatory. If you are time-poor this may be a symptom of poor preparation. And if you are selling in a clinical and repetitive manner, then keep pushing the boundaries for ways to improve the way you sell. Become more efficient, compelling, valuable, influential and passionate. Perfect preparation is paramount to perfect performance.

How you prepare for each meeting will determine the outcome. When you’re pitching to win business it’s highly likely you are saying the same thing in the same way as your competitors. Sure, personality, value and benefits come into play, but you can differentiate yourself by demonstrating how much thought and effort you put into each opportunity. This demonstrates you genuinely care about creating the right outcome for the customer. It also shows you value the opportunity and take your own time and theirs seriously.

Just make sure you’re engaging the right customers in the right conversation. Time wasters are the enemy, so believe in and stick to your process, always.

Tips to develop perfect preparation habits:

• Set a verbal agenda with clear outcomes for each meeting to achieve.
• Slow things down when and wherever possible and sell at your pace.
• Don’t commit to meaningless meetings because you feel you have to.
• Role-play meeting scenarios in your head the night before in bed, or in the car or plane before your meeting.
• Role-play your past unsuccessful meetings and future important meetings with peers to refine and collaborate on best practices.
• Research your potential clients and go into each meeting armed with at least three key thought-provoking questions.
• Take printouts of their website and of their competitors and highlight key areas that are relevant for the meeting discussion.
• Create a simply and quick tool to measure the effectiveness of each meeting and look for ways to improve.

How you prepare is up to you, just remember, “Chance favours the prepared”. And perfect performance is a product of perfect preparation.

For more Selling Strategies advice, click here.

Trent Leyshan is the founder and CEO of BOOM Sales! a leading sales training and sales development specialist. He is also the creator of The NAKED Salesman, BOOMOLOGY! RetroService, and the Empathy Selling Process.