To Take Notes or Not to Take Notes, That Is the Question

What you record is what you build your sales strategies around. Therefore, a question that often comes up is whether to take notes in front of customers. The main reason customers react adversely to note taking is that they do not know what you are writing. They usually suspect the worst. Are you jotting down, "This person is a waste of time,'' or "Add $10,000 to price, sounds like he's in a jam.''

The less paranoid may feel you cannot adequately keep the conversation flowing, pay attention, and take notes. That is probably true if you are trying to steer their conversation toward your products. In addition, most salespeople focus only on decision makers, deadlines, and budgets; there is not a lot to remember or jot down.

Given these considerations, do you or do you not take notes? If you plan on writing down specifics of customers' goals, filters, measurable benefits, and systems of evaluation you should take notes. Explain to customers why you need to accurately record their details. Most people will appreciate your keen interest in what they are saying. Offer to summarize your notes at the end of the call to verify that you did not "miss anything.'' This recap affords you the opportunity to build momentum by highlighting their conditional commitments right before you leave.

Use Quick-Entry Sales Management (Q) sheets specifically tailored for your use during MP 1 and MP 2. Think of them as loose-leaf paper with empty boxes on them that you fill out—if you can. You use them to measure, manage, and maximize your sales progress and results. You also use an updated sheet for MP 3: Cement Solution and MP 4: Implement Agreement.

You probably take notes on a loose-leaf pad now, so why not use a better note pad? With Qs, you quickly insert and retrieve information, complement your sales process, and evaluate each call using the same benchmarks. Additionally, show customers a Q sheet before you begin MP 2. Let them know how everything on the sheet helps them and you make well-thought-out decisions on how best to achieve their goals. There is nothing to hide when you work with measurable value. The case study at the end of this chapter illustrates how to use a Q sheet.

Note

Generate the appropriate Q sheets with the MP 1: Spark Interest section filled out before you make your MP 2: Measure Potential call on the customers—not afterward. Then complete the blank sections in MP 2 as soon as you can.