I was speaking to the regional manager of a securities firm a few weeks ago, and something wonderful happened in the middle of our conversation:

Stunned silence.

Ill set the scene for you

I was discussing her companys sales compensation plan, when the topic of their web site came up.

Did you get a chance to go to our site? she asked in a tone suggesting she expected to hear a no.

Actually, I did, and I found it very useful, I replied.

She perked up, Great!

A few questions came up for me, though. Did I notice that your fund group tracks the S & P 500, with respect to performance?

Uh, yes, it does, she replied, startled at the observation.

And I noticed a down year; where it seems there was a leaching of assets, I continued. Why was that?

This evoked that glorious second of silence, during which several thoughts probably coursed through her mind.

Gee, this guy not only visited the site, he must have read everything. Moreover, he did a penetrating financial analysis while he was there. This is no average consultant!

Then, she said, almost in a whisper, Oh, that was the year we lost our best salesman.

And that disclosure led to a very productive conversation in which I really got to know about her situation.

I offer this as an example of how to fully prepare for a sales presentation. You and I both know there is a tremendous amount of information to be gleaned from our prospects web sites, yet how many of us are spending enough time, there, preparing for our conversations?

When you do prepare, as revealed through the example above, you have a chance to impress your prospects, customize your discussions, and stand apart from your competitors, who merely think they know something about the companies in their databases.

While this kind of prep definitely slows down your dialing, I believe it gives you a big advantage when you do place your calls.

You feel more confident, more professional, and more convinced that you can solve their problems and help them to achieve their goals.

What if you find they arent a good fit, for some reason, or that youve never done well with that sort of prospect or lead? Turn it over to an associate, or abandon it, in favor of one with which you can do a great job.

When it comes to preparation, why guess, when you can know?