This is not a rhetorical question. There are times when preparation can be more, and less, important.
When going after enterprise accounts and large sales, preparation should play a larger part in the role of the salesperson. While there are great tools that exist to assist in preparation, the salesperson still much internalize the information and understand it.
Sales conversations can follow unpredictable paths – especially with larger opportunities. It might take dozens of correct “actions” and calls to successfully close an enterprise accounts. At the same time, one wrong step can cause the opportunity to be lost.
During cold calling or high level outreach, preparation can be overkill. Some books and systems call for intensive research to be done. In my opinion though, you’re most likely to get “no response” or “voicemail” during outreach. So unless you’re going after a very small amount of prospects, too much research before cold calls can be a waste of time.
It’s important to calibrate your strategy based on your sales team, their responsibilities, the prospects they’re pursuing, and the goals of the outreach.
