The Customer Plan

Effective communications with the customer are required to get the interest and buy in that are required for a sale. Customers constantly want to take advantage of new opportunities - to improve their internal operations, increase revenues, provide more value to their customers, etc. It is critical to present your product / services in their specific terms - how you impact and improve their business. Major areas to discuss include:

Industry Drivers - Understand the external factors that are effecting the customer
Company Specifics - All companies go through business cycles. Understand where their business is and speak to those issues.
Value Propositions - Translate your benefits into VALUE for the customer and then extend that to the customer's customers
Technology Issues - Companies have existing architectures, pressure points and plans. Have the discussions that lead to understanding how you can fit into and extend the value of their environment.
Personal Incentives - What drives the individual to whom you are speaking? What keeps him up at nights? Where is his pain?