2. sales training sales process

Sales process Dr Earl Stevens, October 2009 2. Sales Training 09/08/11

B2C – Consumer Selling Process 09/08/11

B2B – Industrial Selling Process 09/08/11

Four Components/Pillars of Consultative Selling Process 09/08/11

Key Building Blocks in Sales 09/08/11

How Salespeople Create Value For Customers 09/08/11 Identify Creative Solutions to Customer Problems Ease the Customer Buying Process Follow-up After the Sale is Made Customer Value + + =

Having a Systematic Sales Process is important 09/08/11

(Self) Management is the Key Whether you are a salesperson or a sales manager, you need to manage your sales pipeline. Start with the basics: Scheduled closes Quotes Samples Opportunities For each, do you know the following: How many? Success ratio? If you have goals and you know your success ratios, you can set specific activity goals… Prospecting calls Sales calls to existing customers Presentations of specific products/services 09/08/11

Opportunity Management is also Key Many sales are lost simply because there was no sales follow-up. Provide yourself with a tool that keeps “reality” in front of everyone at all times. What does it look like? Date In Customer Name Key contact Opportunity Value of the opportunity Step of the sales process and Next Scheduled Activity Scheduled date/time How do you do it? A spreadsheet (coupled with the use of a calendar) An internal database An internal program An internet application 09/08/11

The Twelve Golden Principles Of Selling Principle 1: Always Sell to People This may seem obvious, but it cannot be emphasized enough: You are not selling to an organization or to a conglomerate, but to actual, real people. It is important to remember that all people are different, so you cannot sell the same way to everyone. Second, no two sales are the same, even if they are made to the same company under similar circumstances. To become a good salesperson, it isn't enough to know how to sell. You must aim to become a people expert. It may sound shocking, but the best professional salespeople actually like people! Remember, people buy from people -- they always will. Principle 2: You Have To Sell Yourself Just as you are selling to people, you must also remember that you are not only selling and representing a product or service, but you are in effect selling yourself. When beginning a sales relationship, it is important to remember a few key aspects to representing yourself well. First, be interesting. If potential customers are bored by you, they have less of a chance of being enthralled by any product or service you are representing. Develop intellect. Of course, you are an intelligent person, but can you converse in an intelligent manner? Can you discuss related subjects with thoughtfulness and hold your clients' interest? Never be arrogant -- never talk up or down to your potential clients. It's rude and will serve only to alienate them. Respect the buyer, and they will respect you. Along the same lines, develop your empathy levels. If you can relate to your customers' situations authentically, it helps to build rapport. Finally, control your ego levels. A good salesperson is patient and respectful, not an egomaniac.

The Twelve Golden Principles Of Selling Principle 3: You Must Ask Questions A good salesperson knows what questions to ask, and when. Develop your questioning techniques, always remembering the traditional rules of questioning: What? Where? When? Which? Why? Who? And how? Continually test your understanding of the situation by asking questions and verifying that everybody's on the right track. Principle 4: Listen To Understand Remember, God has given us two ears and one mouth; we should use them in that order! Successful sales professionals talk for 20 percent of the time and listen for 80 percent of the time. It's crucial for new salespeople to develop their active-listening skills. Principle 5: Features Must Be Linked to Benefits It's a standard sales component, but the features-and-benefits connection bears repeating and reminding: Features are common, but benefits are personal and specific. When describing the product or service you are selling, use "link phrases" when outlining the benefits of the features you are showing. Say, "Such and such is a feature of this service, which means that . . .' Remember to be specific. Principle 6: Sell the Results -- Paint a Picture You want the outcome for your prospect to be rosy, but you need to convey that. Discover your prospect's "prime desires," and personalize the benefits to him or her. Describe the end results of the transaction and how it will improve the life of your prospect. 09/08/11

The Twelve Golden Principles Of Selling Principle 7: You Cannot Rely On Logic Emotion drives 84 percent of all buying decisions, not logic. What are the chief buying emotions? They include ego, security, pride of ownership, greed, health, prestige, status, ambition, and fear of loss. Be well aware of these emotions as you approach, engage and deal with your customers. Principle 8: Selective Product Knowledge Is the Key A good salesperson realizes that buyers buy solutions and results; they do not buy products or services. Know the specific aspects of your product or service that will create your client's desired result. Principle 9: Aim To Be Unique You want to convey to your customers an attitude of "me first," rather than "me too." Every business, every company, every product has something that is unique, and this is what you need to stress. Look outside the square, and identify the uniqueness of your product, your service, your company -- and yourself. 09/08/11

The Twelve Golden Principles Of Selling Principle 10: Don't Sell on Price Selling on price is simply a cop out. You must value your expertise, your products and your services, and price accordingly. Always keep the bottom line firmly in your mind. Remember, anyone can give business away. Selling merely on price means we do not need sales people! Principle 11: Present Your Solutions When we present our proposals, rather than mailing, faxing or e-mailing, we increase the likelihood of a sale by a factor of 10 if we do so in person. Principle 12: Be Professional at All Times The greatest compliment a customer can pay you is to describe you as "professional." Don't worry about being liked -- be respected. Being professional is not one thing, it is three: It is what you do, what you say, and how you present yourself. 09/08/11

6 Things To Know about EVERY Prospect It ’ s always a big mistake to “ show up and throw up ” a bunch of slides. That ’ s just asking for trouble, because the prospect will know that you ’ re not really prepared to talk about the prospect ’ s real issues. Therefore, before you present to a prospect, there are six key perspectives that you absolutely MUST have (if you want a fast sale). Here they are: #1: Their History . Where are they coming from? How did they get here? What do they know about your and your firm? What dealings have taken place in the past? #2: Frames of Reference. What ideologies and situations might affect their decision-making? Do they have a certain way of viewing your offering? How do they feel about their own firm? #3: Needs and Desires. Where do they want to go? How do they expect to feel when they get there? How do they think they ’ re going to get there? What do they think will prevent it? 09/08/11

6 Things To Know about EVERY Prospect #4: Likely Objections. What is going to cause them to balk? How fervently do the believe in that objection? How real is it? Might it block the deal, no matter what you say or do? #5: Capacity to Act. Are you communicating with decision-makers or seat-warmers? If decision-makers, what decision do you want them to make? If not, why are you talking to them? #6: Decision-making Style. If they ’ re decision-makers, how do they make decisions? Are they all about facts and figures? Or do they decide according to a gut feeling? Once you understand these six perspectives, you can tailor your conversation or presentation to match what ’ s really going on…rather than what you might otherwise wish were going on. 09/08/11

Selling When You're Not The Lowest Price "Low price" is not the main reason people buy! In most surveys of buying motivations, low price is never the primary motivation. Yes, it's important. And, when everything else is equal, it will be the deciding factor. But very rarely is everything else equal. And very few people in this world buy only on the basis of low price. How many of you are driving used Yugos? Or wearing a suit you bought at a garage sale? Or watching an 8-inch black & white TV? You don't always buy on the basis of low price, so why should you think that all your customers do? The truth is, they don't They don't always buy the best value. But, they can invariably be counted on to buy the lowest risk! The biggest issue in the minds of your customers and prospects is not price, and its not value - it is risk. 09/08/11

Selling When You're Not The Lowest Price What's risk? It is the potential cost to the individual customer if he/she makes a mistake. It's not just the money, although that is part of it. It is also the social, psychological and emotional cost that your customer will pay if your choice isn't the best one. The lower the risk of the decision, the more likely your customer will say "yes" to you - regardless of the price. In order to really understand risk, you must first see this issue from your customers' perspective. Try to put yourself in their shoes, and calculate the amount of risk that you expect your customers to take when you offer them an opportunity to say "yes" to you. Put yourself in the customer ’ s shoes. Suppose the equipment didn't work the way it was supposed to? He could shut down production lines, spend weeks trying to make things right, cause all sorts of havoc in the plant, and potentially even lose his job. Now that's risk. If you were that plant manager, how much more than the original $20,000 quote would you spend to reduce the risk? It wouldn't be hard to justify a price double that. 09/08/11

Selling When You're Not The Lowest Price 09/08/11

The 10 Laws of Sales Success 09/08/11 Keep your mouth shut and your ears open. Sell with questions, not answers. Pretend you're on a first date with your prospect. Speak to your prospect just as you speak to your family or friends. Pay close attention to what your prospect isn't saying. If you're asked a question, answer it briefly and then move on. Only after you've correctly assessed the needs of your prospect do you mention anything about what you're offering. Refrain from delivering a three-hour product seminar. Ask the prospect if there are any barriers to them taking the next logical step. Invite your prospect to take some kind of action.

Five selling mistakes you can't afford! 1. Unprepared How many salespeople have a written outline of what they expect to achieve on a sales call? Many simply walk in a prospect's office, and ask, "What is it you need today?" If the prospect knew the answer he or she would get the yellow pages out and buy some! Spend time on understanding the real needs and wants of prospects before sales calls. If that means doing some research at the library or on the internet then consider that time spent as an investment in your success 09/08/11

Five selling mistakes you can't afford! 2. No formal sales presentation Never assume people understand what you sell so you need not bother to explain it. Some salespeople forget that many prospects only have a surface understanding of what they sell, yet may be embarrassed to let the salesperson know. A good sales presentation simply covers the bases and guarantees prospects know all the benefits and how they help the prospects. Presentations can be dynamite selling tools if they address issues near and dear to the prospect. Of course if the salespeople know little or nothing about a prospects needs then they can't give a dynamite presentation, can they? A good sales presentation is not "canned" or "memorized" so the salesperson sounds like a parrot. It is however an explanation of what you sell, presented in an orderly fashion, in plain talk, so prospects can easily not only understand what you sell but also why they should buy. 09/08/11

Five selling mistakes you can't afford! 3. Reading too many "Relationship Selling" books. It ’ s good to build positive relationships with customers, however, people don't become lifelong pals after one or two sales calls. Pushing the issue too quickly to "buddy up" may cause some people to back off instead. Another difficulty is when salespeople spend too much time with non-selling conversation about personal matters, sports, family, the list is endless. Always remember your customers are in the middle of doing a job that feeds their family and are expected to produce results, taking too much time with small talk or hanging out at a customers business breeds resentment. Be respectful of other people's time. Good business relationships develop slowly based upon mutual respect. Keep initial sales calls cordial but professional. Being attentive to customer's needs so they see you as a dependable problem solver is one of the best ways to develop a long term business relationship. 09/08/11

Five selling mistakes you can't afford! 4. Not listening Some salespeople simply talk too much! When you are talking you are not listening, not learning about your prospects wants and needs. A good salesperson should talk no more that 30% of the time, the prospect 70%. The more they speak, the more information you gain about how to best serve them. Salespeople also must understand the art of asking open ended questions to keep the information flowing. 09/08/11

Five selling mistakes you can't afford! 5. Not taking care of established customers. Some salespeople enjoy the chase of obtaining new accounts so much they tend to ignore their established business. One of the most powerful marketing tools today is good customer service. Never allow customers to be treated as poor relatives looking for a handout. They are your most valuable asset. Remember, your best customers are your competitor's best prospects! 09/08/11

More Reasons Why Sales Calls Fail A sales call is a waste of time if… REASON #1: …you can ’ t provide the customer with insight and information that the customer would normally pay to receive. REASON #2: …you can communicate about your offerings, but know little or nothing about the customer ’ s industry and competition. REASON #3: …you can articulate the value of your offerings to the customer, but not the value of doing business with YOUR firm. REASON #4: …you need to ask the customer contact questions that you could easily learn by browsing around on the Internet. REASON #5: …you have not previously determined that this customer is financially capable of buying your firm ’ s offering. 09/08/11

Why hasn ’ t the Deal Closed? The constant complaint of the sales manager: why hasn ’ t that deal closed yet? Reason #1: Unfamiliarity. It generally takes more than one (and often several) meetings before a customer will feel comfortable working with a sales professional and the professional ’ s firm. Fix: Get in front of the customer! If you can ’ t afford to travel to see everyone you need to see, try using web conferencing or other online tools. Reason #2: Bureaucracy. Many organizations have a complex decision-making process that involves more than one buyer. Often even the CEO wants consensus with other executives before a major purchase. Fix: Interview your customer contacts to discover that actual decision-making process. Then devise a plan to influence the process. 09/08/11

Why hasn ’ t the Deal Closed? Reason #3: Competition. It might first be necessary to unseat a competitor before the sales takes place. That can take time, especially if the competitor is internal to the customer, as when you ’ re selling outsourcing. Fix: Discover the competitive landscape and who has the inside track. Build a campaign that specifically addresses the competitor ’ s weaknesses. Reason #4: Priorities. As important as the sale is to you, it may not be all that important to the customer. People can only focus on a few things at once and your offering may not yet be at the top of the stack. Fix: Revisit your customer contacts and build a stronger financial case. Get the customer to agree on how much it will cost them if they don ’ t buy now. 09/08/11

2. sales training sales process

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