| Many
people seem to believe that selling is the province of people
with the “gift of the gab”. Oddly enough, nothing
could be further from the truth. Whilst a sales person needs
to be a good presenter, which can involve talking, it is
more important that they be a good communicator.
Communication is a two way street, not one
way and if a sales person never shuts up, then they will
never get to find out about the customer’s needs, the
customer’s wants, the customer’s expectations
or other matters of vital importance to the sales process.
There are only two reasons why people won’t
buy something. Either they don’t need it or they can’t
afford it. Although you may have heard the saying that some
salesperson could sell “sand to Arabs” or “ice
to Eskimos”, they are just sayings. Neither of these
groups “need” the product. Likewise, you aren’t
going to sell a luxury yacht costing £3million to a
battling family in the suburbs – they simply can’t
afford it. Consequently good sales people “target” their
market so their time is spent effectively. That however is
the subject of a whole different article.
Essentially there are five basic steps to
a sale.
- The Opening
The opening of your presentation is one
of the most important parts. This is where you establish
rapport with your customer if he/she/they are new. If they
are an existing customer, then it will be a bit of a “catch
up” since your last meeting or contact. Establishing
rapport is often underestimated by sales people. They blindly
rush in to trying to sell a prospect a product or service
without establishing essential ingredients in the sale.
These are the integrity of the sales person and also establishing
trust. Just because the person you are talking to may be
an existing client, these things are not to be taken lightly.
It is a well established fact of selling that it is far
easier to sell to an existing client than it is to a new
prospect. Overlooking a decent opening to an existing client
can leave them feeling “taken for granted” and
you could well end up losing their business. From the Opening,
you move on to the……
- The Presentation
This is where you move into the presentation
of your product or service to the prospect of client. Make
sure it is well thought out and rehearsed. Let me repeat
that – Make sure your presentation is well thought
out and rehearsed. There is nothing worse than a presentation
that is full of stumbles, errs…aahhhhs and pauses.
What you are really saying to the customer or prospect
is that you don’t really know your product or service
that well. If this is what you are conveying, how can you
possibly expect the prospect or customer to buy from you?
From the Presentation you move on to the..…….
- The Trial Close
The sad fact about selling is that many
sales people do not know how to close. They get to the
end of their Presentation and don’t know what to
say next. The conversation can deteriorate into small talk
about the weather or other inane subjects and they leave
with the customer or prospect saying that they will think
about it. If you want the order, then you have to ask for
it! So what is a trial close? It is a question. Perhaps, “When
would you like to start?”, or, “How many items
would you like as an initial shipment?”, or “What
colour would you prefer?”. I’m sure you get
the idea. One thing to notice however is that all these
questions require a commitment from the customer or prospect.
They are not open ended questions like, “What do
you think?”. Questions of that nature are way too
general and destroy the process you have been building.
With any luck, the customer or prospect
may simply order from you at this point and you can go
on your merry way towards your next sale. But if they don’t
then you move on to the next step which is…………
- Answering Objections
Many sales people are terrified of objections,
but the reality is that they should be welcomed with open
arms. If a prospect of customer raises an objection then
it means they are interested. Experience with your product
or service will teach you over time every single objection
that a prospect or customer could possibly raise. Granted,
you may come up against the odd surprise at some stage,
but objections should always be regarded as a learning
experience on your part. The more objections raised, the
greater the opportunity that you as a sales person has
of displaying your expertise with the product or service
which in turn builds the trust and confidence of the prospect
or customer in you.
Sadly, this is one area of sales that
seems to be ignored by Internet Marketers. They put up
a page and rely on someone hitting the order button. I
have personally had questions about some products I have
seen, but either there isn’t an email address on
the page or your emails are ignored!
Now here is the important part. At the
end of answering every objection you go back to Step 3
and do a Trial Close on the prospect or customer. Keep
doing this until there are no more objections and then
move on to the last part of the process which is……….
- The Close
It is at this point that the pens and
paper come out and the details of the sale are recorded.
Once this has been documented there are still two more
important things to do before packing your bag and heading
off. The first is to recap and go over the details of the
order with the prospect or customer. Have them confirm
to you verbally that all is in order. You can do this several
time regarding key points if relevant.
The last thing to do is to thank the prospect
or customer for their business. Remember, you are in the
trust and relationship building business and treating people
with respect and appreciation will go a long way to building
these integral parts of the relationship.
Despite what many sales people think,
price is not the primary consideration or factor in a client’s
mind. This does apply for some of course, but they are
in the minority. Price is only one of many considerations
taken into account by buyers and is in fact only one of
many objections you may have to overcome in achieving a
sale.
Apply and refine these techniques and you
can be assured of success in sales.
Article Source: http://www.articlecube.com.
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