Chapter 10: Approaching the Customer with Adaptive Selling

Developing a Presentation Strategy

Presentation strategy - a well-conceived plan that includes three prescriptions:
1) Establishing objectives for the sales presentation
2) Developing the presale presentation plan needed to meet these objectives
3) Renewing one’s commitment to providing outstanding customer service

Achieving excellence is the result of:

• Careful needs analysis
• Correct product selection
• Clear presentations
• Informative demonstrations
• Win-win negotiations
• Flawless service after the sale

Presentation Strategy Adds Value

Value is added when you position yourself as a resource – not just a vendor
• Presentation plan created to meet carefully developed sales call objectives is key
• Customized and adapted to meet the needs and time constraints of the prospect

Planning the Preapproach

Preapproach – activities that precede the actual sales call and set the stage for a personalized
sales approach, tailored to the specific needs of the prospect
• Includes the first two prescriptions:
1) Preparing presale objectives 2) Developing a presale presentation plan

Approach – the first contact with the prospect, either face-to-face or by telephone
• Three objectives:
1) build rapport with prospect
2) capture the person’s full attention
3) generate interest in the product you are selling
Establishing Presentation Objectives
Sales Call Preparation: Research, Planning, Critical thinking

Multi-call sales presentations are especially common in complex sales

• During the first call, objectives may be:
 Establish rapport and begin building a relationship with the prospect
Obtain permission to ask need identification questions
Obtain personal and business information to establish the customer’s profile

During evaluation of solutions, call objectives might include:

 Involve the customer in a product demonstration
 Provide value justification in terms of cost reduction and increased revenues
Compare and contrast relevant features

Action Objective – something that you want the customer to do during the sales presentation
• Provide specific financial information
• Schedule a visit to your plant
• Agree to a trial use of your product
• Agree to a follow-up meeting
• Place an order
• Formally confirm post-meeting

Team Presentation Strategies

Complex or customized selling situations require communication with technical experts
• This provides:
• more precise need identification
• improved selection of the product
• more informative sales presentations
• a shorter selling cycle

Not easily executed

• Salespeople who have well-prepared presale objectives know when to seek assistance from
another professional

Sales Presentation
Relationship strategy: style flexing
Product Strategy: Expert power
Customer Strategy: CRM

Six-Step Presentation Plan

With time constraints, fierce competition, and rising travel costs, face-to-face time with the
customer is at a premium
• Planning becomes critical to taking advantage of face-to-face opportunity
• Selling steps are of little value unless firmly rooted in the customer’s buying process
The Approach
• A high-quality and professional approach is a powerful way to add value and differentiate
yourself from your competitors
• Done correctly will earn the right to make a sales presentation
• Establish credibility early

Three important objectives:

1) Build rapport • Telephone and/or social contact
2) Capture attention with business contact
3) Generate interest to transition to need discovery stage Establish your credibility early

The Telephone Contact

• Telesales – using the telephone to acquire information about the customer, determine needs,
suggest solutions, negotiate buyer concerns, and close the sale
• Unscripted; not unplanned
• Not telemarketing
1) Plan in advance what you want to say
2) Politely identify yourself and the company you represent
3) State the purpose and explain how the prospect can benefit from a meeting
4) Show respect for prospect’s time
5) Confirm the appointment details by (e)mail message, note, or letter

Effective Use of Email

• Use a meaningful, specific subject line
 • Tell the reader what you want and then encourage a response
• Identify main point in 1st or 2nd paragraph
• Use easy to read formatting
• Use correct grammar and spelling
• Use a signature file that includes full name, title, affiliation, phone number, and even slogan

The Social Contact—Building Rapport

Building rapport should lead to credibility, which leads to trust
• Once trust is established, the prospect is likely to open up and share information
• Information will provide clues regarding ways to create value

Three areas of conversation that should be considered in developing a social contact:

1) Comments on here-and-now observations
2) Compliments
3) Search for mutual acquaintances or interests

Guidelines for Good Social Contact

1) Prepare for the social contact
2) Initiate social contact
3) Respond to the customer’s conversations
4) Keep the social contact focused on the customer

The Business Contact: Converting the prospect’s attention from the social contact to the business
proposal is an important part of the approach

Covering the Buyers’ Attention and Arousing Interest

Seven most common methods:
1) Agenda approach – when moving from social contact to business one thanks the customer
and reviews meeting goals
2) Product demonstration approach– use visuals or actual product to get the customer’s attention
3) Referral approach – representing good points of what a salesperson has to offer via a third
party
4) Customer benefit approach – the most important buyer benefit is included in the initial
statement
• Elevator speech – a short, preplanned and extensively rehearsed
5) Question approach– use of a question to trigger involvement and get the customer thinking
about a problem the salesperson is prepared to solve
6) Survey approach – asking permission to acquire information that can be used to determine the
buyer’s need
7) Premium approach– use a free sample or an inexpensive item to facilitate discussion

• Combination Approaches – using more than one technique

• For example, referral with a benefit

Coping with a Sales Call Reluctance

Sales Call Reluctance – fear of making the initial contact with the prospect
• Caused by:
• Fear of taking risks • Fear of group presentations • Lack of self-confidence • Fear of rejection

Be optimistic about the outcome

• Practice your approach before making the initial contact
• Recognize that it is normal to feel anxious about an initial contact
• Develop a deeper commitment to your goals

Selling to the Gatekeeper

“Gatekeeper” – an assistant who manages a decision maker’s daily schedule; may help with
understanding the buying process and overall company information
• Treat with respect • Learn their name • Learn the role they play

Summary
Three prescriptions make up the presentation strategy
• Preparation for the presentation involves the preapproach and the approach
• Team selling is increasing and requires more detailed planning and preparation
• Adaptive selling connects the relationship, product, and customer strategies
• The presentation plan is made up of six steps
• An effective approach – you only get one
• Strategies for converting attention to interest

Chapter 11 - Determining Customer Needs with a

Consultative Question Strategy
Questions
Effective use of questions is the starting point of the consultative sales process
• Build adaptive-style selling relationships,
• Discover customer needs, and
• Adapt and present product solutions that meet those needs.
• One of the greatest challenges facing salespeople

Consultative Sales Process Adds Value

• Consultative selling involves meeting customer needs by:
• Asking strategic questions
• Listening to customers
• Understanding and caring about their problems
• Selecting the appropriate solution,
• Creating the sales presentation
• Following through after the sale

Value comes in the form of:

• Increased customer satisfaction
• More sales closed
• Fewer order cancellations and fewer returns
• Increased business and referrals
• Satisfied customers are an “auxiliary” salesforce

The pace, scope, depth, and time allocated to inquiry depend on the:
• sophistication of the product,
• selling price,
• customer’s knowledge,
• product applications
• time available

Creating Value with Need Discovery

Need discovery:
• Begins with precall preparation
• Qualifying the prospect
• Establishes two-way communication
• By asking questions and listening
• Opens doors to greater opportunities

Asking Questions
Ability to create customer value is affected by:
• The types of questions you ask
• The timing of those questions
• How you pose them
• Appropriate questions reduce tension and build trust
• Steam Whistle – the question not asked

SPIN Selling Model

• Multiple question approach using Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-Payoff questions
• Person Selling Skills Model (Xerox)
• Use effective questions to gather information and build mutual understanding
• Guide the direction of the sales call
• Facilitate an open exchange

Consultative Questioning Strategy

Survey Questions Reveal Problems

Survey Question –used to help the salesperson collect information about the buyer’s existing
situation and problem
• At the beginning of a sale
• Designed to obtain knowledge
• Information-gathering questions
• Situation questions

• General Survey Question – help the salesperson discover facts about the buyer’s existing
situation
• “Can you describe your style of home décor?”
• Specific Survey Question – designed to give prospects a chance to describe in more detail a
problem, issue, or dissatisfaction
• “Are you looking for an entertainment unit that matches your current style?”
Do not waste a question you can get answered through other sources
• Can be asked throughout the sales presentation
Open Question - requires the prospect to respond with more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or a brief
response
• Provokes thoughtful and insightful answers
• Closed Question - can be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or a brief response
• Effective at focusing on a specific issue

Probing Questions Reveal Pain

Probing Question – helps uncover and clarify the prospect’s pain, implications, and
circumstances surrounding the problem
• Why a problem is important
• Active dialogue
• Implication questions
• “Is it important that you have easy access for connecting your electronic devices?”
Confirmation Questions Reveal Mutual Understanding
• Confirmation Question – used throughout the sales process to verify the accuracy and assure a
mutual understanding of information exchanged by the salesperson and the buyer
• Gain commitment of the buying conditions
• “So you’re looking for an entertainment unit that allows you to easily connect all your devices
and blends in with your modern décor.”
Buying conditions – qualifications that must be available or fulfilled before the sale can be
closed
• Summary Confirmation Question – used to clarify and confirm buying conditions
• Salesperson has the responsibility of clarifying, confirming, and gaining commitment on each
condition
Once all confirmed a salesperson is ready to prepare a proposal
• Commitment to the value usually results in transitioning the presentation to the closing and
servicing of the sale

Need-Satisfaction Questions Reveal Pleasure

Need-Satisfaction Question – designed to move the sales process toward commitment and action
by helping to clarify the problem in the prospect’s mind, and by building a desire for your
solution
• Need-payoff questions
• “I think this entertainment unit gives you everything you’ve told me you were looking for – I
can schedule delivery for Friday.”
Designed to focus on the solution and the benefits of the solution
• Build desire for the solution and give ownership of the solution to the prospect
• Minimizing objections

Active Listening – is the process of sending back to the prospect what you as a listener think the
person meant, in terms of both content and feelings
• Intense involvement • Listening attitude • Verbal and nonverbal

Establishing Buying Motives

Primary goal of questioning, listening, and acknowledging is to uncover prospect needs and
establish buying motives
• Greatest time investment in personal selling, which creates the greatest value for the customer,
is on the front end of the sales process
Solutions That Add Value
Salespeople are no longer selling just a “product”; instead they are providing a valuable
“solution” to customer problems

Match Benefits with Buying Motives

Value-added salespeople sell three things: Product, Company, Themselves
• Precisely tailored to customer’s needs

Solutions—problem Configuration
• If the sale involves several needs and the satisfaction of multiple buying motives, selection of
the solution may:
• take several days or even weeks and
• involve the preparation of a detailed sales proposal
• Automation software can enrich the process

Make Appropriate Recommendations

Three counselling alternatives:
1)Recommend Solution • Consumer buys immediately
2)Recommend Solution • Salesperson makes need satisfaction presentation
3)Recommend another source
Need discovery and the transaction buyer
• Transactions create one-time value
• Focus on price and delivery
• Prospect assumes a greater role in the beginning that diminishes over time
• Transitioning to the presentation
• Prospect needs to remain involved

Planning and Execution—Final Thoughts

These activities will impact the ability to create value and build a partnership relationship
Summary
• A consultative presentation strategy adds value and offers many benefits • The four parts of the
need-satisfaction model help create an effective presentation strategy
• Two-way communication and the use of various types of questions to discover needs
• Active listening leads to mutual understanding
• Selecting solutions that match customer needs