effective SELLING SKILLS

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 effective SELLING SKILLS

effective SELLING SKILLS

Index Page

Effectiveness 2

The Process 13

The Introduction 17

Discovery of Needs 19

The Presentation 34

Delivering Price & Negotiation 41

Closing 46

Handling Objections 51

Skill Development 55

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Effectiveness

effective SELLING SKILLS is based on the true fundamental principles

of relationship building, dialogue and consultative selling. Its focus
centres on the habit of effectiveness and how this can affect our
performance as sales people. To understand about effectiveness we
first need to understand about expectations.

Throughout life we are faced with different situations daily. How we view
these situations is dependant of our expectations in that given
circumstance. We can then measure the situation with reference to
those expectations. Customers will always have expectations as
regards to the service they will receive. We must identify these in order
to be effective in our delivery of that service.

Bad Service Is when the customers’ treatment is less

than their expectations

Good Service Is when the customers’ treatment meets

their expectations

Excellent Service Is when the customers’ treatment exceeds

their expectations.

In order to exceed our customers expectations logic would dictate that

we must first know what they are. Later we will cover how to do this
effectively. It forms a major part of effective SELLING SKILLS.

To truly be effective sales people we must first understand what we

mean by effectiveness.

Effectiveness is a combination of knowledge, skill and attitude:

• Knowledge what to do

• Skill how to do

• Attitude want to do

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To be effective, we need to develop all three components.

Knowledge Skill

Area of
Effectiveness
Attitude

We may have the knowledge “what to do” and the attitude “want to do”
however without the skill “how to do” we cannot be effective.

We may have the knowledge “what to do” and the skill “how to do”
however without the attitude “want to do we cannot be effective.

We may even have the skill “how to do” and the attitude “want to do
however without the knowledge “what to do” we cannot be effective.

Effective salespeople tend to have certain things in common:

• They sell without having to resort to high pressure selling techniques

• They are friendly and have a relaxed selling style

• They put the customer at ease and show a genuine interest in the
customer's needs and problems by asking questions and listening
effectively

• They try not to interrupt when the customer is talking

• They don't put pressure on customers, or force them to buy products

they either don't need, or can't afford

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• They try to identify the best solutions to customer problems

• They are well organised and achieve results

• They have a clear set of goals. They know what they want to
achieve and how they are going to do it

• They plan well and are flexible in their approach. They are able to
amend their plans, where necessary, as circumstances change

• They recognise the need to develop long term relationships with

their existing customers, while finding new customers on a planned,
regular basis

• They understand the buying and selling processes

• They are able to generate referrals, as part of their sales approach

• They manage their time so that as much of their productive time, as

possible, is spent in selling situations

• They are aware of the different types of customer on their territory

and their likely buying patterns

• They are able to identify prospective customers and book

appointments with them

• They are able to plan and prepare their sales calls effectively

• They are able to identify their customers needs by the effective use
of communication skills

• They are able to present solutions to their customers’ needs, in a

professional way, dealing with objections and gaining commitment to
proceed with the sale

• They are able to carry out their administrative tasks to a high degree
of quality and accuracy

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Here is a simple model to remember and use as a measuring tool. We

call it the 5 C’s + E. Each time you enter or leave a selling environment
you can ask yourself am I going to be… or was I…

• C ommunicate
• C onfident
• C ompetent
• C ourteous
• C oncern
• E mpathy

Getting organised

In order to be better organised, we need to identify the main tasks that

need to be carried out during the working week and prioritise them.
Many salespeople fall into what is known as the activity trap. This is
where they measure their effectiveness by how hard they work, rather
than by how smart they work. effective SELLING SKILLS is all about
working smarter not harder

Also, we are all probably guilty of focusing the majority of our time on
activities or tasks that we enjoy, avoiding, or failing to tackle altogether,
those things that we dislike doing, or feel we can't do well

Examples of activities that we as salespeople often avoid include:

planning and preparation, administration, asking for referrals, and cold
calling. Even if we do tackle these tasks we often do them in an
unplanned way, which reduces their effectiveness

Effective salespeople recognise that to do the job well, they need to

carry out a wide range of selling and non-selling activities and the first
step in this process is to break down the sales job and prioritise the
various tasks that make up the job

Once we have identified the range of tasks available to us we then need

to analyse them in terms of their value to us and the priority we should
be giving to them.

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So, for example we all recognise the need to keep our records neat and
tidy and up to date. However, if we spend 3 hours per day carrying out
this activity, we need to ask the questions; "Is this the most effective
use of my time?", "Am I spending too much, or too little time on this
activity?" and "What else could I be doing that could have a higher
payoff to me in terms of my achieving my sales results?"

The process that we need to go through, if we are going to become

better organised, begins with looking at the selling job again and the
amount of time and effort we are putting in to the various aspects of our
job

If we look at the salesperson's role, it is possible to break this down into

key activities. This can help the salesperson organise his, or her time
more effectively and get the most out of the working day

Planning

• Planning next week's diary

• Producing an annual and monthly sales plan
• Planning the day's calls
• Meeting with manager to discuss targets and results
• Pre-call planning
• Researching potential customers
• Analysing the existing client base

Prospecting

• Tele-prospecting existing customers

• Tele-prospecting potential customers
• Sending out mail shots
• Asking for referrals
• Visiting customer premises
• Local advertising
• Exhibitions
• Cold canvassing

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Selling

• First appointment. Fact finding

• Follow up appointment to present a proposal
• Negotiating terms and conditions
• Follow up visit for decision
• Telephone call for decision

Administration / other

• Office administration
• Preparing reports
• Updating customer records
• Attending meetings
• Attending training courses
• Travelling to appointments
• Time spent between appointments
• Cancelled appointments

Time management

Time management is a key issue for salespeople. Studies have shown

that most salespeople spend only a small proportion of their time in
productive selling situations.

What was more worrying was that when they interviewed the buyers
that the salespeople had been visiting, nearly 50% said the salesperson
was, in fact, talking to the wrong person.

The purpose of Time management should be to maximise the time

spent carrying out high payoff activities. Equally, by increasing the
amount of productive selling time we can dramatically increase both our
effectiveness and our results.

effective SELLING SKILLS deals with many of the questions

addressed in the field of time management. The real challenge is not
actually to manage time, but to manage yourself.

Two dimensions, importance and urgency create categories of time

demands.

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Important - Things that are attached to your mission and your roles and
goals. That’s what’s Important.

Urgent - that which is pressing upon you. That which gives a sense of
urgency. You must act upon it - like a ringing phone. That phone that’s
ringing maybe just a total waste of your time. It’s not attached to your
mission, roles or goals at all. But it wants to be answered and you can
get easily sidetracked and go into management of the wrong things in
the right way.

Putting first things first helps you focus your priorities. It helps you pay
attention to how you spend your time as you act on your priorities, day
in, day out, moment by moment.

There are four divisions of time that are all combinations of Important
and Urgent.

The Time Management Matrix

URGENT NOT URGENT

IMPORTANT
1 2
NOT
IMPORTANT
3 4

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Quadrant 1 is driven by matters that are urgent and important. People

who spend most of their time in this area operate under high levels of
stress. Everything is a crisis. Everything must be done now. This is a
reactive lifestyle as opposed to proactive. Activities can include
pressing problems, deadline driven projects, and meetings.

Quadrant 3 is driven by matters that are urgent and not important.

People who spend most of their time in this area are always rushing
around yet the things that are doing have no real worth or value in
respect of their missions and goals. Activities can include interruptions,
some telephone calls, some mail, reports, pressing matters and many
popular activities.

Quadrant 4 is driven by matters that are not urgent and not important.
There is nothing of any value or worth in this quadrant. Think of the
most worthless activity you can do. Lying in bed for example may seem
as if it has no real value. However if you are tired and need to rest it is
important and therefore would fall into Quadrant 2. Activities can include
trivia, busywork, some phone calls, timewasters, Escape activities,
irrelevant mail and excessive TV.

Quadrant 2 is driven by matters that are important and not urgent. It is

quite plain to see now that the secret to effectiveness lies here. All
activities in this area are proactive and the secret is to try to balance
your activity so that the majority of if will fall within this quadrant. The
best use of our time focuses on the quadrants that emphasise
importance. Building relationships, planning, preparation and true
recreation are all Quadrant 2 activities.

Call or visit preparation

Setting objectives for the meeting

Having booked the appointment to see a potential customer it is

important for us to plan and prepare effectively for the sales meeting, or
sales call. One important aspect of planning is the setting of objectives.

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Sales call or visit objectives should be set prior to the call or visit taking
place. To be effective your objectives should be SMART:
• S pecific
• M easurable
• A chievable
• R ealistic
• T imed
Also, it is important to have at least two objectives for each call or visit
Primary Objective: What you would most like to achieve from the call or
visit. This is your main objective, such as, `to sell a specific product to
the customer'.
Secondary Objectives: These are `back-up' objectives in case you fail to
meet your primary objective. For example, `to gain the customer
agreement to a follow-up call or visit, in three months, to review their
position', or `to update the customer on our existing product range' By
having both sets of objectives you are able to be successful even if your
primary objective is not achieved
Preparing questions
Before you go into the call, think of the person who you are about to
visit. What do you know about them? Based on the information you
have, think about things like:

• What questions do I need to ask?

• What kind of products is this person most likely to need?
• What would motivate this person to buy those products?
• What would I be looking for from the sales call or visit, if I were
the customer?
• What assumptions can I make, before the call or visit that can be
tested out?
We then need to prepare a list of questions for the call or visit. To be
thorough and well structured with our questions is important. Before we
can provide solutions we need to identify their problems and needs
accurately. The questioning phase is probably the most important of the
sales process.

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By being thorough in the preparation of our questions we can ensure

that nothing is missed and we can move to the next stage of the sales
process with all the information we need.

Preparing research and visual aids

We need to carry out some research on the customer, or potential

customer before we go and see them. This will enable us to talk
intelligently about current issues that are affecting their business and
that could potentially affect ours.

They could be in the process of investing heavily in premises, plant,

machinery, or new products. They may have recently published their
results for the previous year, or there may have been announcements
in the press about changes in their business, or their industry.

Sources of this kind of information are many and varied. They include
the Internet, the Press, Trade Journals and local gossip. The role of the
salesperson is to find out what is happening to your customers and to
anticipate how change will affect your business.

Being well prepared also means having a supply of the appropriate

literature plus any equipment or sales aids that you will require to carry
out the call successfully. Make sure any literature you carry is up to
date, clean and you have an adequate supply with you when you go to
see the customer.

Developing a positive mental attitude

The final part of preparation is to be positive about how you envisage

the final outcome of your sales visit. Think success! If you think you can
you will… if you think you can’t you won’t.

Effective people often visualise a positive outcome before even meeting

the customer. They are confident and expect to do well. Think
positively and imagine yourself after the call is over, with a positive
result. You will not always be successful, but thinking positively will
make you successful more often.

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The biggest problem in selling is rejection. Most cold calling results in

the potential customer saying no. Key ratios tell us that we will always
have to face failure and rejection before achieving success. As
salespeople we need to use this knowledge to learn how to cope with
customers saying no.

No usually means not yet and effective salespeople don’t stop at the
first no they hear. Persistence pays off, so keep trying and you will find
that one day no will become yes.

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The Process

Definition of Selling

There are many different perceptions of what selling is. effective

SELLING SKILLS focuses on a “win win” approach. This attitude is a
fundamental principle of effective selling:

The most fruitful way to view selling is as a buying process

which the salesperson brings about in the customer.

It begins with the discovery of needs to be met

by the product / service being bought.

It should be enjoyable for both parties.

In order to be effective in sales we need to understand both the Sales

Process and the Buying Process. These are interdependent. You
cannot have one without the other.

As a salesperson we are following a sales process, a road or journey

that results in a sale.

As a customer we are following a buying process, a series of decisions

that will result in a purchase. As the definition states this buying process
is “brought about in the customer by the salesperson”.

There is a fundamental balance between these two processes, the

result and the ability to achieve that result. The result being the
“buying”, the ability to achieve that result being the “selling”.

By viewing selling as a buying process we are looking at it through the

customers perspective, the decisions that need to be made to
purchase. Understanding these makes it easier to achieve that result
and therefore makes us more effective.

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The Sales Process

The sales process is effectively a process of discovering and satisfying

needs that takes part in stages.
• Introduction
• Discovery of Needs
• Presentation
• Delivering Price & Negotiation
• Closing
• Handling Objections

By understanding the process we can ensure that each step in followed.

The structure itself is as important, if not more so, that what happens in
each stage. Following the sales process is a fundamental part of
effective selling and bringing about a buying process in the customer.

The salesperson identifies the needs and wants faced by the buyer,
which could possibly be solved by the purchase of the salesperson's
product or service. A process of questioning and listening does this.

These needs are clarified and quantified in the buyer's mind so that they
becomes immediate needs and have a high priority in the buyer's
hierarchy of things to be addressed.

The salesperson, having identified the need for the buyer to purchase a
product or service, presents to the buyer a solution. This means that
both buyer and seller see the need to purchase.

Having built value and created a desire the salesperson gains the
commitment of the buyer to go ahead with the purchase. The sale is
complete

This process can take place over a period of time and may take more
than one meeting between buyer and seller. The key to effectiveness is
maintaining control of each and every part this process in its logical
sequence.

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The Buying Process

People buy. They are not sold to. The definition of selling states that it is
a “buying process brought about by the salesperson in the customer”.
The decision to buy is always made by the customer.

Some high-pressure selling environments may force customers to

commit and make decisions that they would not have made under
normal circumstances. These more than often result in buyers’ remorse
that could lead to either an extremely discontented customer or a
cancelled sale.

People resent and resist high-pressure sales techniques. At some stage

we all buy products or services and all tend to feel the same about high
pressure selling. It is inefficient, unpleasant and does not encourage
referrals or repeat business.

The quality of the salesperson is paramount and a professional, low-

pressure approach is by far the most successful. However, this is not an
easy option, as low pressure selling requires high degrees of skill and
application.

An effective process is one where the customer buys without remorse

and is therefore “fruitful” to both parties. The customer satisfies all their
needs and the salesperson makes a sale.

When people buy they usually begin the process with an awareness of
a need that must be satisfied. There may be a range of potential
solutions available to them, but before they will be ready to buy they will
need to explore them and what how well they address their needs.

People buy for their own reasons. In sales, we assume we know why
people should buy our products. There are usually technical or financial
reasons for doing so, which we assume will motivate the purchaser.

Often, however, people buy for emotional reasons, which are much less
logical but which can be powerful motivating factors. The role of the
salesperson is to identify the reason for buying and then make it as
easy as possible for the buyer to make the purchase

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