Transcript 1 Sales Professionalism

Personal Selling 1
Seven Top Secrets of
Sales Professionalism
1) Sales is a Skill, Not a Talent
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It can be learned
It takes training
It takes practice
It takes experience
• Skills vs. Aptitude vs. Techniques
2) Starts with Knowledge
• Product or Service
– You are the expert: Specs, Benefits, Delivery,
Pricing, Billing, Customer Experience
• Customers and Their Needs
– Know more than they do about themselves
• Competition
– Advantages and Disadvantages
• Industry
– Innovations, legislation, economy
3) The Magic Word: LISTEN
• Far more important than the gift of gab
• Listen > 50%, Talk < 50%
• What the customer says will determine the
direction and content of your presentation
• The real gift is getting the prospect to talk
• Develop the skill of asking questions
Information Gathering Questions I
What prompted you/ your company to look into
this?
What are your expectations/ requirements for this
product/ service?
What process did you go through to determine
your needs?
How do you see this happening?
What is it that you’d like to see accomplished?
With whom have you had success in the past?
With whom have you had difficulties in the past?
From JustSell.com
Information Gathering Questions II
Can you help me understand that a little
better?
What does that mean?
How does that process work now?
What challenges does that process create?
What challenges has that created in the
past?
What are the best things about that process?
What other items should we discuss?
Qualifying Questions
What do you see as the next action steps?
What is your timeline for implementing/
purchasing this type of service/ product?
What other data points should we know before
moving forward?
What budget has been established for this?
What are your thoughts?
Who else is involved in this decision?
What could make this no longer a priority?
What's changed since we last talked?
What concerns do you have?
Questions to Establish Rapport
How did you get involved in… ?
What kind of challenges are you facing?
What’s the most important priority to you
with this? Why?
What other issues are important to you?
What would you like to see improved?
How do you measure that?
4) People Buy Benefits/Not Products
• Don’t just focus on product features
• Talk about benefits (what features mean)
• If you mention a feature, translate it into a
benefit, so the customer understands
• Your Features = Their Benefits
5) Walk in Customer’s Shoes
• How would you react to presentation if you
were the customer?
• What things are important to customer
• People buy for their reasons, not yours
• Make customer feel important
• Talk about their needs
• Win-Win problem solving
6) Price is No Object
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Counter-intuitive
Price is not the reason people buy
They buy benefits
Put focus on the benefits, not price
If price is an issue (when is it not?) show
the value of the benefits (justify price)
7) Don’t Sell Anyone
• People hate being sold, but love to buy
• Professional salesperson helps the customer
to buy
• People buy for different reasons, need to
understand those reasons (ψ, CB)
• Look for verbal/non-verbal cues
• Buying Styles: Assertiveness and
Sensitivity