Taking yesterday's car analogy further, every car has the same basic platform. Wheels, brakes, steering wheel, and some sort of fuel. Doesn't matter if it is an exotic sports car or your teenagers first car, they will all have the essentials.
Sales is also made up of some basic parts.
Some people work for companies that have two week orientations and ongoing training and development opportunities...some of us have the "school of hard knocks". For some, the basics of sales has not been a formal education, but one of trial and error.
Knowledge is funny.
Until you use it, it is just knowledge. Once you use it (knowledge applied), see that it works (experience)...then it becomes wisdom.
"Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."
Alfred Lord Tennyson
The more wisdom through experience you have, the better you will be in sales.
I want to take this session to give you a first exposure or re-fresher on the mechanics of The Sales Process. There are variations on this process, but the wheels, brakes, steering wheel and fuel are all here;
Prospecting and lead generation. You have probably heard that "Nothing begins until a sale is made"...that is true. But the sale never has a chance until someone is interested in your product. The process of getting them interested is the marketing component of the sales process - turning "suspects" (no slight intended) into bona-fide prospects who are at least interested enough in your product to want to hear more.
The Sales Call. The marketing machine has done its job and you are now face to face with a potential client. What happens next will determine if you are top 5 on the leaderboard, struggling to make quota, or somewhere in-between. The sales call has 5 phases. No one puts up a cue card to signify the end of one phase to another. It is the instincts of the sales person taking the cues from the potential buyer that drive the process.
1. Opening. First impressions, chemistry, building rapport and establishing an environment conducive to buying. Some believe that the opening determines if we will close. That's a lot of pressure on the first 5 minutes of two strangers meeting...but it is a pretty accurate assessment. We all usually execute the classic Lionel Riche opening..."Hello"...then things proceed quickly from there.
2. Identifying needs. Don't they have needs already...I am there aren't I? If they "buy before you sell" then you don't really have a sale...you have an order. Make no mistake...take the order (those are far and few in-between!) and give thanks for your good fortune. For most people, your presence at the kitchen table is due to their interest and it is your job to expand interest into desire/needs. Neil Rackham, the author of SPIN Selling says that without Explicit Needs being uncovered and developed...you wont likely close the sale.
3. Presenting your solutions. Showtime! The preliminaries out of the way, it is now time to show your wares. If you did an effective job in Identifying Needs, your presentation should be heavily focused on the features of your product that satisfy the uncovered explicit needs of your clients...benefits. Whether the presentation be a notepad, flipchart, or state of the art visual program, your professionalism and command of your product should shine through.
4. Overcoming objections. How you handle objections is usually the difference between the 20% top sales people and the 80%. Paradoxically, there is something about human nature that makes us want to avoid conflict. Handling Objections feels like we are trying to win an argument. If you are prepared for objections you will actually begin to welcome them...we will get into it more later, but remember two things...
#1 -You need objections to solidify the sale - experts say 2-3 objections
are required to close the average sale.
#2 - Better to deal with all objections now...not later...after
the sale (can you say chargeback?).
5. Closing. Most sales people see this as the moment of truth. Actually, there have been several already if you have made it this far. Certainly, this is the phase of the process that determines if the CFO knows your name...or if you take the walk of shame! Asking for the check is the culimination of the Sales Call. There are hundreds of closing techniques and tricks of the trade. Ultimately, if you have done everything else effectively, closing can be a "simple" logical conclusion to the process.
Servicing. The deal is done...you won...ok, everybody wins but take your moment to celebrate your part in that synergistic victory! Now, the real work begins...keeping the client, getting more business from them and getting referrals. Sure, there is an administrative arm of your company that handles most of the service, but do you want to leave your financial future to that process without your involvement? Didn't think so...
The foundation has been laid...this is what it takes to be very successful in sales. The stronger the foundation, the higher the building can go. Do you want 6-figures...7-figures? Do you want to build a sustainable career in this business...then you must understand and master...
The Sales Process!
Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!
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