So What Is The Sales Process Anyway? Sales Tricks & Tactics That Work!
69The previous 90 years of the century did not see as much change as the last decade of the 20th century saw. And this century’s changes promise to overshadow anything those changes did in terms of speed, magnitude and velocity.
So, congratulations! You are about to jump on board a very fast moving train called sales. But no matter what your level of sales experience, this book will be giving you the most up-to-date information available for sales professionals like yourself.
What is sales all about?
Professional selling is all about getting in front of the right people with the right message at the right moment in time. Sales is about how you position yourself in the growing market of needs and wants. It’s how you prospect for business and properly make your presentation. Sales is how you close the deal and deflect any objections along the way to the closing. It is creating compelling value for your product or services so that a prospective client will want to purchase from you and not your competitor.
A sales process –
Depending on where you look – the Internet or books and magazines, or whom you speak with, teachers, co-workers or bosses - each will have a different set of specific steps or stages in the sales process but they all generally include approximately seven standard things to do. I have come up with the following ten and they differ slightly from the original seven and that’s what makes this book unique. I will discuss in more detail further in this book:
- Generating leads, sometimes also known as the pre-approach. What this means is
do your homework. Look for leads anywhere you can. Ask former customers
for potential sales leads; ask your friends and friends of friends.
Network while you are at a party, perhaps a co-worker might have a lead he
doesn’t know what to do with and you can help him or her out with it.
There are countless ways to generate leads; even your dry cleaner could be
a possible lead. Don’t discount anyone!
- Approaching prospects
– this is a simple one. Be yourself. Be honest
and true to your company and its products or services. Whether it’s formal
or informal, always be polite and use Mr. or Ms. and if they want you to
call them by their first name, they will tell you. Then don’t forget it!
Write it down somewhere with their name and address so you know, call them
Bill, not Mr. Johnson. They will appreciate that you remembered.
- Building rapport – get to know your client. Build a relationship with him or her
that is based on trust. Show them that you can deliver what it is they
need, show them that you are a problem solver, a person they can come to
when they need help with something.
- Qualifying – this means to make sure you ask the right questions of your
prospective client before making a sale. Do they have any budgetary
restraints you need to consider before presenting your product or service
to them? Ask a lot of questions to gain an understanding of the
prospective clients business. At the same time, you might want to qualify
yourself to them, show them that you’re a stand up person, that you can
deliver, and that you’re the right person for their sales needs.
- Need identification – this is where you identify what it is the prospective client
needs, and sometimes they don’t even know what it is. That’s where doing
your homework and asking all the pertinent questions you can will come in
handy.
- Presentation – this is where you will present your company and its products
and services to the person you have determined, through a series of
questions and elimination strategies, which is in charge of saying yes to
purchasing your products or services. The presentation should concentrate
on what you can do for the prospective client, not on you.
- Negotiation – this is where any problems, objections or price negotiations
will happen, before a contract is signed. The customer will want to
negotiate the price a little or want more for their money. This is where
you shine and give a little, not a lot, but enough to make them feel as if
they have gained a little something extra from the sale.
- Confirmation – this is usually a form that both parties, you and the customer,
fill out to confirm that your product or services will be delivered to
them at a certain time for a set price and the terms of the sale such as
when payment is to be expected. It’s all spelled out so that everyone
knows exactly what is going to happen and when.
- Transaction – this is the action-taking place. When the services or product
changes hands, it’s a transaction. And once the confirmation is completed,
don’t think your job is over; you will need to keep an eye on the
transaction to make sure everything goes smoothly. The customer will
appreciate that you are there for them.
- The Follow Up – the follow up is exactly what it says it is. You follow up with the customer to make sure everything arrived as planned; the service was what they expected and more. This is also a good time to ask for referrals if they know any other people who might be in need of your product or services. Especially if they were happy with the way you handled everything.
A note about the words I’ve chosen to use throughout the book. I’m using the word ‘sales professional’ because you are not an amateur and professionals demand more respect and can not only sell the product and services, but sell themselves as well.
Prospect or prospective customer is someone you’re in the process of qualifying for a business transaction. They are not yet a customer.
A customer is someone who has bought products or services from you and your company.
A client is someone you already have an existing business relationship with and buys products regularly.
The difference between a customer and a client is that a customer will be buying from you now and might only purchase something once, but a client is buying from you regularly.
Customers often turn into clients; this is what you want for long term easy income.
Professional Sales Australia <-- 13 Super Smart Sales Tricks!
