sales part 1

THE SALES PROCESS

Part 1

NEED SATISFACTION

FEATURES and BENEFITS

SALES POINTS

HANDLING OBJECTIONS

CONTROLLING BY QUESTIONS

THE SALES PROCESS

3 Theories

STIMULUS - RESPONSE

SELLING FORMULA

NEED SATISFACTION

NEED SATISFACTION

Purchases are made to satisfy needs

The salesman must

Discover his prospect ’s needs

Show how his products fit those needs

...so

He monitors feedback

He controls the interview using

QUESTIONS

SUMMATION

YOUR CUSTOMER

Active not passive

Wants to influence the salesman

A unique individual

3 PHASES

NEED DEVELOPMENT

The salesman asks questions to get the customer to talk about his needs

NEED AWARENESS

The salesman recognizes the customer ’s needs

He gets the customer to see those needs more clearly

The customer feels a mutual understanding is reached

NEED FULFILMENT

The salesman shows how the product meets the needs

He makes a personalized presentation

USING NEED SATISFACTION

3 Tools

Feature-Benefit table

Sales Points

Handling Objections

FEATURE-BENEFIT TABLE 1

What do I sell ?

List all sales points

Label each point as

a FEATURE (refers to the product itself)

a BENEFIT (derived from using it)

List features & benefits in 2 columns

Cross-reference features & benefits

see worksheets 1 and 2

FEATURE-BENEFIT TABLE 2

You will notice

A feature may provide more than one benefit

A benefit may come from several features

now you can

give a clear picture of your product

match sales points to buyer needs

communicate better to your prospect

SALES POINTS 1

Now you want to

Identify sales points that fit buyer needs

so you need to ask questions

The questions must meet certain criteria *

They must relate to sales points

but

Avoid making positive statements !

* we ’ll see what these are a little further on

SALES POINTS 2

When you ’ve identified the 3 or 4 key needs

Review the conversation to see if the buyer

agrees (need awareness)

if yes, proceed to need fulfilment phase

if no, go back to need development phase

The buyer ’s realization that the salesman

understands his needs is the best basis for

credibility !

NEED FULFILMENT

Now it ’s time to

Make positive statements

State each point more than once

Use alternate phrasings

Use repetition and summation

(more about these techniques later)

HANDLING OBJECTIONS 1

You ’ve avoided making positive statements until the need fulfilment phase, to prevent the buyer objecting

Now you can expect those objections !

Look on them as positive - they tell you :

The buyer has been listening

He is showing interest in the product


Remember these assumptions

A buyer is more likely to believe what HE

says than what view the salesman says

A buyer is more likely to accept data HE

requests than data shoved on him

… so

Reply with a question that will induce the

buyer to answer his own objection

If he can ’t answer the question, he ’ll ask

for the information


When an objection is made

Mentally formulate an answer

Don ’t verbalize it

Ask a question that leads the buyer to

answer his own objection

request the information

(We ’ll come back to handling objections later)

CONTROLLING THE INTERVIEW

There are 2 ways to do this

Talk louder and faster than the prospect

Introduce topics by asking questions

The tactical objective is to control the interview without seeming to. This is a technique that requires

Resourcefulness plan in advance

Confidence let him talk until an opportunity for a question comes up

Self Control avoid interrupting the prospect

Maturity work for long-range objectives

CONTROL BY QUESTIONS

Build a list of questions

design them to reveal specific information

Try them out

and revise them if necessary

Review the list before each sales call

choose suitable ones to open

The technique requires frequent practise !

PHRASING YOUR QUESTION

Remember these 5 rules

It shouldn ’t be answerable by ‘ yes ’ or ‘ no ’

It should be open

It should be indirect

It should be short

It should have only one part

OTHER USES OF QUESTIONS

Questions can be used to

Determine what he already knows

so you can concentrate on areas where data is lacking

Identify his need for more data

so you can get him to ask for it

Disturb his complacency

so you can make him evaluate your proposal

Bring out his needs and values

so you can close with appropriate features and benefits

NEED DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS

They should be related to sales points Don ’t develop needs you can ’t fill !

Before asking a question :

Make sure the purpose is clear

to identify sales points for the need fulfilment phase

Define what it ’s not supposed to do

so you don ’t waste time eliciting non-useful answers

Questions should enable you to determine if a sales point is related to a need

NEED AWARENESS QUESTIONS

You will recognize the buyer ’s needs before he does !

When you ’ve identified the needs and are satisfied you can fill them

Summarize the interview

Get confirmation of your understanding

REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE

As a salesman, always keep sight of your objective

Need development

You want to get information

Need awareness

You want the buyer to know you understand his needs

Need fulfilment

You want to show how the product will meet those needs