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Five Steps To Successful Sales
Want to get your business or career into high gear? Look first at the top line on a profit and loss statement -- revenue is the engine that drives all businesses. What's the best way to add value and increase revenue? Try needs satisfaction sales techniques.
Many people think of sales as a dark art. Done properly, sales is merely a process. Like a carpenter building a house, a needs satisfaction salesperson uses a step-by-step process to satisfy customer needs.
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sponsored by:
PROMOTIONAL CONSULTANT MAGAZINE
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TOP SHELF TIP NO. 55
"Persuasion is often more effectual than force."
Aesop, a slave and story-teller who lived in Ancient Greece, 620-560 BC | |
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Every time we come into contact with a customer we are selling. Follow the below steps to help customers and get your business into high gear.
Step 1: Qualify
Find out whether or not you are dealing with a customer. A customer can be defined as someone who may need or want your product and who has the immediate ability to purchase it.
When first dealing with a customer, qualify yourself. Explain to the customer why you are an expert in your product line. Tell him or her that you want to find out about their purchase so that you may use your expertise to help.
Step 2: Profile
Gain as much information as possible about the customer and his or her needs and wants. Find out the who, what, where, when and why of their purchase decision. Ask as many questions as are reasonable in the context of the product or service that you are selling.
Generally, the larger the purchase the more complete the purchase profile. Attempting to sell a shirt with the detailed profile required to sell a nuclear power plant will have your customer searching for the nearest exit. In the reverse, your customer will question your ability and the legitimacy of your company.
Step 3: Demonstrate And Gain Agreement
Using the information gained in Step 2, interact with the customer to demonstrate how your product meets his or her needs. If your customer is looking for a blue shirt, show blue shirts and ask which shade of blue he had in mind. As you propose solutions ("is this right shade of blue?") and the customer chooses from among them, you are accomplishing Step 4.
Step 4: Finalize The "C" Word
Closing a sale is not an event; it is a part of the process. Presuming that (a) you've identified your customer's needs and wants and (b) your product or service meets those needs and wants, closing a sale is the natural outcome of your contact with the customer.
If a customer describes a shirt that she wishes to purchase and she's agreed that the shirt in your hand is one she's described, the sale is closed except for the paperwork.
Step 5: Overcome Objections
If at any point the above process stalls or stops, it is what's termed an objection which is usually a communications failure. Except in relatively rare instances of a hard (insurmountable) objection, either you've misunderstood or you've been misunderstood at some point in the process.
In general objections are overcome with more or better information. Find out as much as possible about the objection (profile it); from that information determine where the communications failure lies and correct it.
Sales is a key component of any successful business. Learning and practicing needs satisfaction sales techniques can make the sales process as enjoyable as it is profitable.
Source: Dave Miller is a business consultant and in Norristown, PA. | |
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