Ten Truths About Sales Training - Week 3:

TRUTH #3 – Relationship selling first, product selling second!

Sales Leaders, why are your reps in such a hurry to give their pitch?  I was recently in the field with a salesperson, and the buyer, on a “routine call,” said to him, “Let’s cut to the chase and give me your pitch.”  The seller was astonished, looked up at the customer and said, “Not yet.  Right now I’m catching.”  What’s the hurry?  After hello, the salesperson goes right into a sales pitch and ends up “puking” all over the customer.  Remember, it’s no longer about the seller; it’s about the buyer.  So take the time to establish rapport and get to know your customers.  When you create the “mind share” and the customer thinks of you first, you’ve done your job.  Discipline reps to develop relationships in order to sell deeper and wider in existing accounts.  That’s where the low-hanging fruit is…ready to be picked!

Ten Truths About Sales Training Week #2

TRUTH #2:  Sales cultures are dependent on standardizing a selling process!  One of the biggest mistakes I witness with sales management is not adopting, structuring or standardizing a selling plan for pre-call planning.  A sales process provides a common sales language that reps can relate to.  You get consistency of message in the field and best practices start to evolve with repeated use and preparation.  Overall, you deliver a better value story in a shorter amount of time so you can call on more customers.  Productivity and performance are enhanced which leads to increased market share.  I worked with a food service manufacturer who attributed their sales growth and national footprint to using our 6 A’s Selling Process for over 10 years.  It helped them to stay focused to achieve their sales plan and raise the bar on sales excellence throughout the industry.

10 Truths About Sales Training

Sales Leaders, this one is for you!  I’ve had the privilege to be in the sales trenches, as well as facilitate sales training seminars, to hundreds of thousands of Sales Professionals in various industries throughout North America and beyond for over 35 years.  Whether training a top notch, large group of sales executives or a small wholesale or distributor sales group, there are similar truisms that occur with all salespeople, regardless of industry or profession.  Here is #1 of my “TOP 10” TRUTHS about sales training that should be a good reminder and reinforcement for all of you as you plan your training initiatives.  I will follow with a new TRUTH each week.

TRUTH #1 – Today training becomes the vehicle to communicate sales strategies and initiatives!

All too often, sales training is provided without a common focus or goal.  Communicate your strategic initiatives through a training forum for better acceptance and successful implementation.  Let your sales team know exactly what is expected and the outcome to achieve.  When you communicate this to your sales team, everyone is in alignment with your sales objectives so the progress can be tracked accordingly.  Structure must follow strategy, so use the training format and disciplines to help explain the “why’s” and your sales goals will be better accepted and executed by the sales team.

 

Sales & Service Tip of the Week

Who knows the 6 A’s?  Come on, let’s go – repeat after me:  Approach, Analysis, Active Presentation, Answer Objections, Always Be Closing, and number six, Apply Service.  Start right now committing these to memory and be ready to apply the A’s to the sales opportunities that exist around you.  Incidentally, how’s business?  Are sales improving?  You may want to go back to week one and review quickly the previous tips as a “refresher” and to begin anew.  Now we’re ready to move to the next “A”, the fourth “A”, remember?  Step four is Answer Objections, where you want to gain the customer’s conviction and eliminate any doubt of why they should buy.  Answering objections is another sales fundamental that is developed and mastered.  How much of your business is handling complaints?  Answering objections is similar to complaints, however, let’s present them separately to try to further help (or confuse!) you.  Look for the checklist on handling complaints in next week’s tips.  Now, make a list of the complaints you have received and don’t forget to “refresh” yourself!

 

Sales & Service Tip of the Week

Do you sell features or benefits when interacting with a customer?  Today, you must “carry” the feature to a benefit in order to justify the value or gain as perceived by the customer.  In this step, Active Presentation, you create the desire to buy.  Translate your products and services into benefits by using the FAB formula.  Features explain “what it is” you have to offer.  It could be a special trait or characteristic that describes the product or service.  Advantages explain “what it does”.  They are something distinctive or better than what the competition has.  The advantage becomes a “natural bridge” to get from the feature to the benefit.  Benefits explain “how the customer gains”.  This is the end result that creates a want or satisfies a need as perceived by the customer.  Remember from last week we need to uncover the customer’s buying motives first and then “match up” with the benefits.  This sales fundamental is a critical component in the Active Presentation.  Here’s an example:  “We are a full service supplier (feature) that provides you with one stop shopping (advantage) so you have the security and convenience (benefit) of buying all your needs at one time which gives you more time (another benefit) to do your job of serving your customers!”  Perfect the “FAB formula” and you are well on your way to becoming the sales and service professional you want to be.

Sales & Service Tip of the Week

Behind every favorable buying decision is a buying motive.  Buying motives identify what the product or service will do.  Buying motives establish how the customer gains.  It’s your job as a sales and service professional to uncover or discover the customer’s buying motives and equate them to specific benefits that the customer “sees” value in and is willing to pay for it.  Sounds easy, but it’s not!  The key is to appeal to customers’ emotions and feelings in order to surface their “true” buying motives so you can match your products and services to these motives, via benefits.  The complexity of the sale comes into play because people have different motives or reasons why they buy.  You can’t say the same things to all people.  If you can find their “pain” it will lead to a “gain”.  So memorize the following buying motives and apply to your specific products and services when you talk with your customers.  These buying motives are:  profit, safety, comfort, convenience, fear, envy and personal satisfaction.  Surface these buying motives of your customers and you’ll increase your sales!  Try it.  Believe it.  Do it.

Sales & Service Tip of the Week

So far so good!  You are “paying the price” to become a sales and service professional by following the 6 A’s – your guide or road map to sales success.  You have properly greeted or Approached the customer and asked the right questions to qualify in the Analysis step.  Now, you are ready to proceed to the next “A”, step 3 – Active Presentation.  The Active Presentation is the very heart of the sale where you showcase your knowledge and professionalism.  Finally, you get to talk!  If you have discovered the customer’s needs and wants in the Analysis step your job becomes much easier.  Match your products and services to the customer’s needs and wants and create the desire to buy.  Appeal to the customer’s emotions and feelings during the interaction and sell perceived value – sell benefits.  Benefits explain how the customer gains, which is the end result that creates a want or satisfies a need as perceived by the customer.  Without a gain the customer doesn’t perceive value and won’t buy.  The key is PERCEPTION!  Perception is “real” to me, how about you?  How good are you at communicating this “perception” to your customers?   Benefit selling is another sales fundamental that must be mastered and is a critical part of the Active Presentation.  Get in the habit of selling benefits and you will close more sales!