Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

How did last week go in handling complaints?  Didn’t have any?  That’s great!  Now, let’s continue with step four – Answer Objections, another sales opportunity for you to close.  That’s right, close!  This may be the “first clue” as to the customer’s thought process and surfaces where the person is in the buying process.  The customer may be ready to buy.  All you have to do is to get the person to act upon it.  Why do customers have objections?  Maybe the customer doesn’t know something and is asking for clarification.  Or, the person is confused and misunderstands what is said.  The customer could be making an excuse and possibly objecting out of habit.  Or, maybe the customer has “legitimate concerns” before proceeding.  Your job is to find the answers as to the “whys” and persuade the customer to buy.  If they don’t buy from you, they’ll buy from your competitor.  Either way, a sale is made.  Objections are a natural part of the selling process.  Don’t we ask questions of our customers?  Can’t they ask questions of us?  Sure they can!  Start documenting your objections for the week.  Next week we’ll unfold a method of responding and answering objections.

Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

Did you have another good week?  Are you all “refreshed” after reviewing the sales and service tips from previous weeks?  Did you do your homework and come up with a list of complaints?  Good!  Now lets review a checklist for handling complaints as a sales and service professional.

Listen…Be calm.  Don’t add “fuel to the fire” by yelling back to the customer.

Don’t interrupt.  Let angry person “blow off steam.”  Sometimes, saying nothing “douses the flames.”

Apologize for the inconvenience.  Appealing to emotion and having “empathy” for the customer’s viewpoint eases the situation.

Assure customer you will answer to person’s satisfaction.  But, don’t make promises that can’t be fulfilled.

Answer the complaint.  Rebuild your customer relations.

If you cannot answer, seek help.  Be sure the customer is satisfied.

Swing back to selling.  Ask if there’s anything else you can do for the customer.

 
When you answer a complaint this impacts your future business with the customer!  How?  You’ve exceeded the person’s expectation and have created further loyalty, which keeps the customer coming back.  Remember, never take customer complaints personally, as they are not attacking you as a person, but what they are trying to receive or purchase from you.  Keep your focus.  Swallow your pride and serve your customers properly.  It’s your job.

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!

Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

Your sales success in questioning customers is based on how well you can qualify.  Qualifying demands evaluation of your information.  Is there a need, desire or want?  Or, does the customer trust and respect you?  In order to truly master the art of questioning, close-ended questions must be “layered” in between open-ended questions, that we talked about last week.  Close-ended questions typically begin with “is, do, will, how many, how much, how often and should.”  These questions elicit “yes” or  “no” answers, help obtain specific information and allow you to stay in control.  “Is that enough to cover all of your units?” or “Do you prefer pickup or delivery service?” or “Will Wednesday delivery be soon enough?” or “How many do you want?” or “How much do you want to spend?” or, “How often do you use this?” or “Should we go ahead and write up the order?”  Close-ended questions typically ask for an action and/or commitment and “surface” where the customers are in their thought process.  The answers signal the customer’s acceptance so you can complete your transaction swiftly and move on to the next customer.  Remember, the Analysis step is most important as a sales and service professional, so always be prepared to ask the “right” questions.