Steps in Sales Process:
Experts have suggested a five-staged formula known as A-l-D-A-S for effective selling process. However, this formula is more closely related to sales presentation (only one step in selling process), and not the entire selling process.The formula has been briefly discussed here:
i. ‘A’ – Attention calls for drawing attention or attracting of prospect. Salesman should try to adjust his talk with the needs of prospect or should talk according to the interest of potential buyers.
ii. ‘I’ – Interest calls for making the customer interested in products. Salesman should do all possible efforts to arouse customer’s interest in product.
iii. ‘D’ – Desire calls for arousing and increasing desire for product. Customer can ask for more information. Salesman must handle problems, doubts, and objections with patience. Here, buyer can be prepared to buy the product.
iv. ‘A’ – Action calls for getting positive action of customer in terms of placing order. Here, the prospect becomes the actual buyer.
v. ‘S’ – Satisfaction calls for taking necessary post-sales steps to satisfy the buyer.
Taking clues form the formula, and ideas of other experts, we suggest a specific practically applicable and logically consistent selling process. Normally, a systematic selling process consists of eight steps as depicted in Figure 1.
1. Presales Preparations:
Presale (before sales) is the step of getting ready to serve customers. A wise sales person must be well-prepared or well-equipped to treat the customers effectively. He must be aware of prospects to be served in terms of their buying motives and buying behaviour.He must know about the company’s products, pricing policies, promotional efforts, and distribution network. Similarly, he must have complete detail about the company’s history, goodwill and reputation, achievements, objectives, and general policies.
In the same way, he must be familiar with competitors’ offers and overall marketing environment. In short, he must prepare himself to deal with customers successfully. It is like the homework before the examination.
2. Prospecting:
Prospecting means finding or locating the potential customers. A prospect is a probable buyer with unmet needs, ability to pay, and willingness to buy.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Sources:There are a number of sources to locate prospects, such as:
i. Present customers
ADVERTISEMENTS:
ii. Other salesmeniii. Company’s present employees
iv. Use of telephone directories
v. Directories of professional and other associations
vi. Customer database prepared by companies or other professional agencies
vii. Other relevant sources.
Prospects must be qualified in terms of needs, purchasing power, and motivation to buy.
3. Pre-approach:
Once the prospect is located, now, salesman has to collect necessary detail about him. Such detail helps him prepare his plan for sales presentation. Salesman collects adequate information about customer’s nature, needs, problems, personal habits, preferences, and other aspects of behaviour.Salesman’s sales talk and sales presentation must be consistent with the nature of prospect. In brief, a salesman must know everything about the potential buyer to whom he has to meet in the near future.
4. Approach:
Now, a sales representative has to seek advance appointment/permission for personal meet. Sometimes, he can use phone or send business (visiting) card to take advance appointment. In many cases, salesman can directly meet prospect without advance permission. Approaching method depends on type of prospects.Anyway, this is the step where a salesman comes in a direct (and face-to face) contact with potential customer. At the time of the first meet, he has to greet him in an appropriate manner and has to briefly introduce himself.
Immediately, he must initiate brief talk and adjust with the situation. The first contact is very critical. Salesman must be able to attract the prospect’s attention and get him interested in the product. Note that he must not directly jump to sales talk.
5. Sales Presentation:
This steps calls for a formal presentation of product. It includes sales talk and demonstration. Salesman should describe the offer in a suitable language, show the product, and, if needed, demonstrate it. In case of edible product, he may offer sample to taste. Sales presentation is closely related to buying process.In this step, a salesman must get attention of customer and make him interested in the product. Salesman can do it through a lively and interesting sales talk as well as a systematic demonstration of product or offering samples to use and taste. Visual device can be used for sales demonstration. He can produce authentic evidences to prove the product’s superiority. All queries must be adequately solved.
Qualities of a Good Presentation:
A wise salesman must observe following qualities to make sales presentation effective:
i. Sales presentation must be complete. It must cover all aspects related to company, product, competitive offers, etc.
ii. Sales presentation must be clear. He should explain every aspect clearly. In case of technical product, important aspect should be clearly explained. Talk must be free from confusion, misunderstanding, and vagueness.
iii. Sales presentation must be consistent. Salesman should present all things relevant/ consistent with buyer’s needs and situation. Salesman must avoid the matter inconsistent to customers and/or company.
iv. Sales presentations must be precise. He must avoid over explanation. Easy aspects must not be repeated. Depending upon type of buyer, he must present the sales talk.
v. Sales presentation must prove superiority of products. He highlights all strong aspects of product to prove that the product is superior to that of competitors. He should use comparison and test for the purpose.
vi. Sales presentation must be confidence winning. Prospect must believe that statements of salesman are authentic and true.
vii. Sales presentation must be supported with evidences. A salesman must produce testimonials, awards, and guarantees issued by government, celebrities, and other reliable sources.
6. Handling Objections and Complaints:
Once a salesman completes his sales presentation, normally, customer raises objections and place complaints. Salesman may confront objections during his presentation, too. Objections and complaints show that customer is interested in the products, and is more likely to place an order.Salesman must always welcome objections, interpret them clearly, and remove tactfully. Unless the objections and complains are satisfactorily answered, the sales cannot take place. Genuine objections should be interpreted correctly and removed tactfully.
Prospects must be convinced about benefits, superior performance, and strong aspects of the product. A great deal of expertise, experience, skills, and patience are important qualities to face buyer’s objections and complaints successfully.
7. Closing Sales:
Closing of sales refers to completing sales procedure. It concerns with purchase decision. The close can be defined as: An act of actually getting the prospect’s assent. It is the climax, or the desired outcome of the entire sales process. Sales process ends with getting orders. A successful salesman must close the sales. An alert salesman must find out the right moment to get customer’s consent, it is called the reaction moment. Salesman must not wait for customer to ask for product, initiative must come from salesman.8. Post-sales Actions:
It is known as follow-up actions. Virtually, sales process ends with getting the order from buyers. But, getting order is not the ultimate goal of salesmanship, the transaction must take place. The step involves two actions – one is, completing of selling formalities and, the second is, taking other post-sales actions.Salesman writes order, arranges for dispatch and delivery of the product, and decides on the mode of payment. Sometimes, the product is handed over immediately or is delivered thereafter. Bill and guarantee card are issued. Sometimes, he provides extra guidance for proper and safe use of product. In short, all selling formalities are completed.
Once product is delivered and sales formalities are completed, it doesn’t mean that sales process has ended forever. Delivery of product to customer is not the end, but an event. The event must be repeated. Salesman-customer relationship doesn’t end with one transaction, but is the beginning of long-term relationship.
Customers repeat orders only if they are satisfied with products and post-sales services. Customers’ future response depends on salesman’s post-sales behaviour and services. Therefore, salesman must undertake necessary actions to ensure maximum customer satisfaction and to avoid unexpected behaviour of buyers.
Salesman must remain in live contact with customer to know whether he is satisfied. If customer is not fully satisfied, the salesman must find our reasons or problems and must try to provide satisfactory solution. Even, dissatisfied customers can be prepared to try/buy the product again with suitable follow-up actions.
Another Method/Answer
1. Product Knowledge
This step is fairly straight forward, but it is also the great undoing of many a technical expert turned sales person. When one is extremely well versed in a particular product especially a technical one, it is easy to get caught up in a monologue of all the great features it provides.
The technical expert turned sales person is so eager to explain how the product works or why it’s unique that the benefits to the customer are left out of the discussion. Never assume that a prospect will easily link a feature to a benefit. That relationship must be stated clearly (something done in the presentation step 4, after the needs assessment step 5). The acquiring of product knowledge for a “technician” therefore, is less about the features of the product itself, and more about how the customer will benefit from those features. When discussing product, the technicians mantra should be; “So what?” Consider those two words to be what the prospect thinks every time a feature is mentioned, and re-learn your product from that perspective.
2. Prospecting
Prospecting, just as the word implies, is about searching for new customers. Like product knowledge, this step may seem fairly straight forward but upon closer examination it becomes more complex. The key to prospecting effectively is knowing where to dig and what to look for. It’s also important to distinguish between a lead, a prospect, and a qualified prospect. The most important element in this step is to create a profile of existing customers. This may have been done at your company, but have approach tactics (step3) been tailored to match each profile. For instance, you may have identified the following major market segments: State Governments, County Governments, Consulting Firms, Federal Agencies, Utilities, Universities, but have you fully profiled each of these in order to adjust marketing tactics appropriately? A direct mail, seminar invitation might work well to generate State Government leads, but will it be effective in developing Consulting Firm leads? For each market segment do you really know what the ideal customer looks like? These questions should be answered fully in the “Tactics” portion of a marketing plan.
In the broadest sense, prospecting is an ongoing process that everyone in the company (particularly the sales force) should be involved in. This simply means everyone should have their “prospecting radar” up when they are out and about in the world. Very often, a great lead turned customer was first discovered after being heard or seen in the news at a party, or event, etc.
3. The Approach
This is where the rubber meets the road in the sales process. For our present purposes lets consider the approach in the context of a sales call rather than lead generation (i.e. the difference between a mass mailing and a telephone call). This is the step where you begin to build a relationship and the intelligence gathering continues (it started with prospecting). A good approach is crucial to sales success because it will either identify you as a bothersome salesperson and cause a prospect’s guard to go up, or it will identify you as an obliging salesperson with something of value to offer. (There is probably a middle road too, but you get the idea.). Consider the example of tele-marketers selling a seminar:
Their product is a seminar, about which they presumably have sufficient knowledge. They prospect by scanning the house lists for appropriately titled leads, (generated by earlier prospecting efforts). They approach by saying “I’m Jay from XYZ and I’m calling to follow up on an invitation to a seminar that we mailed to you last week. Do you recall receiving it?” Then the dialog begins, often it’s perfunctory, other times however it can be extremely informative. The difference more often than not depends on how astute and articulate the caller is. What do you think is good about this approach? What do you think is bad?”
Quite often the type of call one makes is a follow up to some action i.e. seminar attendance, brochure mailed, etc. Technically these calls are part of follow up step 7, but let us address them in the context of a sales approach. What would be a good approach for each of the above follow up actions? Think about eliciting information and advancing the sale (closing, step 6). What would be a good approach for a cold call?
Additional Note on recording information: Regardless of the type of call or the results, it is important to take detailed call notes and schedule a subsequent action item, no matter what it is be it a week, a month, or a year down the road. (One can invent a system of abbreviations to make this easier i.e. LVM = left voice mail.) History notes are important for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is tracking where a prospect is in the sales process, including what follow up is necessary and when. Noting that “packet was mailed” or “attended seminar” or “inquired about model” is only half the information and not the most important. Why?
4. The Needs Assessment
This is arguably the most important step of the sales process because it allows you to determine how you can truly be of service. To be a highly effective salesperson, that is to sell to the prospect’s needs, you first have to understand what those needs are. This means you must think in terms of solving a prospects problem. The only way to do that is by asking lots of questions. Does a health practitioner prescribe remedies before a thorough exam? Asking good questions will not only help you determine what will best suit the prospects needs, but it builds confidence, trust, and will very often help the prospect consider issues they may never have thought of. This last point is powerful because it provides an opportunity to showcase features, which the prospects answers led you to. What questions would you ask to illustrate how your product is different/better than a competitor’s. Although intelligence gathering occurs throughout the sales process, it is at step four where it happens in earnest. What other information would be important to gather at this stage? (hint: who’s who, referrals).
5. The Presentation
Remember the discussion in step one, focus on benefits rather than features? If you consider your product/service in terms of how it benefits the customer, your presentation will be a focused and relevant dialogue rather than a self aggrandizing monologue. Nothing is worse than a sales presentation which proceeds from the sellers perspective. This is why the needs assessment is so important and why it will ideally flow in and out of this step. A good needs assessment allows you to tailor your presentation to your audience, and keep it interactive.
6. The Close
Eighty percent of sales are lost because a salesperson fails to close. Closing is about advancing the sales process to ultimately get an order. What you are trying to sell at each stage may be different. For example, a close early in the sales process may be to get an appointment to discuss your product/service, in that case you are selling an appointment not a widget. In a later stage you might need to meet with a committee, in that case what you are selling is a meeting. Seeing the sale process in this light takes a little pressure off of each encounter and makes things a bit more manageable. But don’t be lulled into complacency, you must ultimately ask for the order and no sales conversation should ever end without an agreement to some next step. Do not be satisfied with “we’ll get back to you”, where is the agreement in that? What could you say in response to such a remark in order to advance the sale?
In large part, closing is about discovering obstacles. Have you heard these before: “I’ll need to think about it.”, “It’s too expensive.”, “Let me run it buy some other people.” “Sounds good but I’ve already got one.” What could you say to overcome these objections?
There are lots of ways to close, indeed closing a sale has become a science unto itself. Books have been written on this topic alone. But there is one elemental truth – if you don’t ask you don’t get. Just for fun, following is a sampling of a few closing techniques from among the many:
— The Ask For It Close. “What do we need to do to get this model into your organization?”
— The If-Then Close. “If I could demonstrate how an XYZ model provides you with, (things you know are important based on the prospect needs assessment) then would you be willing to… demo, rent, buy, switch, etc.”
— The Process Of Elimination Close. “So you like the model, you have use for it, it’s not too expensive!”
— The Either Or Close. “Will that be cash or charge?”
— The Lost Puppy Close. “I guess I didn’t do my job very well.”
Additional note: The question “How much does it cost?” Is a great buying signal yet it is a question you want to avoid early in the sales process. What could you say to defer that question politely? When you do mention price, don’t be afraid that they are too high, say it with pride. Don’t forget to ask for the referral.
7. Follow-up
Good follow up will double your closing ratio. When a sales person makes contact with a prospect a relationship has been built, and follow up is how it is nurtured. Staying at the forefront of a prospect’s mind requires persistence and should not be confused with being bothersome. This is why it’s important to get agreement on some next step each time there is contact. Follow up therefore should never end. The pace may slow but it will never end. When a sale is made, then a new type of follow up begins.
Follow up conversations are best handled by the salesperson who started the relationship. Who else can better gauge a prospect’s “willingness to buy”, or pick up where “we last left off”. This means that detailed notes must be kept on each prospect with particular emphasis on their “state of mind”. It is unwise and ineffective to keep track of this information anywhere other than a centralized database.
Additional note: It’s important to hold some follow up ammunition in reserve. Overwhelming your prospects with every piece of information you possess on their first request hampers your ability to stay in touch. Having a stable of collateral materials gives you reason to follow up.
The 8 Step Personal Selling Process
The Personal Selling Process
The personal selling process is a consecutive series of activities conducted by the salesperson, the lead to a prospect taking the desired action of buying a product or service and finish with a follow-up contact to ensure purchase satisfaction.
Step One
Prospecting - the first step in the personal selling process
The process of looking for and checking leads is called prospecting or determining which firms or individuals could become customers.
Up to 20% of a firm's customer base can be lost for reasons such as transfer, death, retirement, takeovers, dissatisfaction with the company and competition. A steadily growing list of qualified prospects is important for reaching the sales targets.
Qualifying a prospect: A lead is a name on a list. It only becomes a prospect if it is determined that the person or company can benefit from the service or product offered. A qualified prospect has a need, can benefit from the product and has the authority to make the decision.
Step Two
The Pre-approach
This stage involves the collecting of as much relevant information as possible prior to the sales presentation. The pre-approach investigation is carried out on new customers but also on regular customers. Systematic collection of information requires a decision about applicability, usefulness and how to organise the information for easy access and effective use.
Step Three
The Approach
The salesperson should always focus on the benefits for the customer. This is done by using the product's features and advantages. This is known as the FAB technique (Features, Advantages and Benefits).
* Features : Refers to the physical characteristics such as size, taste etc.
* Advantages : Refers to the performance provided by the physical characteristics eg it does not stain.
* Benefits : Refers to the benefits for the prospect. Eg. Saves you 20% on replacement cost.
Step Four
The Sales Presentation
After the prospects interest has been grasped, the sales presentation is delivered. This involves a "persuasive vocal and visual explanation of a business proposition". It should be done in a relaxed atmosphere to encourage the prospect to share information in order to establish requirements. Some small talk may be necessary to reduce tension but the purpose always remains business.
Step Five
The Trial Close
The trial close is a part of the presentation and is an important step in the selling process. Known as a temperature question - technique to establish the attitude of the prospect towards the presentation and the product.
Step Six
Handling Objections
Objections are often indications of interest by the prospect and should not be viewed with misgiving by salespeople. The prospect is in fact requesting additional information to help him to justify a decision to buy. The prospect may not be fully convinced and the issues raised are thus very important. It also assists the salesperson to establish exactly what is on the prospect's mind.
Step Seven
Closing the Sale
This is the last part of the presentation. Many salespeople fear the closing of a sale. Closing a sale is only the confirmation of an understanding. Fear will disappear if the salesperson truly believes that the prospect will enjoy benefits after the purchase of the product.
Step Eight
The Follow-up
The sale does not complete the selling process. Follow-up activities are very important and are useful for the establishment of long-term business relationships. It is important to check if the products have been received in good condition, to establish the customer is satisfied
Another Method/Answer
The 8 Step Personal Selling Process
The Personal Selling Process
The personal selling process is a consecutive series of activities conducted by the salesperson, the lead to a prospect taking the desired action of buying a product or service and finish with a follow-up contact to ensure purchase satisfaction.
Step One
Prospecting - the first step in the personal selling process
The process of looking for and checking leads is called prospecting or determining which firms or individuals could become customers.
Up to 20% of a firm's customer base can be lost for reasons such as transfer, death, retirement, takeovers, dissatisfaction with the company and competition. A steadily growing list of qualified prospects is important for reaching the sales targets.
Qualifying a prospect: A lead is a name on a list. It only becomes a prospect if it is determined that the person or company can benefit from the service or product offered. A qualified prospect has a need, can benefit from the product and has the authority to make the decision.
Step Two
The Pre-approach
This stage involves the collecting of as much relevant information as possible prior to the sales presentation. The pre-approach investigation is carried out on new customers but also on regular customers. Systematic collection of information requires a decision about applicability, usefulness and how to organise the information for easy access and effective use.
Step Three
The Approach
The salesperson should always focus on the benefits for the customer. This is done by using the product's features and advantages. This is known as the FAB technique (Features, Advantages and Benefits).
* Features : Refers to the physical characteristics such as size, taste etc.
* Advantages : Refers to the performance provided by the physical characteristics eg it does not stain.
* Benefits : Refers to the benefits for the prospect. Eg. Saves you 20% on replacement cost.
Step Four
The Sales Presentation
After the prospects interest has been grasped, the sales presentation is delivered. This involves a "persuasive vocal and visual explanation of a business proposition". It should be done in a relaxed atmosphere to encourage the prospect to share information in order to establish requirements. Some small talk may be necessary to reduce tension but the purpose always remains business.
Step Five
The Trial Close
The trial close is a part of the presentation and is an important step in the selling process. Known as a temperature question - technique to establish the attitude of the prospect towards the presentation and the product.
Step Six
Handling Objections
Objections are often indications of interest by the prospect and should not be viewed with misgiving by salespeople. The prospect is in fact requesting additional information to help him to justify a decision to buy. The prospect may not be fully convinced and the issues raised are thus very important. It also assists the salesperson to establish exactly what is on the prospect's mind.
Step Seven
Closing the Sale
This is the last part of the presentation. Many salespeople fear the closing of a sale. Closing a sale is only the confirmation of an understanding. Fear will disappear if the salesperson truly believes that the prospect will enjoy benefits after the purchase of the product.
Step Eight
The Follow-up
The sale does not complete the selling process. Follow-up activities are very important and are useful for the establishment of long-term business relationships. It is important to check if the products have been received in good condition, to establish the customer is satisfied etc.
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