By Ben Botes: http://www.my1stbusiness.com You don?t have to be
a born salesman to get orders. You don?t even have to enjoy
selling. You just have to be clear about what you want and what
you have to offer.
Remember that effective selling is essential to the success of
your business. So whether you will be making the sales or have a
team to do that, you should do everything you can to ensure that
your sales are done in the best way possible.
Selling is one of the most important aspects of any business.
I suggest that if you at this point have not yet worked through
the Micro Module on Finding Clients and Knowing Your Clients,
that you do that now.
As you go through the following nine skills, think of the
practical issues of your specific service, how can you implement
these steps, what else could you do? In order for this module to
be effective you have to work through it and not just read it.
Use this as your opportunity to become a great presenter.
Step 1 Know your product, its benefit and competitive advantage
Your product may seems to be a haircut, but it's probably
admiration. It looks like a motorcar, but it's probably status.
It might be called a bungee jump, but it's probably excitement.
If you're selling to other companies, the benefit is probably
increased sales, lower costs or higher profits.
Why does your customer buy the product or service? What benefit
do you sell? In which way is your product different from the
competition? Do you have a unique selling proposition? What is
it? What is your competitive advantage? Why should anybody buy
the product or service from you? Is your product perceived by
the customer as being better in some way? Is it cheaper/faster?
Does the customer buy because you are an extremely pleasant
person? Who is your competition? Why do some customers buy from
the competition? What is the competitive advantage of your
competitor? In which areas are your competitors superior? In
which ways are they inferior? How can you creatively imitate
your competitor? What is "unique" about the product? Does it
provide better durability, not like another in nature, quality
or form? Is it unique by its appearance and/or design? Does its
appearance convey desirable qualities? How does the product
compare with the competition? Can the product be recognizable
and prove useful and be price competitive? Service - will it
require less servicing or less costly servicing than existing
products?
Step 2 Identify your customers It is only logical that in order
to find your clients, you need to know who they are.
Who or what do you plan to sell your product to? How do
customers perceive themselves? How do you plan to acquire
customers? What distribution methods will you need? What
features do your customers want? What are they prepared to pay?
What form of advertising and promotion will be effective to
produce sales and sell the product? What will promotion and
advertising cost? Where is your target customer most likely to
buy your product? How important is price to a customer? How
important are product or service quality and convenience to your
customer?
Focus on customers' needs. Listen to your customer.
Why should anybody buy your product or service? What is the
benefit or improvement in their condition? Whose life will be
enriched? Who will get the greatest improvement from your
product or service? With which customers does your competitive
advantage make a difference? With which customers does your
competitive advantage make the biggest difference?
Customers want to be more, have more, do more. People buy for
ego needs, status needs, self-actualization needs, etc. People
buy for safety, security, admiration, social status,
recognition, prestige, respect, to increase sales, lower costs,
increase profits, self-improvement, excitement, popularity,
greater health, self-expression, influence, power, financial
success, more knowledge, greater skills, companionship,
self-esteem, fear of loss, desire for gain.
Step 3 Consider our tips
Get past the receptionist and on to the decision-maker. Be
cheerful and polite, have ? and show ? a good knowledge of the
target company. Explain that what you offer will need to be
assessed by an appropriate manager. Where possible make
appointments. Different businesses will have different ?best
times? to see them. You?ll struggle to catch a builder or farmer
when the weather is good and remember that most people still
adopt the traditional lunchtime. When arranging appointments
always offer a choice. Asking ?Which is better for you?? makes
them choose, and is better than an open-ended ?When would be
good for you?? which can elicit a negative response. I f you?re
selling a product that needs demonstrating, make absolutely
certain that it?s working perfectly before you leave for the
appointment. Know exactly what you want, but try to think, talk
and respond form the buyer?s point of view. Sell the benefits
and not the features of your products or service. Remember that
the likes of Kodak don?t sell films, they sell memories. Try to
ask, early on in the conversation, questions which cannot be
answered with simple ?yes? or ?no? responses. Open questions
lead to improved discussions, and if you?re listening closely to
the answers you should be able to work out any problems the
buyer may have. You need to know these if you are going to sell
solutions. Take objections seriously, but try to turn them to
your advantage. Think creatively about how you can offer to
overcome objections and make sure you fully understand each
objection before addressing it. Recognize buying signals ?
questions like ?Will it take unleaded?? and ?What guarantees do
you give?? W hen you begin to hear these close the sale quickly.
Never forget to go for the close and don?t be embarrassed about
asking for the order ? that is what you?re there for, after all.
Step 4 Follow up
The sale is just the beginning. Following up the deal will
strengthen the relationship with your new customer, and could
provide opportunities for additional sales. And finally don?t
forget that continually evaluating your sales process is vital
if you?re hoping to refine and improve it ? few things are ever
perfect.
About the author:
Learn more at http://www.my1stbusiness.com Ben Botes MSc. MBA,
is an Entrepreneur, Speaker, Writer, Coach and academic. He is
the founder of My1stBusiness.com, South African Business Hubs
Join the My1stbusiness.com Reseller Program and earn 40%
referral commission http://www.my1stbusiness.com/affiliate
Read Ben's Blog at http://www.my1stbusiness.com/weblog
|
