This is such an important topic in sales representative training that a full presentation skill training course would not be unrealistic, however, the following list of subtopics will provide the salesperson with the essential elements of the preparation for and delivery of his/her product or service. In the remainder of this article the use of the word 'his' will be synonymous with 'her' for brevity.
1) Approach
2) Your Appearance
3) Your introduction
4) Getting close to the Prospect
5) The basis of your Sales Presentation
6) How to deal with Objections
7) How to make a rebuttal without the Butt
8) The importance of Asking Questions
9) Dramatising your Presentation.
10) Closing on a small but positive action.
With the advances made in telecommunication it is far better today to avoid cold calling on prospective clients. Advance knowledge about a company can be found from lists offered at a reasonable price by database companies such as Dunn & Bradstreet or Compass Business Directories. Information such as the company directors names, the number of employees, phone numbers and email addresses make it easy to make the initial contact with the right person.
The approach is best made via an appointment made by the salesperson or a telesales support person. It is important that the correct person in an organisation is identified, because an appointment made with anyone other than the decision maker will prove in most cases to be a waste of the sales representative's time. In a small to medium sized company the correct person tends to be the proprietor or the Managing Director. In my extensive experience from 40 years in Direct Sales, appointments made with the Company Secretary or the Company Accountant turn out to be a shield to protect the real decision maker from the mass of sales approaches every company receives. However in the larger type of company designated Buyers have been appointed to interview sales representatives and make purchases on behalf of the company and should be the person to approach.
Your appearance is fundamental to your success in sales. This is because within 10 to 15 seconds of meeting you, first impressions are made. Extensive and important and lasting decisions are made about the kind of person you are. These decisions are based on how you are dressed, how you sound and how confident you appear to be.
Your introduction to your prospect should be made with a smile and a firm hand shake that implies you have confidence in yourself and by inference in your product or service.
Selling is a relationship building business. Your objective in the first instance is to get people to Know, Like and Trust you.
A study of body language is a useful tool that can help salespeople speed up the process.
I have found that a smile, a direct look in the eye accompanied by a light touch of the persons forearm as you shake their hand, adds an extra touch of friendliness to your greeting.
Getting close to the Prospect Once you are in your prospects office, usually the prospect will position himself behind his desk or maybe a work bench. This is a psychological defence barrier which is better to get around wherever possible. The way I used to do it was to have my presentation in a folder or make up my presentation on a blank sheet of paper. Then I would say to the prospect, " I have something here I need to show you, will it be OK if I put this on your desk so that you can see it?" Once he agreed and invariably they did, I would place the folder the right way around for them on their side of the desk, and then I would walk to their side of the desk to work through my presentation in my folder or to build up a presentation on the blank sheet of paper. I have observed a noticeable lessening of tension in the prospects attitude once I am on the same side of the desk as them.
The basis of your Sales Presentation A proper understanding of the Cycle of Motivation is the first requirement needed in order to prepare a presentation that will lead to a successful conclusion. When you first meet a prospect they will have no reason to believe they need your product and they will have a number of defence strategies in place to avoid making useless purchases. These strategies have been developed because of previous attempts to part them from their money in exchange for inappropriate products or because of the bad presentation of appropriate products. You must disturb the prospect out of his present mind-set by presenting reasons why he needs the product. There are both pain and pleasure feelings to be involved in this part of the presentation, feelings of loss through not using the product and feelings of pleasure from the gains he will get from using it. Both these elements should be maximised to heighten the feeling of unease. The prospect will not buy if he remains undisturbed. A full explanation of all the features of the product will enable the salesperson to demonstrate how each of these features will benefit the prospects business.
How to deal with Objections The well prepared salesperson knows that it is inevitable that objections already exist in the prospects mind. During the 'inside training' of representatives they should be given all the objections to the product that have been previously been met by all the sales force so that there are no surprises for the salesperson once he is in the field. Answers to these should be rehearsed until they flow naturally from the salesperson. However they should not be held until the prospect presents them, it is important that they are presented to the prospect by the salesperson early in the presentation along with suitable responses that neutralise the negative effect of the objection before the prospect can utter them. Once they are dealt with in this way they seldom arise again to become a deterrent to the sale.
How to make a rebuttal without the Butt. If a prospect should present an objection before you get around to dealing with it, never make a rebuttal by using words like "Ah but...." or "No that's not so because..." Think of the pain caused by a butt in the face of the prospect from a direct attack on his thinking. Far better to let someone else take the sting out of the correction you have to make in your prospects mind. Make reference to another businessman, preferably in the same line of business, by saying " Yes, that's what Mr (XYZ) of (another company) thought about that however once he started using this product he found that......" (Now you have given yourself the opportunity to highlight the features and the desired results that disprove the objection.)
The importance of Asking Questions Asking questions has been part of the sales process for centuries but it was mainly based on the concept of building up a series of 'yes answers' that would lead to a yes close. Times have changed and people today are far more resistant to the hard closing tactics of the old school salesmen. Research has shown that
1) You don't have to ask questions to make the sale.
2) You will make up to 50% more sales if you do provided the questions are about the prospects needs and desires.
The questions are also used to create dissonance which can only be solved by the customer using the product.
Everyone is preoccupied and the questions help the salesperson make the prospect focus on the business in hand. Further focus is captured by involving the prospect closer in the presentation by asking them to touch, hold, feel or engage in any way possible with the product.
Questions will help determine what the prospects real needs and desires are.
Dramatising your Presentation.
Rehearsal of the complete presentation is crucial in order to free the salespersons mind from anxiety over fear of forgetting the order of the presentation and questions and answers. Once the presentation is fluent much more impact can be given to each feature and the benefits can be illustrated by the salespersons own stories of his other client's successes with the product.
I remember on one occasion when I was selling a Christmas advertising competition in our newspaper to a client, he remarked that the public did not bother participating in this type of feature so he felt he would get no results from advertising in it. I knew the public participation in the competition was immense but rather than just answer this objection, I excused myself from the meeting and arranged to call back later. I returned to our offices and gathered the hundreds of envelopes with our competitor's entry coupons into a large cardboard box. I returned to my client's office and upon entering, I deliberately slipped and let the envelopes spill all over his carpet. I apologised and as we both gathered up the mass of envelopes there was no way he could hold onto his objection. That little bit of drama which had involved a lot of his senses, did far more good than a mere statement about the numbers would have done.
Closing on a small but positive action. If you have asked questions that have revealed the prospects needs, answered all his objections and obtained his agreement over your answers, while demonstrating dramatically that your product is the best solution to his particular needs, then the sale should come to a natural close. However it would be a great mistake on your part to expect the prospect to ask you for the order form. This will not happen in a month of Sundays. You have to make the close, no matter how brilliantly the sale had progressed. Prospects do not volunteer to close the sale with a purchase. They would still rather take time to think it over. Take out your order form and your pen and ask him to " agree the order" rather than sign it. Always assume he is in agreement by now and ask for a small decision like 'when would he prefer delivery, next week or the week after,' or which product he wants 'the standard or the Deluxe version'.
The call to action must be made by you but make it as small a decision in his mind as possible so that it is easy for him to agree.