Step One: Prospecting & Qualifying
- Determine which products and services best suit particular prospects
- Determine your sales approach and plan your sales calls
- Uncover reasons why you should not pursue some prospects, saving you valuable time and resources
Step Two: Pre-approach
- First, determine your objective and the purpose of your call. Your purpose may be to make an appointment, to inform, to question, to talk to a certain person, and to sell. Additionally, determine if you want to close the sale on the first call or simply pave the way for a later call or sales presentation.
- Try to do a little homework before the call. If you know someone who may have insight or information about the prospect, call them.
- Send a fax or mail some information prior to the cold call. Reference the information in the call, but don’t open with, “Did you get the information I sent?” This allows the prospect to simply say, “no,” just to get you off the phone. Instead, try something like, “I sent you some information by fax yesterday; I’m following up to provide additional information . . .”
- When you’re ready to make the call, make sure you have all the materials you need at hand. For example, if the purpose of your call is to make an appointment, have your appointment book open and a working pen or pencil in front of you.
- State your purpose quickly – within 15 seconds.
- Get prospects interested by asking questions that make them think.
- Make statements that build rapport and confidence.
- Keep your eye on the prize – never lose sight of your objective, regardless of the outcome of the call.
- Use humor – people love to laugh.
- Be friendly – people like to buy from people they like.
- Be sincere.
Step Three: Presentation & Handling Objections
- Don’t be afraid to be excited about your product. Your enthusiasm carries a strong message about your personal investment in the product.
- During presentations, focus on the benefits of your products and services. Benefits are different from features, which are characteristics such as size, color and functionality. Benefits answer the customer’s question: “Why would I want to own that product?” Benefits are what cause people to buy.
- Set objectives for sales calls. Write the objectives on index cards and keep the cards handy to make notes as you think of items to add.
- Be on time for sales appointments. If you are unavoidably delayed, call before the appointment to let the prospect know your estimated time of arrival.
- Be prepared for your call. Have your sales brochures, demonstration materials, and other supplementary information available.
- Be relaxed during sales calls. That often is easier said than done. It helps to give yourself plenty of time in transit so you don’t arrived frazzled from a rush through bad traffic. And, once you are there take a moment in the car to take a few deep breaths and review what you want to say.
- Let prospects talk 90 percent of the time; they’ll tell you how to sell to them. You just need to listen.
- Use testimonials. Your best selling tool is a reference from a satisfied customer.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for their business.
- Invite prospects to interact with products. For example, encourage customers to try a watch on, operate a device or smell the bubble bath.
- Limit the choices during a sales presentation. Most experts advise sales people to show prospects only three options at a time. Too many options may prove overwhelming, resulting in them not choosing anything.
- Adapt your sales presentation to your prospect. For example, a travel agent would provide different types of information about a cruise package to a couple going on their first cruise than to a couple that has been on dozens of cruises.
- Rate yourself after sales calls. Determine what you did well and what you need to improve upon. Develop action steps for improvement.
- Always follow through on promises.
- Determine what your prospect seemed most interested in and work that into your follow-up plan.
- Follow up, follow up, follow up. It often takes five to 10 exposures to get a sale.
- Acknowledge your customers’ position and then offer them new information.
- Question prospects when they make statements about why they won’t buy or what they don’t like about your product. Try to learn why they feel as they do; this will help you get to the root cause of their concerns.
- Restate the objection so the customer can hear it. This tends to reduce the magnitude of an objection and allows prospects to modify your statement to more accurately express their true objection.
- Tactfully respond directly to the customer’s statement. If you must contradict what they are saying because you honestly believe they are wrong, provide factual information that can help them see where they may have a misunderstanding
Step Four: Closing
- Asking about availability
- Asking specific questions about rates, prices or affordability
- Asking about features, options, quality, guarantees or warranties
- Asking positive questions about your business
- Asking for something to be repeated
- Making statements about problems with previous vendors; they may be seeking reassurance from you that you won’t pose the same problems
- Asking about follow-up service or other products you carry
- Requesting a sample or asking you to repeat a demonstration for them or for others in their company or family
- Asking about other satisfied customers. You should have a list of satisfied customers ready to give to prospects who ask.
Step Five: Follow-up
- Establish and maintain your good reputation
- Build goodwill between you customers and your business
- Generate repeat and referral business.