Selling Skills

Educate | Selling Skills

Like most business skills - selling is also a talent to be learnt and developed.

There are simple steps in the selling process but now, with the use and impact of technology it is more important to understand our target clients and their needs from the offset. With the volume of data now freely available our clients know more about us before we even get to talk or meet with them, the issue being that they also now expect you to know about them in the same or greater detail, so the steps have changed.

At a meeting the expectation is no longer about you presenting to them your profile, your business and your product, they most likely know all that, they want to know why you are talking to them, how you are going to solve their issues, and in what timeframe (and don’t forget they want this at a fair price – well some expect it at an unfair price!) but that’s another topic.

Competition is fierce, so you must understand what makes you stand out. It could be something around delivering great customer service, delivering on time, better quality, better warranties, cost savings, industry knowledge, better skills, experts, or something else. It sounds very simple but delivering great customer service is never simple, requires effort and planning.

You need to be clear on what it is.

That’s why a clear understanding of your uniqueness is vital.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Why are you talking to this client? How are you different, really different, from your competition? Why should they give you the time to listen to you? and then why should they buy from you?

Remember clients will pay extra for excellent customer service, making sure you never let them down!

Educate | Selling Skills

The steps in your then presentation changes to opening with your uniqueness and why you are there. Making it more interesting from the start. Move the company details to the back (you can ask them if they would like you to go through them first, and then just flick to the relevant slides / pages in the event that they say yes.

It is essential that you make all interactions with the buyer about the buyer, all emails, all voice mails, demos, presentations, everything you do to sell your product is about the buyers needs, you must therefore consistently ask what’s in it for the buyer, why is this relevant and customise each communication appropriately.

Make sure your presentations reflect the issue or challenge / problem the buyer is facing and how you will solve the issue for them, i.e., in some cases its new products/ products / service, remember most buyers have KPI’s as well and will need innovation, newness, better products, better delivery schedules, better margins, cost savings so they need new products / services.

Back to the steps. Step 1 now means you must clearly understand your uniqueness. Be in a position to discuss it in detail and to begin to instil trust - do what you agreed to do at the meeting, whilst remembering to follow up at all times.

Dr Barbara McCrory 07825992426 barbara@transform-consulting.co.uk