- Don’t just plan what to discuss but ALSO what you want from the other person,
that can include:
o the contract or a pilot for it
o the knowledge that you will not win the sale
o a timeline on which to put the sale
o a schedule where both parties meet each other
o a who’s-who chart of the organisation
o another help to explore the account like ‘hunting license’
Goal is to have the main themes and issues in the company (which will be in the
public domain) contact Financial Times to ask them for an annual report on a
company
Make clear what the benefits of our offer
Think about twists/dangers/opportunities that come up and solutions on how to
handle them
Make a one-minute description of your product, simple English
Bring together similar projects/work you did in the past
How to make a good first impression?
First words, footsteps and appearance
o Make sure the first words you say are about the prospect, not yourself
o Give the other person space when you walk in
o Have a smart appearance (e.g. a suit is associated with a higher quality
product) Rule: salesperson always need to dress ‘one level above’
o Always call when arriving late, even just a minute
Structure of a sales meeting:
1) Introduction:
• get yourself accepted, make them like you
• make them believe you can help them, provide them with realistic hope
• create a mindset in which the prospect feels he can open up to you (by open up
yourself first and make a short description of your company called thumbnail
sketch what does your company do, what benefits can it offer?
2) Consultation (Beratung)/questioning
• aim = having a flow in conversation, two parties are open and fluid, prospect
needs to talk openly and freely about situation so that opportunities can arise
• LISTEN well and make the prospect want to buy rather than selling let them
tell their story first and listen concentrated without thinking about your things +
do not judge! Important questions: What do you mean exactly, how do you feel
about that?
• Instead of ‘problem’ use ‘situation
• Discover the real buying motives with a GENERAL knowledge in that field, not
too specific
, • Open questions start with ‘who, what, where, when, why, how’, closed ones start
with a verb e.g. ‘Do
you like golf?’
• Build a relationship, don’t suggest a solution too early
• Write notes during the conversation (may have to submit a written proposal) -
also use a nice pen to
make it look smart
3) Check questions to ensure you haven’t missed anything
• Check if you have a sound understanding of the problem/situation
• Like ‘Are you absolutely sure we have covered everything? Is there anything we
could have missed?’
4) The selling (match the features to customer’s needs)
• Don’t sell the feature, sell the benefits e.g. person wants a mortgage: feature is
the debts, benefit is
the house
• Features of service are harder to explain than products brakes on a car have
benefit of safety; a
firm has specialists in technical field, benefit = specialists are better than
generalists
• Don’t expect people to know the benefits without telling them; so mention a
feature and then say
‘which means that.’
• Turn negative words into more positive ones like: amount - cost | agreement -
contract |
presentation - pitch | authorize - buy | value for money - cheap | improve -
change AVOID the word
‘solution’
• Be succinct (kurz und knapp) so people get the idea fast put their name into
the conversation
• Deal with objections (Widerspruch) during conversation by consulting them -
most objection are
taken because the client needs time for a decision (usually false objection are at
the beginning but
only once, real objections are a few times until it is fully dealt with)
• Deal with common objections:
- firm doesn’t have skills/products make arrangements like
partner with
another firm
- client knows better firms for that job leave client, get a new
prospect
- personal dislike of firm ensure that they like you from the
beginning
- client doesn’t want to make decisions get closer to the client ask
more
about what he wants, etc.
- client thinks its price is too high negotiate, but put the
discussion of the
price at the end after client knows everything
5) Asking for the business/closing
• Verbal buying signs from client: ‘How much does it cost/When could you start?
• Visual buying signs: sleeped fingers
, close an issue by making small deals and not a straightforward request for
work
give them alternatives on when to start the project ‘I could arrange, for either
the 18th or 24th of this month. Which suits you better?’
show confidence ‘It looks like everything is agreed. I’ll get our team together
and they can start promptly’
checking other parties: ‘Let me check whether that consultant is available’
• conditional close: ‘If I could do it for that price would you be happy to go ahead?’
• invitational close: ‘Why don’t we try this for a month with no strings attached?’
• make a pro and contra list with the client
• give them a copy of the agreement and give them time to sign and let it be sent
to you
• Do NOT speak first after the close, let the client do
• 1. Rule = ask for the work
2. Rule = keep quiet after closing
• after meeting, use it to get into contact with other people, ask if there’s
someone else in
the company you should talk to
Tip 1: Focus on the senior person, the other will follow (the leader)
Tip 2: Focus on waverers (Unentschlossener)
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