IILM-Term III PGDM Selling Skills Module Learning Objectives The Selling Process The Art of Cross-Selling &

p; Up-Selling Spin-Selling Concept The Selling Cycle

Selling is a Process Selling is a process rather than an action. It consists of a number of Steps. All steps need planning and preparation.

Preparation Makes The Difference Three questions you should always ask yourself What do I know? What do I need to know? How am I going to find out? What Are the Basic Selling Skills? Active Listening. 1

ffective !"estioning# Differentiating $et%een pro&"ct 'eat"res ( A&vantage ( Benefits )an&ling c"stomer o$*ections# B"+ing Signals ,losing the &eal

S IM P L E V S C O M P L E X S A L E S

SALES C ALL P o s s i' $e O u tc o e s

SALE O R R EFU SAL TO BU Y

C O N T IN U A T IO N D is c u s s io n c o n t in u e s n o a c t io n

AD VAN C E A g re e e n t o n a c t io n ! " ic " o # e s s a $e %o r ! a r &

Cross-Selling Up-selling

Cross-selling and Up-selling are established methods of improving your sales and increasing customer loyalty. -p-selling is the practice of offering customers a product in addition to the product they are currently purchasing. ,ross-selling refers to selling items that are related or can be integrated ith the item being sold. Cross- and Up-selling! Increasing the margin once a customer is e"pressing interest in buying your products or services.

In many mar#ets such as the mar#et for entry-level noteboo# PCs$ the net margin on the initial deal is often negative. %endors are illing to accept a loss on some of their products as long as they attract ne customers. &"amples are loss-leaders in a supermar#et$ i.e. an article that is sold for less than the supermar#et's purchase price mobile phones! the telecommunication provider e"pects to ma#e sufficient profits on the subscription and ill therefore accept a very lo price on the device Laser printers: the manu acturer e!pects to make a decent pro it by selling toner cartridges and other consumables

The "ersonal Selling "rocess

#hy "lan the Sales Call$ ()ailing to plan is planning to fail( An old saying ith a lot of truth in it Top pro essional sales representatives thoroughly plan all their sales calls to ensure success by %& 'stablishing Sales Call (ocus Generate sales . sell particular products to target customers on designated sales calls& Develop the market ) lay the ground*ork or generating ne* business by educating customers and gaining visibility *ith prospective buyers& Protect the market . learn competitors+ strategies and tactics and protect relationships *ith current customers& ,mproving ' ectiveness and ' iciency "reparing or Customer -eaction 'nhancing Sel -Con idence and "ro essionalism .etermining #hich Selling Strategies to Use /voiding 'rrors There are at least si! general steps that ought to be considered in preparing or a sales call %& "repare the prospect or the initial sales call 0Seeding0 prospect- ocused activities carried out several *eeks or months be ore a sales call 2. Sell the Sales Call /ppointment by pre-noti ication

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cold call e-mail a! mail telephone 2ather and analy3e all relevant in ormation about the prospect 2athering ,n ormation /bout Consumer "rospects Consumer credit bureaus Market research Library sources 2athering ,n ormation /bout Organi3ational "rospects ,n-house purchasing agents 'lectronic directories and databases Library sources ,denti y the prospect5s problems and needs Organi3ational "roblems and 6eeds SPI/ approach Situation "roblem ,mplication 6eeds "ayo Choose the 8est Sales "resentation Strategy -ehearse :our /pproach

SPI/ Selling: *eil +ac#ham,s boo# SPIN Selling$ is a precisely defined se-uence of four -uestion types that enables the salesperson to move the conversation logically from e"ploring the customers, needs to designing solutions$ or +ac#ham,s terms$ to uncover Implied *eeds and develop them into &"plicit *eeds that you$ the sales professional $ can resolve The research firm headed by *eil +ac#ham$ the .ehavioural psychologist$ distilled the SPI* personal intervie method from its large empirical study during the /012,s and early /032,s. 4ost effective for comple"$ large sales processes at #ey accounts. The method encourages the customer to define the ider$ organi5ational problem and state a desire for a solution during the investigation phase of a consultative sales process -esearch Sho*s; ,n the %<=>5s? @uth*aite ,nc& studied the practice o success ul selling and sales e ectiveness on behal o a 4

many multinationals? such as ,8M and A'-OA& Over t*elve years? 6eil -ackham led a team o 1> researchers *ho studied over 17?>>> sales intervie*s in B>C countries and assessed %>>C actors that could improve sales per ormance& They concluded that the 0ke+1 to s"ccessf"l selling %as the $ehavioral &ifferentiators of top sales people an& not sale closing techni2"es# -evealed that e ective sales people discover customer needs using our types o Duestions that di er in unction

/ "opular Multiple-Euestion /pproach ,s the S",6 /""-O/C@

The roadmap

Situation Questions Problem Questions Implication Questions Need-payoff Questions BENEFITS

Implied Needs

Explicit Needs

#hat is the 2oal o Euestioning$ To uncover needs ,mplicit needs

'!plicit needs ,mplicit need F a statement of a buyer's problem$ dissatisfaction or difficulty ith a current situation '!plicit need F a clear statement of a buyer's ant$ desire or intention to act

,n smaller sales? the more implied needs you can uncover? the better chances you have o closing the sale& ,n larger sales? implied needs are simply a starting point& #hat matters here is not ho* many you uncover but *hat you do a ter you uncover them& S-Situation Duestions 6ather bac#ground information and develop understanding of the conte"t of the sale. In big sales$ minimi5e the small tal# and focus on finding bac#ground detail that can be used to ma#e sense of the buyer,s business situation. Conte"t creates meaning. This is about understanding the ider conte"t before you 5oom into the details.

I4PACT! 7east po erful of the SPI* -uestions. Can be negative . 4ost people as# too many. S8 &7I4I*AT& U**&C&SSA+9 :U&STI8*S ;8 98U <84&=8+> T<8+8U6<79 =hat e-uipment are you using no ? <o long have you had it? Is it purchased or leased? <o many people use it?

&very good seller begins the sales call by assessing the terrain$ by as#ing -uestions to clarify the customer,s current situation. So Situation :uestions are essential$ but here,s the surprise. <uth aite,s research found that$ as valuable as they are$ Situation :uestions also can be overused$ and often are by ine"perienced salespeople In fact$ one characteristic of unsuccessful sales calls$ they found$ is that they contain a higher than average number of Situation :uestions. Their advice! ;o as# Situation :uestions$ but be sure they,re necessary ones. ;on,t as# a -uestion to elicit information that you easily could have obtained before beginning the call . And #no that$ hen overused$ these -uestions bore the customer. "-O8L'M Euestions &"plore customer problems$ dissatisfactions$ difficulties and concerns As# -uestions to uncover problems hich your product can address. .ut the tendency is.. If you are selling Tractors$ as# about maintenance costs$ brea#do ns and so on@ If you are selling 7ife Insurance$ as# about ho many dependents the person has@ A trap here is to dive straight into presenting the benefits of hat you are selling. 9ou may #no the problem$ but they do notA Going straight to the sales pitch %ill *"st get +o" o$*ections Are you satisfied ith your present e-uipment? =hat are the disadvantages of the ay you're doing it no ? <o difficult is it to process orders ith your present system? =hat reliability problems does your e-uipment have no ? How concerned are you about . . . ? !"oes it worry you that . . . ? !How difficult do you find it to . . . ? !Is there a risk of . . . ? !What sort of #roblems do you get with . . . ? 7

!How ha##y are you with . . . ? !$re you satisfied with the le%el of . . . ? !Is it hard to co#e with . . . ? !How well are you able to co#e with . . . ? !What sort of dissatisfaction do you ha%e with . . . ? What #re%ents you from achie%ing that ob&ecti%e?

,mplication Duestions Instead of telling them the problem they have B hich is also li#ely to raise obCectionsD$ the goal is no to get them to see Band feelAD the problem. .y as#ing -uestions hich dra out the implications of the problem$ they get to feel the pain that ill drive them to ards your product. 7in# isolated problems by e"amining their effect on customer business and organi5ation (if this problem is not solved$ hat are the undesirable conse-uences?(. The goal of implication -uestions is to help brea# do n the problems of specific customers in order to ma#e implied needs e"plicit and to analyse the cost effectiveness of solving them. (or '!ample? The li e insurance salesperson could care ully ask *hat *ould happen to the children i the target person died or became very ill& More sample Duestions .oes your overtime e!pense increase *hen your eDuipment goes do*n$ .o bottlenecks result because you only have t*o people *ho can operate your order processing system$ /re you e!periencing high turnover and training costs because o the di iculty that your employees are having in operating your eDuipment$ 6''.-"/:O(( Euestions <elp customers discover the value and benefits of the solution of an implied need by as#ing such -uestions as (ho ould e.g. reducing do n-time help you?( Action-oriented$ ,e"plicit needs, trigger purchase <aving hurt the target person ith your implications$ you no give them a stra to grasp at by as#ing ho their pain could be resolved. =ith careful -uestions$ you can get them to the state

here they are as#ing for your product B*eedD even before you sho it to them. They probe the &"plicit *eeds +educe obCections because they cause buyer to e"plain solution 4ove discussion for ard to ards action and commitment

'or e3ample4 The Tractor sales pro essional can ask ho* much better the tractor *as like *hen it *as ne*? or *hether any o the armer5s neighbors have solved problems o old and problematic tractors& The ,nsurance Sales "ro essional could ask Duestions that build pictures o the target person5s children being sa e and secure *hatever curve-balls the *orld might thro* at the amily Like "roblem Euestions? *hich they naturally ollo*? 6eed"ayo Euestions are linked to success in more comple! sales& They can be especially use ul *hen you5re talking to top decision makers Gor those *ho *ill in luence themH? and they increase the likelihood that your solution? i accepted? *ill provide the payo that ans*ers the need& These Duestions ocus the customer5s attention on the solution rather than the problem? and they encourage him or her G*ith your assistanceH to outline the bene its that your solution *ill provide his or her company& Thus a good 6eed-"ayo Euestion both pre-empts objections and enlists customer buy-in&

BE AN I(C(E( MAN )OR MAIDEN*+

D e # e $o , e n t o % N e e & - , a . o %% / u e s tio n s .&T ST)EN, T" -F !-.) P)e /+ / fa s te r

I E N T IF ! " o # u s e fu l # o u ld it b e to h a $ e a fa s te r s y s te m %

& ' ( ) IF ! Is s p e e d im p o r ta n t to b e a b le to h a n d le m o r e c lie n ts %

E*TEN & o u ld a fa s te r s y s te m fr e e y o u r p e o p le u p to d o o th e r th in + s %

(s0 these 1uestions after de$elopin+ the seriousness of problem throu+h Implication Questions but before describin+ your solution/

,denti ying !$re you saying it would hel# if we could . . . ? !$m I right that it would hel# if . . . ? !$re you looking for a way of . . . ? !Would you be interested in '? !If I could show you a better way of dealing with '( would you be interested? !Would you like to be able to . . . ? Clari ying !Why is ' so im#ortant to you? !What sort of sa%ings would ' #roduce? !What do you regard as the main benefits of )? !"o you think that would #roduce significant sa%ings? !Would you see ) as a significant im#ro%ement? !How im#ortant is it for you to im#ro%e '? '!tending !How else could ) hel# you? !$re there any other ways in which ) could hel#? !Would ) also hel# you achie%e '? How much business would you loose if your #hone did not work for *+ hours? "oints to be kept in mind&& )our types of -uestions need to be addressed in se-uence. The SPI* method is not a rigid implementation formula. The Situation and Problem -uestion phases are often strenuous for customers and need to be limited. ;es# research is re-uired to dra up hypotheses of li#ely pain points and should be tested during the intervie . The 6reatest effort should be during the Implication phase hen the customer becomes a are of the problem,s severity. Those im#lied needs that are discovered to be relevant must be de%elo#ed into e,#licit needs during the Need-#ay-off #hase. Top sales pro essionals incorporate a greater number o needpayo Duestions into sales calls than less success ul ones& / ter using the S",6 intervie* rame*ork to success ully conclude the investigation phase o the overall sales process? the sales person and customer are ready to move to the Duali ication phase in *hich the selling party must demonstrate its capabilities in e ectively solving the customer5s problem "ros

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SPI*,s investigation phase helps the sales person and potential buyer focus on dealing ith the customer,s ider organi5ational problems rather than only on the immediate benefits of a product or service. It helps avoid seller-imposed limitations and encourages the customer to define the problem and desire for a solution. The method has proven to be successful in more comple" and large scale sales processes. It is a helpful tool during the investigative phase on a consultative sales process. +ac#ham claimed that sales success is more dependent on the proper use of investigation s#ills than on any other factor. The -uestioning process helps build greater trust and rapport bet een sales personnel and customer.

The method has been validated across industries and countries. 8ut be*are success ul adoption o S",6 reDuires practice $+ the sales professional& ,ts application occurs on the behavioral level& @o* to use S",6 Euestions %& =rite do n at least three potential problems hich the prospect may have and hich your products might solve before ma#ing a sales call. E. =rite do n some actual Problem :uestions that you could as# to uncover each of the potential problems you've identified. F. As# yourself hat difficulties might arise for each problem. =rite do n some actual Implication :uestions that might get the prospect to see the problem as large and urgent to solve. G. =rite do n three *eed :uestions for each implication& Iideo links to enhance learning o the Module http:JJ***&mysellingskills&comJdemo&asp! http:JJin&youtube&comJ*atch$vK aid6%u!CiU http:JJin&youtube&comJ*atch$vK"M-89p:./L:M eatureKr elated

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