CDHI Conceptual Selling

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CONCEPTUAL

SELLING


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Why People Buy

People buy for their own reason,

NOT YOURS!


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Why People Buy


NOT YOURS!

People like to BUY,

NOT TO BE SOLD TO!


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Myths of Traditional Selling

Myth #1: Push the Product

Myth #2: Use anything that Works

Myth #3: Track or Script Selling

Begins with a grabber Proceeds through a maze of If then objection

killers

Hodge-podge of trial closes

Myth #4: Do more LegworkMyth #5: PositiveMental Attitude


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Customers Buying Decision Process

Recall a major purchase decision you have made.What was the situation like which led you to believe that

you needed to purchase this item?

What was the problem that this situation caused?

How did you want the problem solved? What was the

picture in your mind? What did you want to gain from

this purchase?

What did you do next? How did you go about finding asolution to this problem?

What made you decide on a specific solution?


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How People Buy

Buying is a special case of decision-making.

Every time people buy, they do so in a series of predictable

andlogicalsteps.

By systematically following these steps and helping your

customers do the same, you discover 2 things:

There is a solid fit

You shouldnt be doing business together

Ignoring such process will only lead to confusion, resentmentand eventually LOST SALES


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Why People Buy


NOT YOURS!

The customers reason is the

CONCEPT.


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UNDERSTAND

GENERATE

SELECT

BEST


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UNDERSTAND

GENERATE

SELECT

BEST

GENERATE

SELECT BEST

UNDERSTAND


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Identifying the Concept

Focus on Results

Discrepancy

Importance

Solving a problem

Customerize

Understandthenconnect


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Common Mistake

Making a product pitch,first.

Lesson: Cognition must always come first.


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Advantages ofConcept First Allowsyouto learn moreaboutthecustomer.

Focus onresults.

Differentiatesyourself.

Minimizesimportance of pricecompetition.

Positionsyourself withthe person who makesthe final

decision.

Identifies wherethereisno Win-Win.


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Points to Remember

Understand the customers buying process

Know and understand the customers concept (NEED).

Customers buy the what the product can do for them

(BENEFITS).


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General

Buyer Benefits

C

A

P

E

D

E conomy

S afety

omfort

ppearance

erformance

steem

urability


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FromConcept to Product

Behavior DefinitionImpact on

small sale

Impact on

large sale

Features

Describe facts, data,

product

characteristics

Slightly

positive

Neutral or

slightly

negative

Advantages

Show how products or

theirFeatures can be

used or can help

customer

PositiveSlightly

positive

Benefits

Show how productsmeet Explicit Needs

expressed by

customer

Very

positive

Very

positive


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Workshop 1 - FAB

Features(What the

Product IS)

Advantages(What the Product can DO)

Benefits(What the Product can DO FOR

ME)


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Why am Ihere?

The Single Sales Objective Criteria:

Product/service

Specific, clear and concise

Definable and measurable

Tied to a timeline

Usually not connected by and


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Whatdo Iwant the customer todo?

Traditional sales call goals:

Usually salesperson-driven vs customer-driven

Too general

Unrealistic


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Commitment toAction

Commitment to action:

Win-Win - Joint venture

Best action commitment

Is this Action Commitment specific?

Does it focus on what the customer will do?

Is the statement of Best Action measurable?

Does this Best Action Commitment move the sale forward?

Is this Best Action Commitment realistic?


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What if you cant get the minimum?

Choices:

1. Ask questions about resistance.

2. ReviseMinimum Acceptable Action downward.

3. Walk away.


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Three Common Reservations - Responses

Valid Business Reason:

1. It cant be necessary on every call.

Sales calls and social calls dont equal.

2. I dont want to come across as hard-nosed.

Focus on mutual business needs.

3. I feel uncomfortable stating the reason out

loud.

then, is it a valid reason?


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The Long-term Payback

Differentiation!!

being remembered and listened to can be an important

differentiation from the customers point-of-view.


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Do you have credibility?

Evidence you have credibility - reactions and

behaviors:

Customer ready to talk about product.

Customer asks how not why questions.

Customer says you are trusted.

Customer tells you personal information.

Customer gives you clear and unambiguous attention.


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Do you have credibility?

Evidence you do not have credibility-reactions and behaviors:

Customer make you jump through hoops and questionscredentials.

Customer controls the meeting.

Customer is silent and guarded.

Customer questions your logic.

Customer is antagonistic or defensive.


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Earning Credibility: Guidelines

Ask precise questions.

Listen intentlyeye contact.

Be yourself.

Dont be a know-it-all.

Stay Win-WinCounter antagonism with specifics,

understanding and dont interrupt.

Remember-Dont over promise and under deliver.


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Whydo salespersons talk so much?

Sales professionals say:

I feel more comfortable being in control.

Its my job to tell the customer about the

product.

Talking is what the customer usually wants

you/me to do.

Talking takes less planning. Sometimes youre afraid to hear the answers.


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The Questioning Process

Traditional selling advice:

Never ask questions to which you dont already know the

answer.

Conceptual Selling advice:

Never ask a question to which you already know the answer.


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Establish Superb Communication

Selling is a form of teaching. Important characteristics:

Emphasis on dialogue.

Use of pauses.

Avoid question shock:

Sales persons ask five or more questions perminute.

and, waits one second for an answer.

then, waits one second to comment andmove on.


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Golden Silence

Benefits of Golden Silence: Number of customer reactions increase.

Length of responses increases.

Reliability of information improves.

Number of unsolicited responses increase.

Number of customer questions increase.

Open-ended thinking increases.

Focus of discussion moves to Conceptual Selling. Increases time to think.


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Techniques toAvoid:

Dangerous Verbal Signals

Think about it.

Mimicry.

Yesbut.

Rhetorical questions/tags

...be careful of its obvious.

Why?


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Spin Selling

In successful sales calls, it's the buyer who does most

of the talking, which means that the salespeople areasking questions.


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Types of questions

SPIN Selling proposesthereare fourtypes ofquestions, thus SPIN stands for :

Situation Questions

Problem Questions

Implication Questions

Need-payoffQuestions

S

P

I

N


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What SPIN does

Its almostperfect.

Its a

problem, but

I can live

with it.

Its a bigger

problem than Irealized.

I want to take action

to resolve it.

Problems, Difficulties, Dissatisfaction

IMPLIED NEEDS

Strong wants or Desires

EXPLICIT NEEDS


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Situation questions

Finding facts about the customer's existing situation

Researchshows Situation Questions:

Are used more in calls which fail Are overused by inexperienced people

Where do you gofor leisure?

Where do younormally stay during

these outings?

How often do you

on vacations?


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Situation Questions

Inexperienced sellers often ask too manySQs

Can lead to losing credibility

Do your homework Do NOT ask SQs that are too basic

e.g. background info

Focus SQs for key info to uncover buyerproblems

Will Lead / develop into Explicit Needs


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Situation Questions

High Risk = Lose credibility & Sale!!

Do NOT ask SQs

Late in the selling cycle

About irrelevant business areas

In excess (too many) About sensitive areas


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Problem questions

How easy is itplan such

vacations?

Are you satisfied

with ... ?

Do you have

service quality

issues?

Definition: Asking about problems, difficulties, or dissatisfactions

Example: Which parts of the system create errors?

Impact: More powerful than SQsPeople ask more as they sell more

Advice: Think of what youre selling in terms of the problems they solve for your clients


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Problem Questions

Purpose is to reveal & clarify issues

You have to uncover problems you can

solve

Do something useful for the client

PQs provide material to build the rest of

the sale


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Problem Questions

Ways to start How often? Where? When? Who?

What happens if?

Use PQs to clarify BEFORE IQs

Why? Why not? How often does [problem] happen?

I want to be clear; could you tell me more?

Uncover several PQs before IQs Have more avenues to convince client


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Implication questions

What effect doesthat have on your

leisure activities?

Will it slow downyour proposed

expansion?

Could that lead to

increased costs?

Definition: Asking about the effects or consequences of the buyers problems

Example: What effect does that problem have on output?

Impact: The most powerful of all the SPIN questionsTop salespeople ask a lot

Advice: The hardest to askPlan them carefully in advance


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Implication Questions

IQs expand buyers perception of value

Link a problem to other potential problems

Focuses on the consequences

More Examples: How might that affect your insurance costs?

Could an increase in value increase theft?


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Need-Payoff questions

How would that

help?

What benefits do

you see?

Why is it

important to solve

this problem?

Definition: Asking about the value or usefulness of a proposed solution

Example: If we (provide solution), how would this benefit your?

Impact: Top salespeople show they are helpful and skillful problem solvers

Advice: Use these to get the buyer to tell you the benefits of your solution

Buyer sells your product to herself!


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Need-Payoff Questions

Focuses on the payoff of a solution

NPQs are positive, helpful, constructive

They reduce objections

Move discussion toward action More Examples:

How much of a saving would this mean?

How important is it to double response time?


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Need-Payoff Questions

Few sellers ask NPQs at the right time

Best time

Before describing your solution

After developing seriousness with IQs

Ask NPQs with caution when the buyers

need is subjective


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SituationQuestions

Seller uses

ProblemQuestions

Implied

Needs

ImplicationQuestions

Explicit

Needs

Benefits

Need-payoffQuestions

To establish a

context

leading

to

So that thebuyer

reveals

which are developed by

...which make the buyer

feel the problem more

clearly and acutely

leadingto

So that the

buyer states

allowing the seller

to state


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Four stages of a sales call

Preliminaries InvestigatingDemonstrating

capabilityObtaining

commitment


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Preliminaries / Opening

Introduce yourself

How you begin conversation

Eg:1. How are you?

2. Nice Weather?

3. Is that a picture of your daughter?

Keep these questions and this phase short.

One or two, and don't let them go on.


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Investigating

Finding out facts, information, and needs.

Eg:

How much do you see your company growing next year?

How do you keep track of how much work your managers are

accomplishing?

What is your current work order system?

Very important &Crucial in large sales

In fact, the most important selling skill.


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Demonstrating Capability

Sell Benefits rather than Features and Advantages.

You must show customers that :

you can solve their problem

You have a solution

That it makes sense to do business with you


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Obtaining Commitment

Getting an agreement to proceed to a further stage ofthe sale.

First check that you've covered all of the prospect's key

concerns.

Then summarize your benefits.

Finally, propose the next appropriate level of

commitment.

Obt i i C it t Cl i th S l


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Obtaining Commitment: Closing the Sale

What is closing?

Huthwaites definition ofClosing:

A behavior used by the seller which implies orinvites a commitment, so that the buyers next

statement accepts or denies commitment.

AGlimmer of Light


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AGlimmer of Light

Closing techniques worked when the sale was small .

Closing techniques failed when the size of the sale increased .

Consider the psychology:Closing is, in effect, putting pressure onthe customer to make a decision. As this decision increases insize, the pressure tends to have a negative affect.

Eg:

A young man courting a young woman. The alternative close ofshall we sit here or shall we sit there? works because the

decision is small. However, the same young man may have aconsiderably lesser success rate with the alternative close ofmy place or yours. The decision this close implicates is a muchlarger one.


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Closing andDecision SizeClosing andDecision Size

Before the training took place Huthwaite measured three things:

Transaction time : How long did each sale or attempted sale take?

Number of closes : How often did the seller use a closing behavior during thetransaction?

Percentage sale : What percentage of the transactions resulted in a purchase?

Low-valueitems: The effects ofclosing training:

Decreased the transaction time .

The number of closing behaviors increased .

The success rate increased

High-valueitems:The effects ofclosing training:

Decreased the transaction time .

The number of closing behaviors increased .

The success rate decreased.

l


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Two Conclusions

By forcing the customer into a decision, closing techniques speed the

sales transaction.

Closing techniques may increase the chances of making a sale with

low-priced products.

With expensive products or services, they reduce the chances of

making a sale.

F ibl t f l ll


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Four possible outcomes of a sales call:

1. Orders

2. Advances

3. Continuations

4. No-sales


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Orders

Where the customer makesa firm commitment to buy.

Ad


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Advances Whereaneventtakes place,eitherinthecall orafterit,that

makesthesales move forwardtowardadecision. Typical

Advances mightinclude:

o A customers agreement to attend an off-site demonstration

o A clearance that will get you in front of higher level of decision

maker

o An agreement to run a trial or test of your product

o Access to parts of the account that were previously inaccessible to

you


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Continuations

Where the sale will continue but where no specific

action has been agreed upon by the customer to moveit forward.

o Thank you for coming. Why dont you visit us again

the next time youre in the area?

o Fantastic presentation, were very impressed. Letsmeet again some time.

o We liked what we saw and well be in touch if weneed to take things further.


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No-sales

Wherethecustomeractively

refusesacommitment.

Obtaining Commitment: Four SuccessfulActions


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Obtaining Commitment: Four SuccessfulActions

1. Giving attention to Investigating and Demonstrating Capability.

2. Checking that key concerns are covered .

3. Summarizing the Benefits.

4. Proposing a commitment.


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Giving attention to Investigating and DemonstratingCapability.

Successful salespeople give their primary attention to this action.

Successful salespeople do an outstanding job of building needs during

the Investigating stage.

If you can convince customers that they need what you are offering,then they will often close the sale for you.

Ch ki h k d


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Checking that key concerns are covered.

Sellers who were most effective inobtaining commitment from their

customers would invariably take the initiave

and ask the buyer whether there were anyfurther points or concerns that needed to

be addressed .


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Summarizing the Benefits

oIn a larger sale, summary will almost

always be a helpful way to bring key points

into focus just before the decision.


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PREVENTING OBJECTIONS

Features and Price Concerns

Treating Symptoms or Treating Causes?

The Sales-Training approach to Objections.

Preventing objections from your customers

Objections early in the call.

Objections about value.


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PRELIMINARIES: OPENING THE CALL

First Impressions

Conventional openings :

Relate to the buyers personal interests.

Make an opening benefit statement.

MAKE YOUR PRELIMINARIES EFFECTIVE


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TURNING THEORY INTO PRACTICE

The Four Golden Rules for Learning Skills

Rule 1:Practice only one thing at a time.

Rule 2:Try the new thing at least 3 times.

Rule 3:Quantity before quality

Rule 4:Practice in safe situations.


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SUMMARY

FOUR STAGES OF A SALES CALL

Preliminaries

Investigating

Demonstrating Capability

Obtaining Commitment


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Four stages of a sales call

Preliminaries InvestigatingDemonstrating

capabilityObtaining

commitment

CDHI Conceptual Selling

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