Advanced Selling StrategiesSaurabh Leekha

Content• The Psychology of Selling• Customer needs in the Major Sale• SPIN Strategy• Preventing Objections• Obtaining Commitment : Closing the Sale

The Psychology of Selling

Psychology of Selling

Some salespeople always do well, no matter what is around them.

They have money in pockets and bank accounts.They are happy, optimistic, positive, friendly andIn complete control.

They are the Top Sales people of the organization. The 80/20 rule is applicable to them.

The winning edge theory says :

The difference between the top performers and average or mediocre performers is not a great one. Itis always just a small difference : Top performers just do certain things a certain way a little better each day.

If you develop that winning edge, there’s no reasonwhy you cannot move rapidly into Top 5 percent.

Self ConceptThe master program of performance

Your Self Concept is bundle of beliefs that you have about yourself and your world.

E.g.. You have a mini self concept on how much money earn?This concept is so deeply ingrained that if you earn much more or less than your current level of income you will feel distinctly uncomfortable.

By attempting to change, you move out of your comfort zone.

Your Mental MakeupSelf Ideal, Self Image, Self Esteem

• Self ideal : direction of your life.Combination of all the qualities and attributes of people you admire.Whatever anyone else has done and become, you can do or become as well.

• Self image : the way you see/think about yourself The most rapid improvement in sales come from changing your self image.

• Self Esteem : determines attitude and personalityHow much you like yourself.Level of Self Esteem will determine how well you perform and feel. The better you perform better you feel

How do Top Sales people See Themselves,

Think about Themselves, Respond to Customers

• See yourself as Self Employed• Consulting versus Selling• Become a doctor of Selling• Becoming Strategic Thinker in Sales• Getting the Job Done• Being the Best• Practice Golden Rule Selling

Customer needs in a Major Sale

Framework

• A bad purchasing can cost job to the decision maker.• Take longer time to develop• Involve elements, influences, inputs from several people

Implied and Explicit Needs

• Implied : Statements by the customers of problems, difficulties and dissatisfactions.• Explicit : Specific customer statements of wants or desires.

The Value Equation

Buying Signals

• Just do not rely on problems to close a sale. Every customer has problems

• The real skill is how you grow problems big enough to get action. When customer starts talking about action when I hear buying signals !!

( Probing is to uncover Implied Needs and todevelop them into Explicit Needs)

The SPIN Strategy

( Probing is to uncover Implied Needs and todevelop them into Explicit Needs)

Lets look into 4 SPIN Questions

Situation

Problem

Implication

Need Payoff

Situation Questions

• Situation Questions are asked very early in Sales call.

What’s your position?How long have you been here?Do you make the purchasing decisions?

What is your business?Annual Sales Volume?How many people you employ?

What equipment are you using at present?How long have you been using it?How many people use it?

• Situation Questions are not related to success• Inexperienced Salespeople ask more Situation

questions• Situation Questions are v important but must be used

carefully• Buyers become bored or impatient

Problem Questions

• Pain Areas for the customer

Generally seen : Sales people ask Situation questions and straight away move to features of the product they are selling.

Problem Questions are much stronger than Situation Questions.

They provide raw material on which rest of the sale will be built.

Still Problem Questions donot predict success in larger Sales.

Word of caution : Sometimes customers feel offended on asking too much problem questions.

Implication Questions

Most Experienced Salespeople, put in front of a majoraccount customer, stop probing at asking Situation / Problem Questions in a large sale.

However, even though many people use this style but it is not very effective.

Let’s discover ………..

Example 1

Seller (Situation) : Do you use Panasert machines in this division?

Buyer : Yes, we have 3 of them

Seller (Problem) : Are they difficult for operators to use?

Buyer (Implied Need) : They are rather hard, but we have learned how to get them working.

Seller (Offering Solution) : We can solve that problem using easy flow software.

Buyer : What does your system cost?

Seller : The basic system cost 15 Lacs Sir?

Buyer (Amazed) : 15 Lacs ? You must be joking, Just to make a machine easier to use !!

15 Lacs

Hard to Use

Seriousness of Problem Cost of Solution

DON’T BUYBUY

Situation 1

Example 2

Seller (Problem) : Are they difficult for operators to use?

Buyer (Implied Need) : They are rather hard, but we have learned how to get them working.

Seller (implication) : You say they’re hard to use. What effect does it have on your output.

Buyer (thinking issue is small) : Very little, as we have trained 3 people to use them.

Seller (Implication) : Sir, Only 3 people does it not create work bottlenecks?

Buyer (still thinking issue is small) : Issue only arises when 1 of above 3 people leaves and we need to train a new person

Seller (Implication) : It looks like the people do not want to train on these tough machines and leave?

Buyer (recognizing bigger problem) : Yes, operators do not want to stay with us for long

Seller (Implication) : What does this employee turnover (leaving) mean to you in terms of training and recruitment?

Buyer (seeing more) : It takes 3 months for operator to be efficient. It means approx Rs. 25000 x 3 = 75000 for an operator to be trained. We also have to pay extra amount of Rs. 75000 to the company for arranging training.

Seller (Implication) : Sir, even if you arrange training for 2 times a year than it means approx 3 lacs in training. Does it also lead to production loss?

Buyer : Not much, we ask other operators to put in overtime.

Seller (Implication) : Does overtime add even more to your costs ?

Buyer (Realizing problem is quite serious) : Yes, we have to pay double the wages in case of overtime. Still operators do not want to work and we have high turnover.

Seller (Implication) : This would be affecting your order commitments?

Buyer : Not much, as we get the work outsourced.

Seller (Implication) : Sir, sending work outside would be increasing your costs. Not only costs but would be affecting quality also?

Buyer : That’s what I am most unhappy about. When you source from outside than you are at mercy of other people.

Seller (Implication) : It must be putting your delivery commitments onto the edge.

Buyer : I just spent 3 hours on phone with the vendor on the same.

Seller (summarizing) : So from what you said. The machines are difficult to use and you have spent 3 lacs on training. You are losing you operators, having bottlenecks in production, paying expensive overtime and outsourcing is also not a good alternative.

Buyer : When you put it that way than our machines are creating a serious problem, indeed.

15 Lacs

Loss of quality

Seriousness of Problem Cost of Solution

DON’T BUY

BUY

Situation 2

Cost of Outsourcing

Hard to

Use

Overtime CostTraining Cost 3

Lacs

Successful Sales people use two types of questions to convert Implied needs into Explicit needs :

- Implication questions to build up problem so it is perceived to be more serious

- Need Pay off questions to build up value or usefulness of the solution

Need Payoff Questions

psychology

Ex.Is it important to solve this problem?Why would you find this solution so useful?Is there any other way this could help you?

- They focus the customers attention on the solution rather than the problem. It builds positive problem solving atmosphere.

- They get the customer telling you the benefits. For ex. How do you think a faster machine would help you? Might get reply “ It would certainly take away the production bottleneck and will better use operator time”

example

Seller (Need Payoff) : so would you be interested in controlling long distance calls?

Buyer : Well yes, …… but that’s not only the problems I have.

Seller (Need Payoff) : I would take other problems in a minute. But first, would you like to control long distance calls? Why are they so important?

Buyer : Well, there is lot of pressure from finance to control costs.

Seller (Need Payoff) : Would it help if you can restrict long distance calls to authorized persons?

Buyer : Well yes. Most of it comes from unauthorized usage.

Seller : Can we discuss other issues you have? (Need Payoff) May I assume you would like improvement there also.

Buyer : Yes, It would be big help.

Seller : What if you also come to know how much time does it take to answer a call?

Buyer : That’s great. It will help us to improve the customer service.

Goes on …………………………Need Payoff is focusing on Solutions rather than problems. More important Customer himself starts Giving benefits himself.

Need Payoff Questions

• reduce Objections

• Rehearse the customer for Internal Selling

• Make customers tell the benefits

• Make your solution acceptable

Benefits of Need Payoff

Avoid Need Payoff questions early in the call

Avoid Need Payoff where you don’t have answers (your product does not support the feature customer is asking for)

Preventing Objections

“Generally you have more objections in an unsuccessful sales call. As you grow the hierarchy you start getting less objections.”

“Objections are generally created by the sales person rather than the buyer”.

“Skilled people receive fewer objections because they have learnt objection prevention rather than objection handling”.

Mastering SPIN Model will help you to prevent the objections

Features and Price Concerns

Behavior Definition Impact (small sale)

Impact (large sale)

Features Describes facts, product characteristics

Slightly Positive

Neutral or Slightly Negative

Advantages Shows how products or their features can be used or help customer

Positive Slightly Positive

Benefits Shows how products meet Explicit Needs expressed by customer

Very Positive

Very Positive

Features vs. Value

Handling objections

There could not be a sales call where there are no objections. Lets learn “how to handle them?

Closing Sale

Seller : So Mr. Gupta, you see that our product is best for you – if you'll just sign here. (Assumptive Close)Buyer : just a moment – I don’t see. I have not decided yet.Seller : Bur, Mr. Gupta, I have shown that you can improve efficiency and save lot of money. When would you like to take delivery? (Assumptive Close)Buyer : I have not decided. I will not decide this Week.Seller : This model is in great demand. I can supply it now but if you wait till next week than you may have to wait for months. (Standing room only Close)Buyer : I have to take that risk.Seller : Would you prefer a months trial installation or buy outright? (Alternative close)Buyer : I am going to throw you out of my office. Shall you go on your own or would you like me to call the security

Define Closing Sale in large sale

Obtain the Right Commitment : There is generally no straightforward “No” in large sale.There are four possible outcomes in large Sale

OrderAdvance

ContinuationNo Sale

Success

No Success

Question your objectives ruthlessly

In your call planning always include objectives that result in specific action.

• Get the client for demo• To get a meeting with seniors in the organization• To meet the finance / purchase department looped in

the call

Look for advances not continuations ….

Things to avoid at time of closing

Anxious : Never be over confident or anxious for the order. It’s a process. You win some, you lose some.

Know when its going to close : Generally the sales cycle lengthen and you do not have anything to offer when you reach the decision maker.

Win - Win Deal : Always press for a win - win deal. If customer wants to squeeze you out than better is to be firm on your last offer.

Arguing : People hate to be told that they are wrong.

Knocking the competition : Never talk ill for your customers.

Overselling : when you say your product can do something which it cannot.

Assuming Authority : specially on price discounts, delivery commitments, modifications etc

But what generally counts is your attitude.

Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right. Henry Ford

Thanks