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Thoughts On Salesmanship

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In a chat discussion, another member was talking about salesmanship and how he learnt (in his own business) that it is about the demonstration of value. So, I thought I'd start a thread to solicit thoughts on salesmanship; particularly, good salesmanship.

Some books speak of salesmanship as if it were a set of tricks to fool a customer. Many people accept the idea of a salesman as a type of con-man. In fact, good salesmanship is often just the opposite.

The basis of salesmanship and marketing comes from the nature of values. Values are not intrinsic and evaluation is not achieved by passive observation. The job of a good salesman is to show the customer that the product is a value to him. A good salesman understands that values come in "means-ends chains". He probes to find out more about the customer's ends: what is the context in which the product will be used, what are the major ends, what are the minor "nice-to-have" ends? He then demonstrates how the product can be the means to achieving those ends.

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The Hopkins school of sales (ala the ABC/high pressure school) is based on effectively viewing the sale as a contest you must win. That is when you use all the "sales tricks" in the book to close the sale.

One of the best systems I've seen is by Achieve Global. It's called the PSS or professional sales skills. Actually, they don't even really call it sales, they call it Customer Service training. The idea is by using open ended questions, you first identify the needs of the customer, then you discover the needs behind the needs, you suggest how your product will fill the needs behind the needs, then you close. It's called the sales funnel so you can visualize the model. Basically, you first get a holistic understanding of the customers needs then you show how your product can fill their needs.

Most systems and salesmen will go for the close pretty quickly. They will just get the customer talking and then push them into believing they are experts on investing and that they will give them big returns. PSS teaches you that you can't do that. Sure, it will result in a 1 time sale but you won't get repeat business usually. PSS would have you first identify if the customer actually needs advice on planning, estate advice, or something like a simple stock pick. It also teaches you to avoid selling your product to someone who doesn't need it since it will have a really adverse effect on your business in the long run.

One of the hardest thing is to overcome objections. Instead of Feel Felt Found, Five Yesses, or something equally effective, you identify exactly what it is about what you are suggesting that is causing the problem. Then you either acknowledge that you can't meet their need or you start showing how you can overcome their objections.

The biggest thing I've learned is that features rarely make the sale but benefits do. People don't care about the bit rate oversampling that the dvd player that costs $500, you point out that it won't skip and provides better picture quality and your movies will look and sound better. The same way that if you are selling a retirement plan to a company you don't stress the levels of interactivity on your site but how much easier life will be for your HR and legal departments will be and how your employees will be happier.

Sales is sales, it's just the product that is different.

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Scott, I agree with everything you just stated. I've used the PSS method for several years (although I was unaware it's an actual organized technique ... I must read more on that). I've sold music technology for about 6 or 7 years now, and found that education is the key to convincing a potential customer to buy. Of course, first it has to be the right thing for them, but closing the deal means providing the knowledge they need to make their own closing decision.

Benefits sell way more than features do, and buyers more often than not want good value over a good price (on important items, of course). The use of language is a great tool, too. Keeping things in the positive, keeping them simple, and using a bit of psychology help, too. Buyers appreciate confident (not pushy) sales people because they feel they're buying from someone who is really excited about the product.

When it comes to geeky techno music instruments, that comes pretty easy! :P

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  • 2 weeks later...

I´ve just started, two weeks ago, as a phone salesman. The first thing I learned was that it´s a waste of time trying sell seomething the customer really don´t need. Con artists might pull it off, but I prefer to be an honest salesman. So I agree that demonstrating value is the basis of good sales. If I talk to someone who really don´t need my product, I tell them so and instead ask if they have any friends who might be interested.

However, after demonstrating value and benefits I think you also need to inspire the proper emotional response. Especially in my job, where I need to close the deal pretty quickly, it´s very important to get the customer excitet. You need both heart and mind.

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That's great stuff people,I'm interested in a part-time sales job but I suck at selling,any good books or resources that are worth investing in.

Cheers

Myself, I went for a pretty practical aproach. I searched for some articles on the net, to get an idea of what it´s about. Then I went for job interviews and pretty much told them that don´t know much about sales, but gimme some time and I´ll become the best. Now, after a couple of weeks, i´m on my way to a pretty decent salary.

I think books may be good, but to make practical use of that knowledge you need atleast some experience first. Just so you try it out first, and start selling instead of reading.

Also, choose a good place to work. You should want a competitive environment, where you also can get good feedback and support. If you work in a positive and competitive environment you will sell more(and if you sell more you will get a positive "flow", and confidence, and sell even more). And with good feedback you will, of course, improve yourself very fast.

Guaranteed minimum wages will only make you comfortable having bad days. You should only have provision on what you sell. It makes you better, and it pays better. Trusting yourself that you can always sell enough to put food on the table will also make you a more confident person.

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