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Introduction

Introduction

What is selling?

  • Selling is the process of persuading/influencing a person or organization to buy something from you.

  • "Influencing and persuading people to buy from you"

  • Persuading: to make them do something

  • Convincing: to make them believe something

3 ways to persuade (Aristotle):

  • Logic (Logos): facts, data, evidence, reasoning
  • Emotions (Pathos): fear, love, hate, anger, happiness, sadness
  • Pressure: psychological pressure, social pressure, physical pressure, threads

Sales Function

Roles:

  • generate revenue
  • interface between company and customers

Missions:

  • drive the sales process
  • gets feedbacks, market intelligence

Marketing vs Sales

Marketing: processes to create, deliver and communicate value to customers to capture value in return

Organizations:

  • formal collection of people and resources to accomplish a set of goals
  • for profit: primary goal is to maximize shareholders value
  • non-profit: do not have profit as primary goal
  • focus on profitability

Value

Different types of value

  • Intrinsic value: value of the product itself (it cost 2€ to produce a pen, then the intrinsic value is 2€)
  • Economic value: value of the product in the market (the pen is sold for 5€, then the economic value is 5€)
  • Use value: value of the product in terms of usage (if I don't need a pen, then the use value is 0€)
  • Customer value: expected net gain in transaction (oerceived benefits - perceived price or cost or received benefits - cost of pains of acquiring the benefits)

benefits

  • tangible: physical, measurable
  • psychological: emotional, intangible

pains:

  • use of resources (HR, time, energy, training)
  • changes
  • risks

Marketing -> One-to-many -> Market Sales -> One-to-One -> Customer

B2B Sales Process

It is more difficult to sell in B2B than B2C

  • demand more based on needs (must satisfy profitability goals)
  • more ecomplex offering (higher prices, longer decision cycles)
  • more "rational" decision process (decisions needs to be justified, buyers are professionals)
  • several persons decide (need to persuade more than one person)

Different objectives:

  • customer acquisition: find new customers, start process from scratch

  • customer retention: sell more to existing customers, focus on relationship and excellence

  • inbound: customer comes to you (sellers deal with active buyers)

  • outbound: you go to the customer (prospects might not know they need your product)

Leads -> Prospects -> Customers Leads: Potential customers Prospects: someone who has shown interest in your product Customers: someone who has bought from you at least once

Sales Meeting: Opening -> Discovery -> Argumentation -> Dealing with objections -> Closing -> Follow-up

Preparing

  • Determine the best approach
  • Deal with questions and objections
  • Project competence and professionalism

Know your business

  • know your company
  • know your offer (features, advantages, benefits, USP, UPB, have proofs, general sales conditions)
  • know how to present your company & offer (elevator pitch, presentation, deck)

Know your prospect

  • Internal

    • Business size, turnover, staff number, sites, maangement
    • Decision center (names, positions, responsabilities and locations)
    • Potential pains: issues, problems, risks, changes
  • External

    • Market (customers, tremds, futur demand)
    • COmpetitors, threats, opposites

Know your competition

  • Their offers
  • Your differentiation - competitive advantages
  • Their strengths and weaknesses
  • Their relationships, their strategies, their problems, etc.

Know meeting specific

  • Where you are in the sales process
  • Know your goals
    • Primary goal (establish contact, get more info, move on to next step, close the deal)
    • Secondary goals
  • Identify information you'd like to ask
  • Customize presentations for the prospect

Best practices

  • Be on time
  • Dress nicely
  • Respect personal space
  • hand shakes (condifent, not automatic, eye contact, smile)
  • exchange business cards at the beginning
  • take notes (shows that you are listening, makes words more valuable, you don't forget, used for writing minutes of the meeting)

Opening

  1. Introduction yourself: name and company
  2. Small talk / Ice breaker
  3. Exchange business cards
  • Refer to the context
  • State the purpose and agenda
  • Seek approval
  • Verify timing
  • Present your company

Discovery

  • which solution to offer

  • strongest benefits

  • adapt your argumentation

  • build rapport

  • qualify the customer

Questioning

  • Developing and drill down

  • Mirror questions

  • Echo questions: repeat what they said

  • Ricochet questions: "what do you mean by..."

  • Relay questions: "What do you think?"

  • Suggesting questions: Don't you think...

  • Alternative questions, to anchor: Do you prefer ... or ... -: Consequence questions: What if...

  • Educative questions: Did you know...

Reformulating

To check and show that you have understood

  • deductive reformulation: draw a conclusion from the premises

  • interpreative: reformate using a different angle

  • synthetized reformulation: emphasize twhat is important

  • facts

  • measurable

  • qualifying the problem

-> uman factors -> often subjective and hard to measure (optionions, feelings, motivations, focus)

  • S: security

  • P: Pride

  • N: New

  • C: Comfort

  • M: Money

  • S: Sympathy

  • Listen. Do no interupt. Be focused

  • Show that you iisten. Maintain good eye-contact, takes notes.

  • Show that you care. Empahtically, put yourself in their shoes.

  • Understand. What is said but what is meant and felt, ask questions.

  • Show that you understand. Reformulate.

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