By: Jonás Spellman
In the last fifty years there has been very little change in the way people sell, and the training materials available are mostly out of date. They could almost be summed up as trying to control the prospect and spending long periods of time with the prospect, believing that the more time you spend with them, the more you feel indebted to the salesperson. But the reality is that the consumer has changed a lot in the last fifty years: the majority of men and women work, people have less free time for which they value it enormously, technology and digitization have advanced at astronomical steps, there is access nearly instant access to almost all the information in the world, and some studies suggest generational shifts whereby the shopper doesn’t even want to interact with another human being when making a purchase. Therefore, a perfect sales process must be quick and easy for the buyer, efficient for the seller, it must start from the basis that the buyer is an informed person, and finally it must satisfy the client and the company with a business of mutual benefit.
To achieve the above, the first thing to look at in a sales process is how to shorten and simplify it, taking into account today’s high sensitivity to the use of time. Whether it’s putting gas in the car, or managing a gym membership, or shopping for clothes, time is on the shopper’s mind: how long will I be here? Am I going to be stuck with someone I don’t want to spend the day with? weather? Anything we can get rid of for the sake of speed and simplicity, we should. Another key aspect is that the entire sales process should be exhibited in a showcase, almost advertised. If any part of it cannot be displayed, something is wrong. The transparency of the process is a vital litmus test to determine how much integrity you have. The old business adage was to control, manipulate and not show all the information. Today that old way does not work. It does not pass the acid test of being able to advertise the process.
Much of what we’ve been taught about sales over the last twenty or thirty years, you couldn’t tell the customer because something was always wrong. And I think that this generated in most people a certain disdain towards the sales activity and towards the sellers, and even a certain mistrust. But that doesn’t have to be the case. The best salespeople I’ve ever met are outspoken. Do not play. They tell it like it is and know how to do their job without manipulation or tricks.
Whether the buyer comes to you or you go to them, no matter if it’s a very complex sale or a very simple one, no matter the price or the terms, there are some things you must do and some things you can’t avoid. To determine if your current sales process is proving problematic for your customers, ask yourself these questions:
- Is the length of your business process a frequent reason for customer complaints?
- Do you have a way to time each stage of your business cycle?
- Is there some kind of service blueprint in your company so that the client knows what the process consists of step by step?
- In terms of digitization, how modern is your business process?
Another important thing: sales processes must be built to satisfy these parties (1) customer – (2) vendor – (3) management… and in that order. Most sales programs are designed to satisfy what management wants, but in reality, management does not buy the product and, in most cases, does not sell it.
If the business process cannot overcome the first two hurdles of satisfying the customer and the seller, it will not satisfy management either, because there will be friction throughout the chain. In other words, it doesn’t matter how much I like my BMW S1000RR bike or how much I want my 12-year-old son to ride it. The machine is too big for him. Point. No matter how much the owner or top management wants something to be done a certain way, if it doesn’t work for the customer or the vendor, or the user simply can’t get it done, it won’t work.
As we said above: the litmus test for a great sales process is the question: “Can we announce to the public what we want our people to do?” If you can’t answer yes to that, there’s something wrong with your sales process. Personally, I have advised commercial teams both in the United States and in several Latin American countries, and I believe that the key steps of the sale are six. It’s the shortest number of steps to simplify the process, eliminate wasted time, and focus on the things that matter most. Many organizations say they have ten to twelve steps, most of which are actually skipped because they are impractical. Here are the six most important steps to take in every sales situation, whether in person, over the phone, or online:
a) Do your homework before arriving at the appointment (this applies to both B2B and B2C)
b) Greet correctly (with a good attitude half the sale is already made)
c) Try to identify what the client wants and what he really needs (both things do not necessarily coincide)
d) Select from your repertoire the product or service that can help you (explain it well)
e) Prepare him a proposal (don’t just leave him words; leave him a professional, physical or digital document)
f) Close the sale (… this is the key!)
(next week we will deliver the second part of this article)
Sources:
- Sell or be sold, Grant Cardone
- To sell is human, Daniel Pink
- The ultimate sales machine, Chet Holmes
- Secrets of closing the sale, Zig Ziglar