BASICS OF SALES

A variety of skills are needed to achieve the goals we want in sales. How we use and coordinate these skills is the strategy we adapt to be successful. We must take the right actions dictated by a set of circumstances to make affective use of our strategy. Although we can't predict why certain things happen during a call we can be prepared for what actually happens if we had a planned strategy for most possibilities beforehand.

You can never be sure of what will happen during a sales call but you should try to control the events as best you can. The course of the sales call depends on many factors, the attitude of the customer, the disposition of the salesperson, and the set of variables involved. It is hard to predict what will happen on a call but going into to it armed with a strategy can help you handle most of what comes up.

A sales strategy is a plan to achieve the objective of a successful close. To develop a strategy you must understand each selling skill you posses, and when to use it and the result you get. As salespeople you should know how these various skills blend together. How one thing leads to another in the sale. How does the general benefit statement lead to probing and agreement and support statements. How do all of these lead to the close?

Think through the possible situations you may encounter on a call. (Refer to July 1st blog) You probe for customer needs and answer those needs. What do you do next? Where do you lead the customer?
What is your strategy?

Besides using your sales strategy to respond to immediate customer responses you can also use your strategy to plan ahead in the call. If you have called on this customer in the past you should have an idea from their previous answers and reactions what to expect from them on your next call. You can use that information to try to anticipate what doubts a customer may have and what benefits they are interested in. If you know what to expect you can anticipate the most effective strategy to use. This will increase your choices to respond to customers in the right way and make sure the call doesn't end prematurely.

You can handle any sales situation if you have these skills at your command and know how and when to use them. Remember circumstances dictate which skills are used. Once you have thought of all the possible sales situations that you may encounter, and are comfortable with your skills, you can now put to use the strategies you have adapted to face your customer. (Refer to July 8th blog).

Thank You
Joe D'Ambra
www.basicsofsales.com
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