Key To Selling
Your business’s success will depend on your ability to persuade others to take actions that will help them while also helping you. This is referred to as a win-win situation. Both parties in the transaction must receive a benefit in value or in satisfaction . There are many buying motives that may bring a customer to your business:
Gain Utility Conformity
Time saved Productivity Saved effort
Health Convenience Money saved
Comfort Happiness Need
Protection Pride (vanity) Want
Pleasure Fear Economy
Amusement Love Luxury
Security Profit Safety
The key to successful selling is to determine which motives brought the customer to you and then develop a sales presentation that will convince the customer that you and your products or services can meet those needs. This process can be broken down into a series of steps:
Prospecting.
This is the activity of identifying potential customers or running ads to entice people into your business offline or online.
Pre-approach.
This includes planning what you will say to customers and what evidence or displays you will need to enhance your presentation.
Approach.
This may include a greeting, statement of objective or series of questions to determine exactly what the customer wants. Learn as much as possible about the customer and his or her buying motive before you begin your presentation.
Presentation.
This is the opportunity to tell customers everything they need to know to make an intelligent buying decision.
Dramatization.
Show enthusiasm for your product or service.
Proof.
Words may not be enough. You may need to show facts and figures, endorsements, testimonials or other means of backing up your claims.
Visualization.
Help your customers visualize the satisfaction they will derive from buying now.
Demonstration.
If possible, let the customer experience the product or service. Many items are difficult to sell without a test drive.
Trial close.
This is a statement or question designed to let you know how close the customer is to making a buying decision.
Uncover objections.
Find out why the customer is not ready to buy.
Meet objections.
Go back over your presentation to clear up misunderstandings or doubts the customer may have.
Final close.
Ask a question that causes the customer to make a buying decision in your favor.
Follow-up.
This includes all the steps you take to write up the sale, arrange delivery, receive payment and ensure customer satisfaction.
The above process may be inefficient in many selling situations. The genius and creativity of advertising is its flexibility in preconditioning the customer and answering some objections.
Certainly your reputation, attitude and the atmosphere of the selling situation can do much to alleviate fears or concerns in the mind of the customer. Your best prospect often is a satisfied customer or the friend or relative of a satisfied customer.