techniques

a free guide to selling methods, sales

techniques, selling models, sales
processes, sales training programs
and sales training providers (and
sales training specification template)
Selling is a wonderful profession when approached Ads are being tested on
ethically, constructively and helpfully. Happily much sales Businessballs.
development theory takes this positive direction.
Thanks for your
understanding.
Selling is a wide subject, covering many selling methods,
sales theories, models and sales training methods. Feedback.

This sales training guide attempts to summarise the main

ideas of the professional selling field. You can use this
information as a self-teaching aid to develop your own
sales skills, to teach others, or to help you identify and
choose suitable sales training courses programs and
providers for yourself, for your team or for your sales
organization.

I welcome suggestions of new selling concepts and sales

training methods for inclusion or reference within this
guide.

I also encourage providers of sales training courses,

services, development products, etc., to add their details
and examples of their promotional/teaching material to the
free publishing/advertising Space on Businessballs, to help
the website's growing global audience to locate and
consider suitable and effective sales development products
and services.

section index - sales terminology,

selling history, theories, methods
• Introduction - and some quick tips for sales
improvements
• Glossary of Sales and Selling Terms
• The Changing Face of Selling
• Early Selling and Sales Training Ideas
 • AIDA and the Hierarchy of Effects
• The Seven Steps of the Sale ('PSS' - 'Professional
Selling Skills'), including basic questioning
techniques
• The Product Offer - FAB's, USP's and UPB's
(Features Advantages Benefits, Unique Selling
Propositions/Points, Unique Perceived Benefits)
• Consultative Selling, Needs Creation Selling; and
'SPIN® Selling'
• Open Plan Selling/strategic selling ('lower-case'
generic selling description)/Strategic Selling®
(Miller Heiman registered trade name for Miller
Heiman's sales training methods and products)
including telemarketing/telephone 'script' for
appointment-making, sales introductions, and
identifying decision-making contact names and
buying processes
• Collaboration, Facilitation and Partnership Selling

• Beyond 'Sales Training' - the modern sales role:

strive to be an enabler and facilitator of good
outcomes

introduction - sales training and selling

methods, techniques, skills
The sales techniques and selling ideas here have all been effective
at some stage. Many are still widely used. Think about what you are
selling, the market that you're selling into, the people you meet in
the selling process, and use what will help you sell better. If you are
managing sales people, the best results generally come if you allow
sales people to work to their strengths; in a way that is natural to
them.

New sales techniques, sales training and selling methods are

continually developing. This free sales training section covers sales
and the selling process from its early beginnings, through to the
most modern selling techniques and ideas. See for example the
remarkable new Sales Activator® sales training system, Sharon
Drew Morgen's Buying Facilitation® selling methods, and the super
Buying Facilitation® resources available via Ms Morgen's Space
profile.

Sales and selling terms, and early sales and selling theories appear first in this article;
the most advanced sales methods and ideas are at the end of the section. While early
sales processes still contain some useful techniques and fundamentals, successful
selling today relies on modern selling using collaboration, facilitation, and
partnership. Tips on selecting sales training providers, sales training programs, selling
courses and sales management training are in the sales training providers section.
Successful selling also requires that the product or service is of suitable quality for its
target market, and that the selling company takes good care of its customers.
Therefore it's helpful for the sale person (or anyone else in business for that matter) to
work for a professional, good quality organization. Product development, design and
production, service delivery, and the integrity of the selling company's organization
are also necessary for successful selling, and typically are outside the formal control
of the sales person, hence why internal selling is an increasingly important aspect of
the modern sales role.

Effective sales people are interpreters and translators (and increasingly

educators too) who can enable the complex systems of the buying organisation
and the selling organisation to work together for the benefit of both.

Tips on how to gain selling experience and learn sales skills (for people new to selling
or seeking to teach themselves sales skills for a career in selling) are at the end of this
article.

examples of how to improve your selling

skills, processes and sales training
See the tips for selecting sales training providers, sales training
methods, courses and programs. Thes examples indicate the variety
of concepts and methods available.

1. Ari Galper's 'Unlock The Game®' programme contains a lot of

excellent modern ideas - especially related to cold-calling, which is
always one of the greatest challenges for sales people and sales
organizations. Have a look and see what you think. I reckon he's a
good guy.

2. Sharon Drew Morgen's Buying Facilitation® methodology -

leading edge ideas in sales and selling. Buy Sharon Drew Morgen's
remarkable book 'Buying Facilitation' - it's available from Sharon
Drew Morgen's website and other good online booksellers. It will
transform the way you sell and dramatically increase the results you
achieve.

3. If you have a sales team or sales organisation, see the Sales

Activator® system for sales training and development - for
developing sales teams, sales management, sales training and great
selling organisations. The Sales Activator® is an innovative and
effective sales training and sales coaching system, underpinned by
solid sales theory, ethical principles, and a unique learning concept.

4. Download and read the free ebook - Unleash the Power of

Consultative Selling - excellent free 200 page ebook (560KB pdf) by
Rich Grehalva on modern selling methods - this superb ebook has
been kindly offered free to businessballs visitors by sales and
selling expert Rich Grehalva. Your feedback on this ebook would be
appreciated, which you can send direct to Rich or to me.

2. Additionally see the many interesting and different sales training

providers who are featured on the free Businessballs Space.

There are many more good modern ethical sales training and
development systems out there. If you've had experience of a good
modern sales training programme or product, or a particularly
effective selling concept please let me know.

If you want your own presence on Businessballs you can create it free at
Businessballs Space.

glossary of sales and selling terms

This list is not exhaustive, and is not meant to be an endorsement of
any of these techniques or terms. See the notice at the foot of the
page.

accompaniment visit/accompaniment report - when a manager

or supervisor or trainer accompanies a sales person while working
on the sales territory, usually while meeting prospects or customers.
Typically the manager would complete an accompaniment visit
report on the performance of the sales person, which would be
discussed, and suitable follow-up actions or training agreed.

account - a customer, usually a business-to-business organization;

a major account is a large organization; a national account is a
customer with branches or sites that constitute a nationwide
coverage, which typically requires special pricing and senior sales
attention.

active listening - term used to describe high level of listening

capability and method, in which the sales person actively seeks to
understand how the speaker feels, and what their issues are, in
which the type of listening extends far beyond common inattentive
listening. Related to empathy and Stephen Covey's principles of
seeking to understand before attempting to be understood.

added value - the element(s) of service or product that a sales

person or selling organization provides, that a customer is prepared
to pay for because of the benefit(s) obtained. Added values are real
and perceived; tangible and intangible. A good, reliable, honest,
expert, informed sales person becomes a very significant part of the
selling organization's added value, as perceived by the customer, if
not by the selling organization.

advantage - the aspect of a product or service that makes it better

than another, especially the one in-situ or that of a competitor.

advertising/advertising and promotion/A&P - the methods

used by a company to publicise and position its products and
services to its chosen market sectors, including product launches,
image and brand building, press and public relations activities,
merchandising (supporting and promoting the product in retail and
wholesale outlets), special offers, generating leads and enquiries,
and incentivising distributors, and agents, and arguably sales
people. A&P methods are sometimes described as above-the-line
(media advertising such as radio, TV, cinema, newspapers,
magazines) or below-the-line (non-'media' methods or materials
such as brochures, direct-mail, exhibitions, telemarketing, and PR);
advertising agencies generally receive a commission (discount 'kick-
back') from above-the-line media services, but not from below the
line services, in which case if asked to arrange any will seek to add
a mark-up.

appointment - a personal sales visit to a prospect, usually

arranged by phone. See the appointment-making process.

benefit - the gain (usually a tangible cost, but can be intangible)

that accrues to the customer from the product or service.

buyer - most commonly means a professional purchasing person in

a business; can also mean a private consumer. Buyers are not
usually major decision-makers, that is to say, what they buy, when
and how they buy it, and how much they pay are prescribed for
them by the business they work for. If you are selling a routine
repeating predictable product, especially a consumable, then you
may well be able to restrict your dealings to buyers; if you are
selling a new product or service of any significance, buyers will tend
to act as influencers at most. See decision-makers.

buying facilitation® - also known as facilitative buying, generally

attributed (and registered) to sales guru Sharon Drew Morgen.
Extremely advanced form of personal selling, in which the central
ethos is one of 'helping organizations and buyers to buy', not selling
to them. See collaboration and partnership selling at the end of the
section. And see the super Buying Facilitation® resources available
via Ms Morgen's Businessballs Space profile.
buying signal - a buying signal is a comment from a prospect
which indicates that he is visualising to whatever extent buying your
product or service. The most common buying signal is the question:
"How much is it?" Others are questions or comments like: "What
colours does it come in?", "What's the lead-time?", "Who else do you
supply?", "Is delivery free?" "Do you use it yourself?", and
surprisingly, "It's too expensive."

buying warmth - behavioural, non-verbal and other signs that a

prospect likes what he sees; very positive from the sales person's
perspective, but not an invitation to jump straight to the close.

call/calling - a personal face-to-face visit or telephone call by a

sales person to a prospect or customer. Also referred to a sales call
(for any sales visit or phone contact), or cold call (in the case of a
first contact without introduction or notice in writing).

canvass/canvassing - cold-calling personally at the prospect's

office or more commonly now by telephone, in an attempt to
arrange an appointment or present a product, or to gather
information.

close/closing - the penultimate step of the 'Seven Steps of the

Sale' selling process, when essentially the sales-person encourages
the prospect to say yes and sign the order. In days gone by a Sales
person's expertise was measured almost exclusively by how many
closes he knew. Thank God for evolution. See the many examples of
closes and closing techniques in the Seven Steps section, but don't
expect to kid any buyer worth his salt today, and using one might
even get you thrown out of his office. Use with great care.

collaboration selling - also known as collaborative selling and

facilitation selling - very modern and sophisticated, in which seller
truly collaborates with buyer and buying organization to help the
buyer buy. A logical extension to 'strategic' or 'open plan' selling.
See collaboration and partnership selling at the end of the section.

commodities/commoditised (products and services) - typically

a term applied to describe products which are mature in
development, produced and sold in vast scale, involving little or no
uniqueness between variations of different suppliers; high volume,
low price, low profit margin, de-skilled ('ease of use' in consumption,
application, installation, etc). Traditionally the 'commodities' term
applies to the 'commodities markets' which trade and set prices for
fundamental commodities such as coffee, grain, oil, etc., however in
a more generic sales and selling sense the term 'commoditised'
refers to a product (and arguably a service) which has become
mass-produced, widely available, easy to make, de-mystified, and
simplified; all of which is almost invariably associated with a
reduction in costs, prices and profit margins, and which also has
massive implications for the sales distribution model and methods
for taking the product or service to market. Commoditised products
are amenable to mass-market and large-scale sales distribution
methods and models, as opposed to specialised or high-complexity
products, which tend to require closer customer support and greater
expertise and advice at the point of selling and installation, and
commissioning and application, if appropriate. An electric battery
torch is a commoditised product that is freely available, at
competitively low price, 'off-the-shelf' at any supermarket (or via the
internet); whereas a holographic projector is only available via a
specialised supplier, at relatively high cost and profit margin,
potentially without a similar competing product, and requires a
significant degree of technical advice and support, and possibly
user-training. Similarly, a microwave oven is a commoditised
product, widely available, inexpensively, off-the-self from a retail
store (or via the internet); whereas an integrated commercial
kitchen is a specialised system, requiring a high level of sales and
selling expertise, support and installation. Commoditised products
sell by the millions; specialised products might only sell in hundreds
or less. All consumer products and services become commoditised
over time. Virtually all B2B products and services become
commoditised over time. Colour TV's are cheaper than they were
thirty years ago because they've become commoditised. Same can
be said for mobile phones, home security systems, computers; even
motor cars are becoming genuinely commoditised. In our lifetimes
perhaps so too will houses and buildings.

concession - used in the context of negotiating, when it refers to

an aspect of the sale which has a real or perceived value, that is
given away or conceded by seller (more usually) or the buyer. One
of the fundamental principles of sales negotiating is never giving
away a concession without getting something in return - even a
small increase in commitment is better than nothing. See the
negotiation section.

consultative selling (consultation selling) - developed by

various sales gurus through the 1980's by David Sandler among
others, and practiced widely today, consultative selling was a move
towards more collaboration with, and involvement from, the buyer
in the selling process. Strongly based on questioning aimed at
gaining useful information.

customer - usually meaning the purchaser, organization, or

consumer after the sale. Prior to the sale is usually referred to as a
prospect.

customer relationship management (CRM) - CRM is now a

commonly used term to describe the process of managing the entire
selling process within a department or organisation. Computerised
CRM systems enable management of prospect and customer details,
contacts, sales history and account development. Well known
examples of CRM computerised systems are Sage's ACT!, which
claims (as at 2006) to be the world's most popular CRM system, and
Front Range's Goldmine. Chief elements of a CRM system (or
strategy, since the term is used to describe the process and
methodology as well as the system) are:

• compilation and organisation of data (prospects, customers,

product, sales, history, etc)
• planning, scheduling and integrating customer development
activities and communications
• analysis and reporting of all sales related activities and data

Good CRM strategy and systems are generally considered necessary

for modern organisations of any scale to enable effective planning
and implementation of sales (and to an extent marketing) activities.

cycle - see sales cycle.

deal - common business parlance for the sale or purchase

(agreement or arrangement). It is rather a colloquial term so avoid
using it in serious company as it can sound flippant and
unprofessional.

decision-maker - a person in the prospect organization who has

the power and budgetary authority to agree to a sales proposal. On
of the most common mistakes by sales people is to attempt to sell
to someone other than a genuine decision-maker. For anything
other than a routine repeating order, the only two people in any
organization of any size that are real decision-makers for significant
sales values are the CEO/Managing Director/President, and the
Finance Director. Everyone else in the organization is generally
working within stipulated budgets and supply contracts, and will
almost always need to refer major purchasing decisions to one or
both of the above people. In very large organizations, functional
directors may well be decision-makers for significant sales that
relate only to their own function's activities. See influencer.

deliverable(s) - an aspect of a proposal that the provider commits

to do or supply, usually and preferably clearly measurable.

demonstration/'demo'/'dem' - the physical presentation by the

sales person to the prospect of how a product works. Generally free
of charge to the prospect, and normally conducted at the prospect's
premises, but can be at another suitable venue, eg., an exhibition,
or at the supplier's premises.
demographics - the study of, or information about, people's
lifestyles, habits, population movements, spending, age, social
grade, employment, etc., in terms of the consuming and buying
public; anyone selling to the consumer sector will do better through
understanding relevant demographic information.

discipline - within the context of an organization this means the

same as function, ie job role.

distribution/sales distribution - the methods or routes by which

products and services are taken to market. Sales distribution
models are many and various, and are constantly changing and new
ones developing. Understanding and establishing best sales
distribution methods - routes to market - are crucial aspects of
running any sales organisation, and any business organisation too.
Sales distribution should be appropriate to the product and service,
and the end-user market, and the model will normally be defined by
these factors, influenced also by technology and social trends. For
example, commoditised mass-market consumer products (FMCG -
fast-moving consumer goods, household electricals, etc) are
generally distributed via mass-market consumer distribution
methods, notably supermarkets, but also increasingly the internet. A
lesson in changing sales distribution models, and the need for
manufacturers and sellers to anticipate changes is found in the
switching of book sales and CD sales from retail store distribution to
websites, with the resulting demise of many retailers in those
sectors. Future changes in sales distribution will see for example
music transferring increasingly via online downloads, thus
threatening those involved with or dependent upon physical
shipping of products. B2B (business-to-business) sales distribution
models have their own shape, again dependent on products and
services, customer markets, technology, plus other influences such
as economical trends, environmental and legislative effects, etc.
Examples of B2B sales distribution models are franchising, direct
sales forces (employed), direct sales forces (sales agents),
telephone sales (call-centres, out-bound and in-bound), the internet
(online website businesses), distributors (independent sellers who
carry products and services of other manufactuerers and
'principals'), and channel partners and partnering arrangements
(prevalent in telecomms and IT sectors).

FAB's - features advantages benefits - the links between a product

description, its advantage over others, and the gain derived by the
customer from using it. One of the central, if now rather predictable,
techniques used in the presentation stage of the selling process.

feature - an aspect of a product or service, eg., colour, speed, size,

weight, type of technology, buttons and knobs, gizmos and gadgets,
bells and whistles, technical support, delivery, etc.
field - means anywhere out of the sales office. Field sales people or
managers are those who travel around meeting people personally in
the course of managing a sales territory. To be field-based is to
work on the sales territory, as opposed to being office-based.

forecast/sales forecast - a prediction of what sales will be

achieved over a given period, anything from a week to a year. Sales
managers require sales people to forecast, in order to provide data
to production, purchasing, and other functions whose activities need
to be planned to meet sales demand. Sales forecasts are also an
essential performance quantifier which feeds into the overall
business plan for any organization. Due to the traditionally
unreliable and optimistic nature of sales-department forecasts it is
entirely normal for the sum of all individual sales persons' sales
annual forecast to grossly exceed what the business genuinely plans
to sell. See targets.

function - in the context of an organization, this means the job role

or discipline, eg., sales, marketing, production, accounting,
customer service, delivery, installation, technical service, general
management, etc.

gestation period - sale gestation period typically refers to the the

time from enquiry to sale, the Sales Cycle in other words, (see Sales
Cycle). Awareness and monitoring of Sale Gestation Period/Sales
Cycle times are crucial in sales planning, forecasting and
management, for individuals sales teams and sales organizations.

influencer - a person in the prospect organization who has the

power to influence and persuade a decision-maker. Influencers will
be generally be decision-makers for relatively low value sales. There
is usually more than one influencer in any prospect organization
relevant to a particular sale, and large organizations will have
definitely have several influencers. It is usually important to sell to
influencers as well as decision-makers in the same organization.
Selling to large organizations almost certainly demands that the
sales person does this. The role and power of influencers in any
organization largely depends on the culture and politics of the
organization, and particularly the management style of the two
main decision-makers. See decision-makers.

intangible - in a selling context this describes, or is, an aspect of

the product or service offering that has a value but is difficult to see
or quantify (for instance, peace-of-mind, reliability, consistency).
See tangible.

introduction - first stage of the actual sales call (see opening).

LAMP® - Large Account Management Process - sales acronym and
methodology for major accounts management developed by Robert
Miller, Stephen Heiman and Tad Tuleja in their 1991 book Successful
Large Account Management (see the books at the foot of this page).
Note that LAMP® and Strategic Selling® methods and materials are
subject to copyright and intellectual property control of Miller
Heiman, Inc. Also note that LAMP® and Strategic Selling® methods
and materials are not to be used in the provision of training and
development products and services without a licence. See LAMP®
and Strategic Selling® copyright details below.

lead-time - time between order and delivery, installation or

commencement of a product or service.

listening - a key selling skill, in that without good listening skills the
process of questioning is rendered totally pointless.

major account - a large and complex prospect or customer, often

having several branches or sites, and generally requiring contacts
and relationships between various functions in the supplier and
customer organization. Often major accounts are the responsibility
of designated experienced and senior sales people, which might be
formed into a major accounts team. Major accounts often enjoy
better discounts and terms than other customers because of
purchasing power leveraged by bigger volumes, and lower selling
costs from economies of scale.

marketing - perceived by lots of business people to mean simply

promotion and advertising, the term marketing actually covers
everything from company culture and positioning, through market
research, new business/product development, advertising and
promotion, PR (public/press relations), and arguably all of the sales
functions as well. It's the process by which a company decides what
it will sell, to whom, when and how, and then does it. See the
marketing section.

margin/profit margin - the difference between cost (including or

excluding operating overheads) and selling price of a product or
service. Percentage margin is generally deemed to be the difference
between cost and selling price, divided by the selling price ex tax
(eg something that costs £1 and is sold for £2 plus tax produces a
50% margin - gross margin that is - net margin is after overheads
are deducted).

mark-up - this is the money that a selling company adds to the cost
of a product or service in order to produce a required level of profit.
Strictly speaking, percentage mark-up refers to the difference
between cost and selling price as a factor of the cost, not of the
selling price. So a product costing £1 and selling for £2 has been
given a mark-up of 100%; (at the same time it produces a margin of
50%).

needs-creation selling - a selling style popularised in the 1970's

and 80's which asserted that sales people could create needs in a
prospect for their products or services even if no needs were
apparent, obvious or even existed. The method was for the sales
person to question the prospect to identify, discover (and suggest)
organizational problems or potential problems that would then
create a need for the product. I'm bound to point out that this is no
substitute for good research and proper targeting of prospects who
have use of the products and services being sold.

negotiation/negotiating - the trading of concessions including

price reductions, between supplier and customer, in an attempt to
shape a supply contract (sale in other words) so that it is acceptable
to both supplier and customer. Negotiations can last a few minutes
or even a few years, although generally it's down to one or two
meetings and one or two exchanges of correspondence. Ideally,
from the seller's point of view, negotiation must only commence
when the sale has been agreed in principle, and conditionally upon
satisfactory negotiation. However most sales people fall into the
trap set by most buyers - intentionally or otherwise - of starting to
negotiate before the selling process have even commenced. See the
section on negotiation for negotiating theory, rules and techniques.

objection - a point of resistance raised by a prospect, usually price

("it's too expensive"), but can be anything at any stage of the selling
process; overcoming objections is a revered and much-trained skill
in the traditional selling process.

open/opening - the first stage of the actual sales call (typically

after preparation in the Seven Steps of the Sale). Also called the
introduction.

opening benefit statement/OBS - traditionally an initial impact

statement for sales people to use at first contact with prospect, in
writing, on the phone or face-to-face - the OBS generally
encapsulates the likely strongest organizational benefit typically (or
supposedly) derived by customers in the prospect's sector, eg., "Our
customers in the clothing retail sector generally achieve 30-50%
pilferage reduction when they install one of our Crooknabber
security systems..." - N.B. The OBS is a relatively blunt instrument
for modern selling - use it with extreme care for fear of looking like a
total twerp.

open plan selling - a modern form of selling, heavily dependent on

the sales person understanding and interpreting the prospect's
organizational and personal needs, issues, processes, constraints
and strategic aims, which generally extends the selling discussion
far beyond the obvious product application; (in a way, it's rather like
combining selling with genuinely beneficial, free, expert
consultancy). In 'open plan selling' the seller identifies strategic
business aims of the sales prospect or customer organization, and
develops a proposition that enables the aims to be realised. The
proposition is therefore strongly linked to the achievement of
strategic business aims - typically improvements in costs, revenues,
margins, overheads, profit, quality, efficiency, time-saving and
competitive strengths areas. There is a strong reliance on seller
having excellent strategic understanding of prospect organization
and aims, market sector situation and trends, and access to
strategic decision-makers and influencers.

open question - a question that gains information, usually

beginning with who, what, why, where, when, how, or more subtly
'tell me about..'

package - in a selling context this is another term for the product

offer; it's the whole product and service offering at a given price,
upon given terms.

partnership selling - very modern approach to organizational

selling for business-to-business sales - see collaboration and
partnership selling.

perceived - how something is seen or regarded by someone,

usually by the prospect or customer, irrespective of what is believed
or presented by the seller, ie what it really means to the customer.

pipeline - see sales pipeline.

preparation - in the context of the selling process this is the work

done by the sales person to research and plan the sales approach
and/or sales call to a particular prospect or customer. Almost
entirely without exception in the global history of selling, no call is
adequately prepared for, and sales that fail to happen are due to
this failing.

presentation/sales presentation - the process by which a sales

person explains the product or service to the prospect (to a single
contact or a group), ideally including the product's features,
advantages and benefits, especially those which are relevant to the
prospect. Presentations can be verbal only, but more usually involve
the use of visuals, commonly bullet-point text slides and images on
a computer display or projected onto a screen. Can incorporate a
video and/or physical demonstration of the product(s). See the
presentation training section.
product - generally a physical item being supplied, but can also
mean or include services and intangibles, in which case product is
used to mean the whole package being supplied.

product offer - how the product and/or service is positioned and

presented to the prospect or market, which would normally include
features and/or advantages and also imply at least one benefit for
the prospect (hence a single product can be represented by a
number of different product offers, each for different market niches
(segments or customer groupings). One of the great marketing
challenges is always to define a product offer concisely and
meaningfully.

proposal/sales proposal - usually a written offer with

specification, prices, outline terms and conditions, and warranty
arrangements, from a sales person or selling organization to a
prospect. Generally an immensely challenging part of the process to
get right, in that it must be concise yet complete, persuasive yet
objective, well specified yet orientated to the customer's
applications. An outline proposal is often a useful interim step, to
avoid wasting a lot of time including in a full proposal lots of
material that the customer really doesn't need.

proposition - usually means product offer, can mean sales

proposal. The initial proposition means the basis of the first
approach.

professional selling skills - see PSS

PSS - 'Professional Selling Skills' - highly structured selling process

pioneered by the US Xerox (and UK Rank Xerox) photocopier sales
organization during the 1960's, and adopted by countless business-
to-business sales organizations, normally as the 'Seven Steps of the
Sale', ever since. PSS places a huge reliance on presentation,
overcoming objections and umpteen different closes. Largely now
superseded by more modern 'Open Plan' two-way processes, but
PSS is still in use and being trained, particularly in old-fashioned
paternalistic company cultures. The regimented one-way
manipulative style of PSS nowadays leaves most modern buyers
completely cold, but strip it away to the bare process and it's better
than no process at all.

prospect - a customer (person, organization, buyer) before the sale

is made, ie a prospective customer.

puppy dog sale/puppy dog close - a method of selling or closing

a deal whereby you let the customer try the product or service for
free without commitment, for a limited period, in the confidence
that once they live with it they won't want to give it up - just like
giving someone have a puppy for a day. These days the puppy dog
approach would ideally extend to giving the prospective customer
some education and support about looking after the puppy so that
they understand and are prepared for the changes that come with a
new puppy. See Level 5: education/information-led selling in the
development of selling overview.

questioning - the second stage of the sales call, typically after the
opening or introduction in the Seven Steps of the Sale. A crucial
selling skill, and rarely well demonstrated. The correct timing and
use of the important different types of questions are central to the
processes of gathering information, matching needs, and building
rapport and empathy. Questioning also requires that the sales
person has good listening, interpretation and empathic capabilities.
See the questioning section.

research/research call - the act of gathering information about a

market or customer, that will help progress or enable a sales
approach. Often seen as a job for telemarketing personnel, but
actually more usefully carried out by sales people, especially where
large prospects are concerned (which should really be the only type
of prospects targeted by modern sales people, given the need to
recover very high costs of sales people).

retention/customer retention - means simply keeping customers

and not losing them to competitors. Modern companies realise that
it's far more expensive to find new customers than keep existing
ones, and so put sufficient investment into looking after and
growing existing accounts. Less sensible companies find themselves
spending a fortune winning new customers, while they lose more
business than they gain because of poor retention activity. (The hole
in the bucket syndrome, where it leaks out faster than it can be
poured in.)

sales cycle - the Sales Cycle term generally describes the time
and/or process between first contact with the customer to when the
sale is made. Sales Cycle times and processes vary enormously
depending on the company, type of business (product/service), the
effectiveness of the sales process, the market and the particular
situation applying to the customer at the time of the enquiry. The
Sales Cycle time is also referred to as the Sale Gestation Period (ie
from conception to birth - enquiry to sale). The Sales Cycle in a
sweet shop is less than a minute; in the international aviation sector
or civil construction market the Sales Cycle can be many months or
even a few years. The funnel diagram and sales development
process on the free resources section show the sales cycle from a
different perspective, (and actually prior to enquiry stage). A typical
Sales Cycle for a moderately complex product might be:
 1. receive enquiry
2. qualify details
3. arrange appointment
4. customer appointment
5. arrange survey
6. conduct survey
7. presentation of proposal and close sale

sales forecasts - also called sales projections, these are the

predictions that sales people and sales managers are required to
make about future business levels, necessary for their own
organisation to plan and budget everything from stock levels,
production, staffing levels, to advertising and promotion, financial
performance and market strategies.

sales funnel - describes the pattern, plan or actual achievement of

conversion of prospects into sales, pre-enquiry and then through the
sales cycle. So-called because it includes the conversion ratio at
each stage of the sales cycle, which has a funneling effect.
Prospects are said to be fed into the top of the funnel, and
converted sales drop out at the bottom. The extent of conversion
success (ie the tightness of each ratio) reflects the quality of
prospects fed into the top, and the sales skill at each conversion
stage. The Sales Funnel is a very powerful sales planning and sales
management tool. A diagram of a typical basic Sales Funnel appears
on the free resources section. Also referred to as the Sales Pipeline.

sales report - a business report of sales results, activities, trends,

etc., traditionally completed by a sales manager, but increasingly
now the responsibility of sales people too. See the sample monthly
sales report template (MSExcel format), or as a PDF version of the
same report template. A sales report can be required weekly,
monthly, quarterly and annually, and often includes the need to
provide sales forecasts.

sales pipeline - a linear equivalent of the Sales Funnel principle.

Prospects need to be fed into the pipeline in order to drop out of the
other end as sales. The length of the pipeline is the sales cycle time,
which depends on business type, market situation, and the
effectiveness of the sales process.

sector/market sector - a part of the market that can be described,

categorised and then targeted according to its own criteria and
characteristics; sectors are often described as 'vertical', meaning an
industry type, or 'horizontal', meaning some other grouping that
spans a number of vertical sectors, eg., a geographical grouping, or
a grouping defined by age, or size, etc.
segment/market segment - a sub-sector or market niche;
basically a grouping that's more narrowly defined and smaller than
a sector; a segment can be a horizontal sub-sector across one or
more vertical sectors.

service contract - a formal document usually drawn up by the

supplier by which the trading arrangement is agreed with the
customer. Also known as trading agreements, supply agreements,
and other variations. See the section on service contracts and
trading agreements.

solutions selling - a common but loosely-used description for a

more customer-orientated selling method than the Seven Steps;
dependent on identifying needs to which appropriate benefits are
matched in a package or 'solution'. The term is based on the
premise that customers don't buy products or features or benefits -
they buy solutions (to organizational problems). It's a similar
approach to 'needs-creation' selling, which first became popular in
the 1970's-80's. Solutions selling remains relevant and its methods
can usefully be included in the open plan selling style described
later here, although modern collaborative and facilitative
methodologies are becoming vital pre-requisites.

SPIN® and SPIN® Selling - A popular selling method developed by

Neil Rackham in the 1970-80's: SPIN® is an acronym derived from
the basic selling process designed and defined by Rackham:
Situation, Problem, Implication, Need, or Need Payoff. More detail
about SPIN® and SPIN® Selling appears in the Consultative Selling
and Needs Creation Selling methods section. Note that SPIN® and
SPIN SELLING® methods and materials are subject to copyright and
intellectual property control of the Huthwaite organisations of the
US and UK. SPIN® and SPIN SELLING® methods and materials are
not to be used in the provision of training and development
products and services without a licence. See SPIN® copyright
details.

steps of the sale - describes the structure of the selling process,

particularly the sales call, and what immediately precedes and
follows it. Usually represented as the Seven Steps of the Sale, but
can be five, six, eight or more, depending whose training manual
you're reading.

Strategic Selling® - when used in upper case and/or in the context

of Miller Heiman's Strategic Selling® methodology (which features in
their books of the same name, first published in 1985) the Strategic
Selling® term is a registered and protected product name belonging
to the American Miller Heiman training organisation - so be warned.
LAMP® and Strategic Selling® methods and materials are subject to
copyright and intellectual property control of Miller Heiman, Inc.,
and again be warned that LAMP® and Strategic Selling® methods
and materials are not to be used in the provision of training and
development products and services without a licence. See LAMP®
and Strategic Selling® copyright details below.

strategic selling - you will also hear people (me included) referring
to 'strategic selling' in a generic sense, and not specifically
referring to the Miller Heiman methods and materials. In a generic
'lower case' sense, 'strategic selling' describes a broad methodology
which began to be practised in the 1980's, literally 'strategic' by its
nature (the principles involve taking a strategic view of the
prospective customer's organisation, its markets, customers and
strategic priorities, etc), which is described below and referred to as
'open plan selling'. When using the 'strategic selling' terminology in
a training context you must be careful therefore to avoid confusion
or misrepresentation of the Miller Heiman intellectual property. If in
any doubt don't use the 'strategic selling' term in relation to
providing sales training services - call it something else to avoid any
possible confusion with the Miller Heiman products, (see the Miller
Heiman Strategic Selling® copyright details below.

tangible - in a selling context this describes, or is, an aspect of the

product or service offering that can readily be seen and measured in
terms of cost and value (eg., any physical feature of the product;
spare parts; delivery or installation; a regular service visit; a
warranty agreement). See intangible.

target/sales target - in a sales context this is the issued (or ideally

agreed) level of sales performance for a sales person or team or
department over a given period. Bonus payments, sales
commissions, pay reviews, job gradings, life and death, etc., can all
be dependent on sales staff meeting sales targets, so all in all sales
targets are quite sensitive things. Targets are established at the
beginning of the trading year, and then reinforced with a system of
regular forecasting and reviews (sometimes referred to as 'a good
bollocking') throughout the year. See forecasting.

telemarketing - any pre-sales activity conducted by telephone,

usually by specially trained telemarketing personnel - for instance,
research, appointment-making, product promotion.

telesales - selling by telephone contact alone, normally a sales

function in its own right, ie., utilising specially trained telesales
personnel; used typically where low order values prevent the use of
expensive field-based sales people, and a recognisable product or
service allows the process to succeed.

tender - a very structured formal proposal in response to the issue

of an invitation to tender for the supply of a product or service to a
large organization or government department. Tenders require
certain qualifying criteria to be met first by the tendering
organization, which in itself can constitute several weeks or months
work by lots of different staff. Tenders must adhere to strict
submission deadlines, contract terms, specifications and even the
presentation of the tender itself, and usually only suppliers
experienced in winning and fulfilling this type of highly controlled
supply ever win the business. It is not unknown for very successful
tendering companies to actually help the customer formulate the
tender specification, which explains why it's so difficult to prise the
business away from them.

territory - the geographical area of responsibility of a sales person

or a team or a sales organization.

territory planning - the process of planning optimum and most

cost-effective coverage (particularly for making appointments or
personal calling) of a sales territory by the available sales resources,
given prospect numbers, density, buying patterns, etc., even if one
territory by one sales person; for one person this used to be called
journey planning, and was often based on a four or six day cycle, so
as to avoid always missing prospects who might never be available
on one particular day of the week.

trial close - the technique by which a sales person tests the

prospect's readiness to buy, traditionally employed in response to a
buying signal, eg: prospect says: "Do you have them in stock?", to
which the sales person would traditionally reply: "Would you want
one if they are?" Use with extreme care, for fear of looking like a
clumsy desperate fool. If you see a buying signal there's no need to
jump on it - just answer it politely, and before ask why the question
is important, which will be far more constructive.

unique/uniqueness - a feature that is peculiar to a product or

service or supplier - no competitor can offer it.

UPB - unique perceived benefit - now one of the central strongest

mechanisms in the modern selling process, an extension and
refinement of the product offer, based on detailed understanding of
the prospect's personal and organizational needs. A UPB is your USP
from the customer's perspective, in other words, what your USP
means to your customer, which is a very different way of
approaching selling than from the traditional angle of seller-oriented
USPs. It's essential to discuss your offering in these terms with your
customer. The UPB acronym and concept was developed by The
Marketing Guild, who specialise in practical, innovative, and
effective sales and marketing.
 USP - unique selling point or proposition - this is what makes the
product offer competitively strong and without direct comparison;
generally the most valuable unique advantage of a product or
service, for the market or prospect in question; now superseded by
UPB.

variable - an aspect of the sale or deal that can be changed in

order to better meet the needs of the seller and/or the buyer.
Typical variables are price, quantity, lead-time, payment terms,
technical factors, styling factors, spare parts, back-up and
breakdown service, routine maintenance, installation, delivery,
warranty. Variables may be real or perceived, and often the
perceived ones are the most significant in any negotiation. See the
section on negotiation.

the changing face of selling - sales

methods continually change
This simple chart illustrates the fundamental shift in selling theory
which occurred particularly during the 1980's, reflecting the
development of an increasingly competive market-place and a
better-informed buying and purchasing audience.

The advent of the internet and globalization during the 1990's

meant that old styles of selling, based on one-way persuasion and
control theories were finally obsolete for all mainstream business
activities.

The development of selling ideas and methods is progressive.

Selling inevitably reflects the changing world of business and
communications.

Please note that where reference is made to the customer

'organization' this reflects a business-to-business scenario, however,
the principles in all other respects apply for business-to-consumer,
or for person-to-person sales scenarios.

values/expectations of the sales organization and the selling process

traditional (typified by 1960's modern (essential today to sustain

through to 1980's and amazingly still success in business-to-business and
found today) consumer markets)
 customised, flexible, tailored product and
standard product
service

sales function performed by a 'sales- sales function performed by a 'strategic

person' business manager'

seller has strategic knowledge of customer's

market-place and knows all implications
seller has product knowledge and opportunities resulting from
product/service supply relating to
customer's market-place

strategic interpretation of the customer

delivery service and supporting organisation's market opportunities, and
information and training are typical added assistance with project evaluation and
value aspects of supply decision-making are added value aspects of
supply

just-in-time (JIT) is taken for granted, as

are mutual planning and scheduling;
competitive advantages are: capability to
good lead-time is a competitive advantage
anticipate unpredictable requirements, and
assistance with strategic planning and
market development

value is assessed according to the cost to

the customer, plus non-financial
value is represented and judged according
implications with respect to CSR (corporate
to selling price
social responsibility), environment, ethics,
and corporate culture

the benefits and competitive strengths of

the benefits and competitive strengths of
the product or service now include many
the products or service are almost entirely
significant intangibles, and the onus is on
tangible, and intangibles are rarely
the selling organization to quantify their
considered or emphasised
value

benefits of supply extend way beyond

products and services, to relationship,
continuity, and any assistance that the
benefits of supply extend to products and
selling organization can provide to the
services only
customer to enable an improvement for
their staff, customers, reputation and
performance in all respects

selling price is cost plus profit margin, and selling price is market driven (essentially
 supply and demand), although certain
customers have no access to cost and
customers may insist on access to cost and
margin information
margin information

seller knows the needs of the business

seller knows the business customers' needs customers' customers and partners and
suppliers

whole organization sells (customers expect

sales person sells (customers only deal
to be able to deal with anybody in supplier
with sales people, pre-sale)
organization, pre-sale)

sales people need to be able to sell

sales people only sell externally, ie, to
internally to their own organization, in
customers
order to ensure customer needs are met

strategic emphasis is on customer retention

strategic emphasis is on new business
and increasing business to those customers
growth (ie, acquiring new customers)
(although new business is still sought)

buying and selling is a function, with buying and selling is a process, in which
people distinctly responsible for each many people with differing jobs are
discipline within selling and customer involved in both selling and customer
organizations organizations

hierarchical multi-level management

management structures are flat, with few
structures exist in selling and customer
management layers
organizations

authority of sales person is high (subject to

authority of sales person is minimal,
experience), negotiation flexibility exists,
flexibility to negotiate is minimal,
and exceptions are dealt with quickly and
approvals must be sought via management
directly by involving the relevant people
channels and levels for exceptions
irrespective of grade

selling organization is structured in a

selling and buying organization are divided
matrix allowing for functional efficiency
strictly according to function and
and also for inter-functional collaboration
department, inter-departmental
required for effective customer service, all
communications must go up and down the
supply chain processes, and
management structures
communications

supplier and customer organization open communications to, from and across
functions tend to talk to their 'opposite all functions between supplier and
numbers' in the other organization customer organization
 the selling organization must be capable of
the customer specifies and identifies specifying and identifying product and
product and service requirements service requirements on behalf of the
customer

the selling organization must be capable of

the customer's buyer function researches
researching and justifying customer
and justifies the customer organization's
organization's needs, on behalf of the
needs
customer

the customer's buyer probably does not

appreciate his/her organization's wider
strategic implications and opportunities in
relation to the seller's product or service,
and there will be no discussion with the
seller about this issues
the seller will help the buyer to understand
the wider strategic implications and
opportunities in relation to the seller's
product or service

the seller will help the buyer to understand

and align the many and various criteria
within their own (customer) organization,
the buyer will tell the seller what the
so that the customer organization can assess
buying or supplier-selection process is
the strategic implications of the supplier's
products or services, and make an
appropriate decision whether to buy or not

Nowadays, more is demanded from the selling process by

consumers, professional buyers and organizations choosing their
suppliers. The analysis below refers both to the development in
recent decades of what customers require from the selling function,
and also to the progression of a relationship between supplier and
customer.

This is different historical perspective of the way that selling

methods and theory have changed. The grid tracks the sales
function from its beginnings to what sales means and entails in the
modern age.

the development of the selling function

1. pure transaction Basic selling. Standard commoditised products,

price and reliability - there is little to build on,
business may be spasmodic, hand-to-mouth and
Since time began. Pure transaction is
effectively one step removed from
stone-age barter.
2. relationship and
trust
Since the beginning of selling as a
profession, popularised by Dale
Carnegie, among others, early-mid
1900's
3. management and
information
Operated instinctively in isolated
examples in business relationships
for centuries, but not generally seen
in selling methodology, sales training
and strategic application until the
1960's-1970's.
4. partnership
A sophisticated open approach to
selling which mainly first developed
in the 1980's, probably in response to
the increasing complexity of business
relationships, technology, global
markets, etc., and the increasingly
fast pace of change. Organizations
could be more effective and
adaptable by devolving operating
responsibilities to suppliers. Very
different to merely buying and
selling products and services.
unpredictable. There is no relationship other than
the transaction.
Continuity, consistency, sustainability, and some
understanding of the customer's real issues are
seen to have a value by both selling and buying
organization. Intangibles such as continuity on
communications and contacts, matched styles of
trading, mutual flexibility and adaptability, are
regarded as relevant benefits by the customer,
which can justify a price premium, and therefore
offer protection against 'cheaper' competitors,
and build loyalty to supplier.
The provision of management and information
support by seller to buying organization, and the
exchange and cooperation in these areas
represent a significant increase in depth and
effectiveness of selling reletionships. A longer-
term supply arrangement - a requirement for and
outcome of this level of selling - is seen as an
advantage by seller and buyer, because it brings
extra intangible benefits of co-operation and
support other areas of the customer's business,
eg., training, technology, product development -
which improve the customer's own competitive
strengths and operating efficiencies. The supplier
is seen as part of the team, and is likely to be
more involved in some of the the customer's own
internal systems, meetings, planning, etc.
The activities of the buying and selling
organization become almost seamless wherever
they are connected; the supplier is virtually part
of the customer's organization and treated as
such. 'Out-sourcing' generally requires this
degree of collaboration, which involves a level
anticipation, innovation and integrated support
that is very difficult to un-pick, even if it were in
the customer's interests to do so. Partnership
level selling is not a legal or contractual
arrangement; it describes the relationship, which
operates virtually as a formal partnership would
do. There is typically an enormous depth of
understanding and cooperation which is not
written down or detailed in a contract.
Partnership selling relationships generally need
time to develop - probably between 1-3 years
 depending on the size and complexity of the
seller and buyer organizations.

5. education and The educational and 'giving' activities of the

enablement
2000 and beyond. The dimensions,
scope and impact of this new type of
selling are not yet fully developed
and defined.
There are signs however that the
sellers who can give most to their
customers - especially in areas that
the customers didn't even know they
had a need or an opportunity - will be
the most successful.
selling organization extend the aspects of
anticipation and information found in the
partnership level. Also incorporated are aspects
of facilitative and enabling support, which are for
example well represented by Sharon Drew
Morgen's 'Buying Facilitation' methodology. The
seller gives to the customer any and all help it
can reasonably offer as might improve the
customer's understanding, interpretation and
commercial development of issues relating to the
supply area. This is a hugely sophisticated level
of selling which was difficult to see anywhere in
the last century. Sellers and selling organizations
take the role of teacher, guide, mentor, enabler;
which can influence and help customers far
beyond commercial and financial outcomes, into
previously unimagined strategic business
development and considerable change. Internet
organizations such as Google are examples of
this sort of selling, which at its best can actually
give more than it takes.

early selling and sales training ideas

Much of the early development of selling skills and conventional
sales training theories is attributed to American writer, speaker and
businessman Dale Carnegie (1888-1955). Carnegie, from humble
beginnings and several early career failures, started his training
business in the early 1900's, initially focusing on personal
development. Later, Carnegie's 1937 self-help book 'How to Win
Friends and Influence People' became an international best-seller,
and probably the major source of the ideas and theory which
underpinned traditional selling through the 20th century. Carnegie's
book remains a highly regarded and widely read work on human
motivation, relationships and 'influencing' others.

Carnegie's ideas contain a huge amount of useful learning relating

to understanding other people and their motives. As such the
theories are well worth reading. In this respect, Carnegie's concepts,
and other similar methods based on them, are helpful in
understanding that people are all different and therefore all
have different perspectives (and different to those of the seller,
or influencer). This is a vital concept within selling - to appreciate
that people have their own views, feelings, values, and aims. The
more we can understand the other person's situation, aims
and feelings, the more likely we will be able to develop
rapport and trust with them, and then hopefully to arrive at
suitable solutions and agreements with them. As far as this
goes all is well.

However, as with all early and 'traditional' sales persuasion

techniques and methodologies, the purpose of 'influence' is in the
hands of the 'influencer' (or seller), and this purpose (product or
service) may or may not be in the best interests of the customer. In
other words, early thinking (and much current thinking still
unfortunately) primarily focuses on influencing the other person
(customer) to adopt an opinion or to take action in the direction
which favours the influencer, irrespective of whether this is in the
genuine best interest of the other person. Indeed, some modern
criticism suggests that Carnegie's and other similar traditional
selling methodologies and sales training systems lack honesty and
integrity, which in my view many do.

Traditional methods - most of which continue to draw on the ideas

and concepts contained in Dale Carnegie's 1937 book, tend to
encourage sales people, or others seeking to persuade and
influence, to use knowledge about the other person's (or
customer's) perspective as a means of gaining their trust and
flexibility, so that the customer can be led in a certain direction.
Used unethically this amounts to manipulation and is therefore
wrong and not sustainable.

Carnegie and others who have interpreted and developed his early
ideas, commonly provide a good framework for understanding
other people's needs and motives, but arguably the matters of
ethics, honesty, integrity, sustainability, are omitted.

The purpose of using the techniques, and what to do with the

understanding was, and remains, open to use or mis-use by the
seller.

The question is - as sales-people - is our purpose (and responsibility)

to exploit people - or to help people?

Therein lies the major difference between early (and still-practised)

traditional selling, and modern collaborative, facilitative ideas, which
in my opinion are the most effective, sustainable and ethically
sound concepts for today's business world.

Look at the old ideas like Carnegie's, learn the Seven Steps of the
Sale, understand consultative and needs-creation selling - they all
contain useful learning and processes - but most importantly,
ensure you work within a strong and ethical value-system. These
days selling should more than ever focus on helping people, which
of course has additional implications for your choice of organization,
and the products and services that you choose to represent.

AIDA
AIDA is the original sales training acronym, from the late 1950's,
when selling was first treated as a professional discipline, and sales
training began. AIDA is even more relevant today. If you remember
just one sales or selling model, remember AIDA. Often called the
'Hierarchy of Effects', AIDA describes the basic process by which
people become motivated to act on external stimulus, including the
way that successful selling happens and sales are made.

A - Attention

I - Interest

D - Desire

A - Action

The AIDA process also applies to any advertising or communication

that aims to generate a response, and it provides a reliable
template for the design of all sorts of marketing material.

Simply, when we buy something we buy according to the AIDA

process. So when we sell something we must sell go through the
AIDA stages. Something first gets our attention; if it's relevant to
us we are interested to learn or hear more about it. If the product
or service then appears to closely match our needs and/or
aspirations, and resources, particularly if it is special, unique, or
rare, we begin to desire it. If we are prompted or stimulated to
overcome our natural caution we may then become motivated or
susceptible to taking action to buy.

Some AIDA pointers:

Attention

• Getting the other person's attention sets the tone: first

impressions count , so smile - even on the phone because
people can hear it in your voice - be happy (but not
annoyingly so) be natural, honest and professional.
 • If you're not in the mood to smile do some paperwork instead.
If you rarely smile then get out of selling.
• Getting attention is more difficult than it used to be, because
people are less accessible, have less free time, and lots of
competing distractions, so think about when it's best to call.
• Gimmicks, tricks and crafty techniques don't work, because
your prospective customers - like the rest of us - are irritated
by hundreds of them every day.
• If you are calling on the phone or meeting face-to-face you
have about five seconds to attract attention, by which time
the other person has formed their first impression of you.
• Despite the time pressure, relax and enjoy it - expect mostly
to be told 'no thanks' - but remember that every 'no' takes
you closer to the next 'okay'.

Interest

• You now have maybe 5-15 seconds in which to create some

interest.
• Something begins to look interesting if it is relevant and
potentially advantageous. This implies a lot:
• The person you are approaching should have a potential need
for your product or service or proposition (which implies that
you or somebody else has established a target customer
profile).
• You must approach the other person at a suitable time (ie it's
convenient, and that aspects of seasonality and other factors
affecting timing have been taken into account)
• You must empathise with and understand the other person's
situation and issues, and be able to express yourself in their
terms (ie talk their language).

Desire

• The sales person needs to be able to identify and agree the

prospect's situation, needs, priorities and constraints on
personal and organizational levels, through empathic
questioning and interpretation.
• You must build rapport and trust, and a preparedness in the
prospect's mind to do business with you personally (thus
dispelling the prospect's feelings of doubt or risk about your
own integrity and ability).
• You must understand your competitors' capabilities and your
prospect's other options.
• You must obviously understand your product (specification,
options, features, advantages, and benefits), and particularly
all relevance and implications for your prospect.
• You must be able to present, explain and convey solutions
with credibility and enthusiasm.
 • The key is being able to demonstrate how you, your own
organization and your product will suitably, reliably and
sustainably 'match' the prospect's needs identified and
agreed, within all constraints.
• Creating desire is part skill and technique, and part behaviour
and style. In modern selling and business, trust and
relationship (the 'you' factor) are increasingly significant, as
natural competitive development inexorably squeezes and
reduces the opportunities for clear product advantage and
uniqueness.

Action

• Simply the conversion of potential into actuality, to achieve or

move closer to whatever is the aim.
• Natural inertia and caution often dictate that clear
opportunities are not acted upon, particularly by purchasers of
all sorts, so the sales person must suggest, or encourage
agreement to move to complete the sale or move to the next
stage.
• The better the preceding three stages have been conducted,
then the less emphasis is required for the action stage; in fact
on a few rare occasions in the history of the universe, a sale is
so well conducted that the prospect decides to take action
without any encouragement at all.

AIDCA
More recently (c.1980'-1990's) the AIDA acronym has been used in
extended form as AIDCA, meaning the same as AIDA with the
insertion of Commitment prior to the action stage. Arguably
Commitment is implicit within the Action stage, but if it suits your
sales training purposes then AIDCA is an acceptable interpretation.
Commitment here means that a prospective customer is more likely
to progress to the Action stage if their commitment to the
proposition can first be established. As ever, adding detail make the
thing less elegant and flexible, which in this case makes AIDCA non-
applicable to selling methods that do not involve a two-way
communication, for example, the structure of a sales letter or
advert, for which AIDA remains more helpful. For two-way sales
communications, discussions, presentations, etc., then AIDCA is
fine.

• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
 • Commitment
• Action

the seven steps of the sale

The Seven Steps of the Sale is the most common traditional
structure used for explaining and training the selling process for the
sales call or meeting, including what immediately precedes and
follows it. This structure is usually represented as the Seven Steps
of the Sale, but it can can be five, six, eight or more, depending
whose training manual you're reading.

This structure assumes that the appointment has been made, or in

the instance of a cold-call, that the prospect has agreed to discuss
things there and then. The process for appointment-making is a
different one, which is shown later in this section. Aside from the
questioning stage, this structure also applies to a sales visit which
been arranged for the purpose of presenting products/services or a
specific proposal following an invitation, earlier discussions or
meetings. For these pre-arranged presentations it is assumed that
the sales person has already been through the questioning stage at
prior meetings.

The Seven Steps of the Sale remains a helpful structure for sales
and sales training, but do bear in mind that the concept is over forty
years old, and these days the modern collaboration and facilitation
methods are a lot more effective, typically when treated as a front-
end to the Seven Steps or incorporated withing the first stage as an
approach. The collaborative selling section includes an augmented
'seven steps of the sale' which includes integrated modern
'facilitative' sales skills, of which Sharon Drew Morgen's 'Buying
Facilitation'® is a uniquely special and effective model.

the seven steps of the sale

The original commonly used Seven Steps terminology is in bold. In
recent years more sophisticated interpretation and application of
the Seven-Step selling process requires the model to be expanded
and interpreted with more subtlety and flexibility, as shown here:

1. preparation/planning/research/approach (using facilitative

methods)
2. introduction/opening/approach/establish initial credibility
3. questioning/identify needs/ask how and what, etc/establish
rapport and trust
4. presentation/explanation/demonstration
 5. overcoming objections/negotiating/fine-tuning
6. close/closing/agreement/commitment/confirmation
7. follow-up/after-sales/fulfil/deliver/admin

the seven steps of the sale in summary

1. planning and preparation (the seven
steps of the sale - 1)
Generally, the larger the prospect organization, the more research
you should do before any sales call at which you will be expected, or
are likely, to present you company's products or services.

• ensure know your own product/service extremely well -

especially features, advantages and benefits that will be
relevant to the prospect you will be meeting
• ascertain as far as you can the main or unique perceived
organizational benefit that your product or service would give
to your prospect
• discover what current supply arrangements exist or are likely
to exist for the product/service in question, and assess what
the present supplier's reaction is likely to be if their business
is at threat
• understand what other competitors are able and likely to
offer, and which ones are being considered if any
• identify as many of the prospect organization's decision-
makers and influencers as you can, and assess as much as far
as you can what their needs, motives and relationships are
• try to get a feel for what the organizational politics are
• what are the prospect's organizational decision-making
process and financial parameters (eg., budgets, year-end
date)
• what are your prospect's strategic issues, aims, priorities and
problems, or if you can't discover these pre-meeting, what are
they generally for the market sector in which the prospect
operates?
• prepare your opening statements and practice your sales
presentation
• prepare your presentation in the format in which you are to
give it (e.g., MS Powerpoint slides for laptop or projected
presentation) plus all materials, samples, hand-outs,
brochures, etc., and always have spares - allow for more than
the planned numbers as extra people often appear at the last
minute - see the presentation section for more detailed
guidance on designing formal sales presentations
 • prepare a checklist of questions or headings that will ensure
you gather all the information you need from the meeting
• think carefully about what you want to get from the meeting
and organise your planning to achieve it

2. introduction/opening (the seven steps

of the sale - 2)
• smile - be professional, and take confidence from the fact that
you are well-prepared
• introduce yourself - first and last name, what your job is and
the company you represent, and what the your company does
(ensure this is orientated to appeal to the prospect's strategic
issues)
• set the scene - explain the purpose of your visit, again
orientate around your prospect not yourself, eg "I'd like to
learn about your situation and priorities in this area, and then
if appropriate, to explain how we (your own company)
approach these issues. Then if there looks as though there
might be some common ground, to agree how we could move
to the next stage."
• ask how much time your prospect has and agree a time to
finish
• ask if it's okay to take notes (it's polite to ask - also, all
business information is potentially sensitive, and asking shows
you realise this)
• ask if it's okay to start by asking a few questions or whether
your prospect would prefer a quick overview of your own
company first (this will depend on how strongly know and
credible your own company is - if only a little you should plan
to give a quick credibility-building overview in your
introduction)

3. questioning (the seven steps of the

sale - 3)
• the main purpose of questioning is to confirm or discover the
strongest or unique perceived organizational benefit that
would accrue to the prospect from the product/service - it may
be one (usually) or two (occasionally) or three (rarely) key
things, which may be obvious to seller and buyer, or not
obvious to either, in which case questioning expertise is
critical
• questioning must also discover how best to develop the sale
with the organization - how they decide, when, people and
procedures involved, competitor pressures, etc.
• good empathic questioning also builds relationships, trust and
rapport - nobody wants to buy anything from a sales person
who's only interested in their own product or company - we all
want to buy from somebody who gives the time and skill to
interpreting and properly meeting our own personal needs
• you will have prepared a list of questions or headings - now
use it
• use open questions to gather information - for example,
questions beginning with Who, What, Why, Where, When, How
• when training or learning the skills of using open questions it
helps to refer to the Rudyard Kipling rhyme: "I keep six honest
serving men, They taught me all I knew; Their names are
What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who.." -
from Just So Stories, 1902, The Elephant's Child. (other useful
training quotes)
• use "can you tell me about how..." if you are questioning a
senior-level contact - generally the more senior the contact,
the bigger the open questions you can ask, and the more the
other person will be comfortable and able to give you the
information you need in a big explanation
• 'what...? and 'how...?' are the best words to use in open
questions because they provoke thinking and responses about
facts and feelings in a non-threatening way
• use 'why?' to find out reasons and motives beneath the initial
answers given, but be very careful and sparing in using 'why'
because the word 'why?' is threatening to most people - it
causes the other person to feel they have to defend or justify
themselves, and as such will not bring out the true situation
and feelings, especially in early discussions with people when
trust and rapport is at a low level
• listen carefully and empathically, maintain good eye-contact,
understand, and show that you understand - especially
understand what is meant and felt, not just what is said,
particularly when you probe motives and personal aspects
• interpret and reflect back and confirm you have understood
what is being explained, and if relevant the feelings behind it
• use closed questions to qualify and confirm your
interpretation - a closed question is one that can be answered
with a yes or no, eg., "Do you mean that when this type of
equipment goes down then all production ceases?", or "Are
you saying that if a new contract is not put in place by end-
March then the existing one automatically renews for another
year?"
• when you've asked a question, SHUT UP - do not interrupt
• your prospect should be doing 80-99% of the talking during
this stage of the sales call; if you are talking for a third or half
of the time you are not asking the right sort of questions
• do not jump onto an opportunity and start explaining how you
can solve the problem until you have asked all your questions
 and gathered all the information you need (in any event never
be seen to 'jump' onto any issue)
• all the time try to find out the strategic issues affected or
implicated by the product/service in question - these are
where the ultimate decision-making and buying motives lie.
• if during the questioning you think of a new important
question to ask note it down or you'll forget it
• when you have all the information you need, acknowledge the
fact and say thanks, then take a few moments to think about,
discuss and summarise the key issues/requirements/priorities
from your prospect's organizational (and personal if
applicable) perspective
• questioning is traditionally treated by conventional sales
people and conventional sales training as a process to gather
information to assist the sales person's process, and this is
how it is typically positioned in the old-style 'Seven Steps of
the Sale'; however, modern sales methodology treats
questioning in a radically different way - as an
essential part of a facilitative process whose purpose is
to help the buyer decide (see the information about buying
facilitation for explanation)

4. presentation (the seven steps of the

sale - 4)
• the sales presentation should focus on a central proposition,
which should be the unique perceived benefit that the
prospect gains from the product/service
• during the questioning phase the sales person will have
refined the understanding (and ideally gained agreement) as
to what this is - the presentation must now focus on
'matching' the benefits of the product with the needs of the
prospect so that the prospect is entirely satisfied that the
proposition
• the sales person therefore needs an excellent understanding
of the many different organizational benefits that accrue to
customers, and why, from the product/service - these
perceived benefits will vary according to the type of customer
organization (size, structure, market sector, strategy, general
economic health, culture, etc)
• the sales presentation must demonstrate that the
product/service meets the prospect's needs, priorities,
constraints and motives, or the prospect will not even
consider buying or moving to the next stage; this is why
establishing the prospect's situation and priorities during the
questioning phase is so vital
• the above point is especially important to consider when the
sales person has to present on more than one occasion to
 different people or groups, who will each have different
personal and organizational needs, and will therefore respond
to different benefits (even though the central proposition and
main perceived benefit remains constant)
• all sales presentations, whether impromptu (off the cuff) or
the result of significant preparation, must be well structured,
clear and concise, professionally delivered, and have lots of
integrity - the quality and integrity of the presentation is
always regarded as a direct indication as to the quality and
integrity of the product/service
• it follows then that the sales person must avoid simply talking
about technical features from the seller's point of view,
without linking the features clearly to organizational context
and benefit for the prospect - also avoid using any jargon
which the prospect may not understand
• sales presentations must always meet the expectations of the
listener in terms of the level of information and relevance to
the prospect's own situation, which is another reason for
proper preparation - a vague or poorly prepared sales
presentation sticks out like a sore thumb, and it will be
disowned immediately
• when presenting to influencers, which is necessary on
occasions, it is important to recognise that the sales person is
effectively asking the influencers to personally endorse the
proposition and the credibility of the selling organization and
the sales person, so the influencers' needs in these areas are
actually part of the organizational needs of the prospect
company
• the presentation must include relevant evidence of success,
references from similar sectors and applications, facts and
figures - all backing up the central proposition
• business decision-makers buy when they become satisfied
that the decision will either make them money, or save them
money or time; they also need to be certain that the new
product/service will be sustainable and reliable; therefore the
presentation must be convincing in these areas
• private consumer buyers ultimately buy for similar reasons,
but for more personal ones as well, eg., image, security, ego,
etc., which may need to feature in these type of presentations
if they form part of the main perceived benefit
• while the presentation must always focus on the main
perceived benefit, it is important to show that all the other
incidental requirements and constraints are met - but do not
over-emphasise or attempt to 'pile high' loads of incidental
benefits as this simply detracts from the central proposition
• presentations should use the language and style of the
audience - eg., technical people need technical evidence;
sales and marketing people like to see flair and competitive
advantage accruing for their own sales organization;
 managing directors and finance directors want clear, concise
benefits to costs, profits and operating efficiency; and
generally the more senior the contact, the less time you will
have to make your point - no-nonsense, no frills, but plenty of
relevant hard facts and evidence. See the presentation
section for more guidance on this.
• if the sales person is required to present to a large group and
in great depth, then it's extremely advisable to enlist the help
of one or two suitably experienced colleagues, from the
appropriate functions, eg., technical, customer service,
distribution, etc., in which case the sales person must ensure
that these people are properly briefed and prepared, and the
prospect notified of their attendance.
• keep control of the presentation, but do so in a relaxed way; if
you don't know the answer to a question don't waffle - say you
don't know and promise to get back with an answer later, and
make sure you do.
• never knock the competition - it undermines your credibility
and integrity - don't even imply anything derogatory about the
competition
• if appropriate issue notes, or a copy of your presentation
• use props and samples and demonstrations if relevant and
helpful, and make sure it all works properly
• during the presentation seek feedback, confirmation and
agreement as to the relevance of what you are saying, but
don't be put off if people stay quiet
• invite questions at the end, and if your are comfortable, at the
outset invite questions at any time - it depends on how
confident you feel in controlling things
• whether presenting one-to-one or to a stern group, relax and
be friendly - let your personality and natural enthusiasm shine
through - people buy from people who love and have faith in
their products and companies

5. overcoming objections/negotiating
(the seven steps of the sale - 5)
• decades ago it was assumed that at this stage lots of
objections could appear, and this would tend to happen,
because the selling process was more prescriptive, one-way,
and less empathic; however, successful modern selling now
demands more initial understanding from the sales person,
even to get as far as presenting, so the need to overcome
objections is not such a prevalent feature of the selling
process
• nevertheless objections do arise, and they can often be
handled constructively, which is the key
• if objections arise, firstly the sales person should qualify each
one by reflecting back to the person who raised it, to establish
the precise nature of the objection - "why do you say that?" is
usually a good start
• it may be necessary to probe deeper to get to the real issue,
by asking why to a series of answers - some objections result
from misunderstandings, and some are used to veil other
misgivings which the sales person needs to expose
• lots of objections are simply a request for more information,
so definitely avoid responding by trying to re-sell the benefit -
simply ask and probe instead; the best standard response is
something like "I understand why that could be an issue, can I
ask you to tell me more about why it is and what's important
for you here?.."
• try to avoid altogether the use of the word 'but' - it's
inherently confrontational
• an old-style technique was to reflect back the objection as a
re-phrased question, but in a form that the sales person is
confident of being able to answer positively, for example: the
prospect says he thinks it's too expensive; the sales person
reflects back: "I think what you're really saying is that you
have no problem with giving us the contract, but you'd prefer
the payments staged over three years rather than two? - well I
think we could probably do something about that..."
• another old-style technique used to be to isolate the objection
(confirm that other than that sticking point everything else
was fine), then to overcome the objection by drawing up a list
of pro's and con's, or analysing to death all the hidden costs of
not going for the deal, or re-selling the benefits even harder,
and then to close powerfully, but these days such a contrived
approach to objection handling is likely to insult the prospect
and blow the sales person's credibility
• it is important to flush out all of the objections, and in so
doing, the sales person is effectively isolating them as the
only reasons why the prospect should not proceed, but then
the more modern approach is to work with the prospect in first
understanding what lies beneath each objection, and then
working with the prospect to shape the proposition so that it
fits more acceptably with what is required. See the section on
negotiating.
• avoid head-to-head arguments - even if you win them you'll
destroy the relationship you'll go no further - instead the sales
person must enable a constructive discussion so that he and
the prospect are both working at the problem together;
provided the basic proposition is sound most objections are
usually overcome by both the seller and the buyer adjusting
their positions slightly; for large prospects and contracts this
process can go on for weeks, which is why this is often more
in the negotiating arena than objection handling
 • you've handled all the objections when you've covered
everything that you've noted down - it's therefore important
to keep notes and show that you're doing it
• by this stage you may have seen some signs that the prospect
is clearly visualising or imagining the sale proceeding, or even
talking in terms of your working together as supplier and
customer; this is sometimes called buying warmth. Certain
questions and comments from prospects are described as
buying signals because they indicate that the prospect may
be visualising buying or having the product/service. In the old
days, sales people were taught to respond to early buying
signals with a 'trial close', but this widely perceived as clumsy
and insulting nowadays. Instead respond to early buying
signals (ie those received before you've completed the
presentation to the prospect's satisfaction, and answered all
possible queries) by asking why the question is important, and
then by answering as helpfully as possible

6. close/closing/agreement (the seven

steps of the sale - 6)
• in modern selling, even using the traditional Seven Steps
process, every sales person's aim should be to prepare and
conduct the selling process so well that there are few if any
objections, and no need for a close
• the best close these days is something like "Are you happy
that we've covered everything and would you like to go
ahead?", or simply "Would you like to go ahead?"
• in many cases, if the sales person conducts the sale properly,
the prospect will close the deal himself, and this should be the
another aim for the sales person - it's civilised, respectful, and
actually implies and requires a high level of sales
professionalism
• the manner in which a sale is concluded depends on the style
of the decision-maker - watch out for the signs: no-nonsense
high-achievers are likely to decide very quickly and may be a
little irritated if you leave matters hanging after they've
indicated they're happy; cautious technical people will want
every detail covered and may need time to think, so don't
push them, but do stay in touch and make sure they have all
the information they need; very friendly types may actually
say yes before they're ready, in which case you need to
ensure that everything is suitably covered so nothing can
rebound later
• for the record here are some closes from the bad old days -
the traditional golden rule was always to shut up after asking
a closing question, even if the silence became embarrassingly
 long - (a who-talks-first-loses kind of thing) - use them at your
peril:
• the pen close: "Do you want to use your pen or mine?" (while
producing the contract and pen)
• the alternative close: for example - "Would you like it
delivered next Tuesday or next Friday?", or "We can do the
T50 model in silver, and we have a T52 in white - which one
would you prefer?"
• the challenge close: "I know most men wouldn't be able to buy
something of this value without consulting their wives - do you
need to get your wife's permission on this?.." or "Most
business people in your position need to refer this kind of
decision to their boss, do you need to refer it?"
• the ego close: "We generally find that only the people who
appreciate and are prepared to pay for the best quality go for
this service - I don't know how you feel about it?..."
• the negative close: "I'm sorry but due to the holidays we can't
deliver in the three weeks after the 15th, so we can only do it
next week, is that okay?"
• the guilt close: "Over three years it might seem a lot of
money, but we find that most responsible people decide they
simply have no choice but to go for it when it's less than a
pound/dollar a day to protect your.../safeguard
your..../improve your... (whatever)."
• the sympathy close: "I know you have some reservations that
we can't overcome right now, but I've got to admit that I'm
pretty desperate for this sale - my manager says he'll sack me
if I don't get an order this week, and you're my last chance -
I'd be ever so grateful if you'd go ahead - and I promise you
we'd be able to sort out the extra features once I speak to our
production people..." (How could anyone live with themselves
using that one?....)
• the puppy dog close/puppy dog sale: "Let me leave it with you
and you see how you get on with it..."
• the last ditch close: (sales person packs case and goes to
leave, but stops at the door) "Just one last thing - would you
tell me where I went wrong - you see I just know this is right
for you, and I feel almost guilty that I've not sold it to you
properly, as if I've let you down....."
• the pro's and con's list: "I can appreciate this is a tough
decision - what normally works is to write down a list of all the
pro's and con's - two separate columns - and then we can both
see clearly if overall it's the right thing to do..."
• the elimination close: "I can see I've not explained this
properly - can we take a moment to go through all the
benefits and see which one is holding us back from
proceeding?" (At which the sales person lists all the benefits -
the positives, and runs through each one to confirm it's not
that one which is causing the problem, crossing a line through
 each as he goes. When he crosses the last one out he can
claim that there really seems to be no reason for not going
ahead...)

7. follow-up/fulfilment/delivery/admin
(the seven steps of the sale - 7)
• after-sales follow-up depends on the type of product and
service, but generally for every sale the sales person must
carry out a number of important processes:
• all relevant paperwork must be completed and copies
provided to the customer - paperwork is will cover the
processing of the order, the confirmation of the order and its
details to the customer, possibly the completion of installation
and delivery specification and instructions
• Sales reporting by the sales person is also necessary,
generally on a pro-forma or computer screen, typically
detailing the order value, product type and quantity, and
details about the customer such as industrial sector - each
sales organization stipulates the sales person's reporting
requirements, and often these are linked to sales commissions
and bonuses, etc.
• The sales person should also make follow-up contact with the
customer - as often as necessary - to confirm that the
customer is happy with the way the order is being progressed;
this helps reduce possible confusion and misunderstood
expectations, which are a big cause of customer
dissatisfaction or order cancellation if left to fester unresolved
• Customer follow-up and problem resolution must always be
the responsibility for the sales person, who should consider
themselves the 'guardian' of that customer, even if a well-
organised customer service exists for general after-sales care
• Customers rightly hold sales people responsible for what
happens after the sale is made, and good conscientious
follow-up will usually be rewarded with referrals to other
customers
• Follow-up is an important indicator of integrity; when a sales
person makes a sale he is personally endorsing the product
and the company, so ensuring that value and satisfaction are
fulfilled is an integral part of the modern sales function

the product offer

FAB's, USP's and UPB's (Features Advantages
Benefits, Unique Selling Propositions/Points, and
Unique Perceived Benefits)

The product offer, or sales proposition, is how the product or service

is described and promoted to the customer. The product offer is
what the sales person uses to attract attention and interest in verbal
and written introductions to prospects - so it has to be concise and
quick - remember that attention needs to be grabbed in less than
five seconds. It's also used by the selling company in its various
advertising and promotional material aimed at the target market.
Traditionally the selling company's marketing department would
formulate the product offer, but nowadays the sales person greatly
improves his selling effectiveness if he able to refine and adapt the
product offer (not the specification) for targeted sectors and
individual major prospects.

Developing and tailoring a product offer, or proposition, is a vital

part of the selling process, and the approach to this has changed
over the years.

FAB's

The technique of linking features, advantages, and benefits (FAB's)

was developed in the 1960's and it remains an important basic
concept for successful selling and sales training. FAB's were
traditionally identified and by the company and handed by the
training department to the sales people, who rarely thought much
about developing them.

Here is the principle of using Features, Advantages, Benefits:

Customers don't buy features, they don't even buy the advantages -
what they buy is what the product's features and advantages will do
for them, which in selling parlance is called the benefit.

For example: A TV might have the feature of internet connectivity

and a remote control qwerty keyboard; the advantage is that the
customer can now access and interchange internet and TV services
using a single system; and the benefit is that the customer saves
money, space, and a lot of time through not having to change from
one piece of equipment to another.

It's the saving in money, space and hassle that the customer buys.
A sales person who formulates a sales proposition or product offer
around those benefits will sell far more Internet TV's than a sales
person who simply sells 'TV's with internet connectivity and remote
qwerty keypads'. In fact lots of customers won't even have a clue as
to what a 'TV with internet connectivity and remote qwerty keypad'
is, particularly when it's packaged, branded and promoted as the
latest 'WebTV XL520 with the new Netmaster GT500 Supa-consul'....

Moreover the few customers who recognise the product benefit by

its features and advantages will also recognise all the competitors'
products too, which will cause all the sales people selling features
and advantages to converge on the most astute purchasing group,
leaving the most lucrative uninformed prospects largely untouched.

The aim is to formulate a product offer which elegantly comprises

enough of what the product does and how, with the most important
or unique benefits for a given target market or prospect type.

USP's

The strongest benefit for a given target sector is often represented

by the term USP, meaning unique selling point or proposition (for
many companies no real uniqueness exists in their USP's, so the
term is often used rather loosely where the word 'strongest' would
be more apt). Real or perceived uniqueness is obviously very
important because it generally causes a prospect to buy from one
sales person or supplier as opposed to another. If there were
umpteen WebTV's on the market, the ones that would sell the best
would be those which had the strongest unique selling points.

Price is not a USP; sure, some people only buy the cheapest, but
most do not; most will pay a little or a lot extra to get what they
want. As with the example of the WebTV, an advantage that
produces a money-saving benefit is different to straight-forward
price discounting. A low price is not a benefit in this context, and
any product that is marketed purely with a low-price USP will always
be vulnerable to competition which offers proper user-related
benefits, most of which may come in the form of a higher value,
higher price package.

What makes it difficult to succeed all the time with a fixed USP or
series of USP's is that one man's USP is another man's dead donkey
- USP's by their nature fail to take account of a prospect's particular
circumstances and detailed needs. The name itself - unique selling
point - says it all. Purchasers of all sorts are more interested in
buying, not being sold to.

Each type of prospect has different reasons for buying. Market

sectors or prospect types with smaller houses and fewer rooms are
more likely to respond to the space-saving benefit of the WebTV as
the product's main USP. Market sectors or prospect types with big
houses and lots of big rooms are more likely to regard the time-
saving benefit as the key USP instead. A sector which comprises
people who are not technically competent or advanced, may well
respond best to a USP that the supplier could fail to even mention,
ie., installation, training and a free technical support hotline. Where
does that leave the sales person if his marketing department hasn't
included that one on the list?..

UPB's

This leads us to the UPB, meaning unique perceived benefit - a

modern selling concept naturally evolved from FAB's and USP's.

The UPB acronym and concept was originated by The Marketing

Guild, and it is proper to mention this when using the term in
training.

A UPB is essentially a customer-orientated product offer.

The problem with USP's and FAB's is that they are largely
formulated from the seller's perspective; they stem from product
features after all. So if instead of looking at the product from the
seller's viewpoint, we look at the need, from the customer's
viewpoint, we can build up a UPB-based product offer that fits the
prospect's situation and motives much better than any list of
arbitrary FAB's and USP's.

First it comes down to knowing the target market segment, or the

targeted prospect type, extremely well. This implies that we should
first decide which sectors or segments to target, and it also shows
why the planning and preparation stage in the selling process is far
more significant and influential than it ever used to be.

Each targeted segment or prospect type has its own particular

needs and constraints, and these combine to create the prospect's
or target sector's very specific buying motive. So if we can identify
and then formulate a unique perceived benefit to meet or match a
known or researched sector's specific buying motive, we can create
a very well-fitting and easily recognisable product offer indeed.

For instance, a likely attractive target sector for the WebTV could be
families with limited space and little technical confidence. With
children at school learning how to use computers, their parents (the
decision-makers) would likely be interested in improving their
children's access to internet services at home, given no requirement
for extra space, and in a way that didn't put pressure on their
limited technical know-how at the time of installation and for
ongoing support. If the package enabled the parents to upgrade
their TV as well for not much more than the cost of a conventional
TV, then we're certainly likely to get their attention and interest, and
we're a short step away from creating some real desire. The UPB for
this particular prospect type might look something like:
"You can now give your children important educational access to
the Internet at home, if you know nothing about computers, and
don't even have room for one."

The product offer above is described so that the prospect type in

question identifies with it, and can immediately match it to his own
situation. The WebTV's relevant benefits - ie., you save space and
you don't need to spend time understanding the technicalities -
have been translated to match exactly why we believe that the
prospect might be motivated to consider buying it. The 'important
educational' reference is an example of developing the UPB further,
ie., that your children's education will be improved. The trade-off is
that more words reduces impact and attention; only by using the
UPB in various forms can we see what works best.

It's now clear to see the difference now between a basic technical
feature ('a TV with internet connectivity and remote qwerty keypad)
and an unique perceived benefit (your children will be better
educated). The feature does nothing to attract the buyer; the UPB
does a lot.

There's another important reason to use tailored perceived benefits,

rather than focus on FAB's and unique selling points: it's easy for
prospects to compare and put a price on what a product is (FAB's
and even USP's), but it's very difficult to value a real UPB. This
means that sales people who sell UPB's are far less prone to
competitor threat.

Developing strong meaningful unique perceived benefits is not easy

- it requires good insight and understanding of the prospect or
sector to be approached, and a lot of thought, trial and error to
arrive at something that works well.

consultative selling, 'needs-creation'

selling, and 'SPIN Selling®'
Consultative selling involves deeper questioning of the prospect,
about organizational and operational issues that can extend beyond
the product itself. This leads to greater understanding of the
prospect's wider needs, (particularly those affected by the product),
and the questioning process itself also results in a greater trust,
rapport, and empathy between sales-person and buyer. The process
has been practised instinctively in good sales people and
organizations for many years, particularly since the 1970's,
especially for concept selling or service solutions selling, driven by
competitive pressures, as buyers began to learn as much about the
sales process and techniques as the sales people themselves. In the
1970's and 1980's various proprietary frameworks and models were
established, and many of these remain in use today. The 'needs-
creation' selling approach is example of consultative selling. It's
more involving (of the client) than the essentially one-way
prescriptive Seven Steps method, but it is still largely centred on
what the supplier wants, rather than helping the buyer.

In 'needs-creation' selling, the sales-person seeks to identify and

then 'enlarge' a particular need, problem, challenge or issue that a
potential customer faces. Obviously the sales-person would must
have a reasonable confidence that the supplier organisation is able
to offer a suitably matched remedy or solution (product and/or
service proposition) once the 'need', with all of its attached
considerable and negative strategic and financial implications, are
firmly established in the buyer's mind.

The consultative aspect exists hopefully in the sales-person's ability,

experience and expertise, to 'consult' with the buyer in developing a
solution, which of course entails the supplier organisation provision
of product and/or service.

The process is rather like the process employed by professional

consultants in all sorts of 'professional' and 'technical' disciplines
(for example, engineering, health and safety, law, finance, IT, etc):

1. Research the prospective customer organisation to

confirm suitable prospect profile (subject to the
supplier's prospect qualification criteria), and competitor
threats, opportunities, contract review dates, past
dealings, etc.

2. Establish rapport and seller's professional credentials

with the client (typically by referencing case-histories
and case-studies for successful solutions provided in
similar markets and applications that are similar to
those of the prospective client).

3 Ask 'strategic' open questions to identify, explore and

develop areas of potential problems, difficulties, aims,
challenges and unresolved issues within the prospect
organisation. Normally identify and agree on a single
primary issue (which represents both a major concern
for the buyer, and a relevant area of product and/or
service opportunity for the seller.) This could be a
'distress' or emergency pressure, priority, or
threat, for example an issue which the prospect is
involved in 'fire-fighting' to resolve currently, such as
 legislative compliance; or a strategic development
opportunity for market or business development, to
which significant potential profit, cost-savings and/or
competitive advantage are attached.

4. Interpret, clarify, extend and quantify in financial and

strategic terms the knock-on effects of the primary area
of opportunity or threat. That is to say, what are all
the negative effects and costs of failing to resolve
the threat or pressure?, or what are all the
positive effects and revenues/profits that will be
derived from achieving the identified strategic
opportunity? The sales person is effectively doing
three things here:

a) Increasing the size and cost/value of the issue

heightens the issue's priority and importance, and thus
increases the buyer's feeling that action must be
taken - it gets the issue higher up the buyer's agenda
and closer to the front of his/her project schedule.

b) Increasing the size and complexity of the issue

increases the need and opportunity for consultative
advice - the buyer increases his/her perception that
outside expertise (from the seller) is required.

b) Increasing the costs or values associated with the

issue naturally increases the buyer's tolerance and
expectations for the cost of the supplier's
proposed product/service solution - the higher the
cost or value of the challenge, then the higher the cost
of the solution.

5. Sell the principle of the seller's solution (necessarily in

outline for large prospects - small, simple situations
often require specific solutions proposals at this stage),
matching the benefits of the solution to the various
aspects of the prospect need or strategic opportunity.
For larger prospects it is commonly necessary to agree
to proceed with a survey or assessment prior to
producing a fully detailed proposal. A large complex
proposal would typically need to be presented by the
sales-person, or a team from the seller's organisation, to
a board or decision-making team within the prospect
organisation.

The final point referring to a buying organisation's decision-making

team provides a clue as to the weaknesses of these traditional
supplier-orientated selling methods. Decision-making within
organisations, particularly large ones, is a highly complex process.
Often the organisation, and certainly the buyer, does not
understand it, let alone be able or willing to explain it to an outsider.

Buyers rarely explain everything to a sales-person during a

consultative meeting, however good the sales-person is. This is not
a criticism of buyers - simply an acknowledgement of the extremely
complex nature of organisational decision-making. As such,
consultative selling and 'needs-creation' selling, howsoever
packaged, don't always provide a reliable selling framework for the
modern age.

Buyers and customer organisations often need more help, especially

in the early stages of the sales process.

They need help with their own processes of evaluation and

assessment, decision-making, communications, and
implementation, which traditional 'consultative selling' alone is
unable to address in a true and meaningful sense. For this reason, if
you seek to become a truly expert and effective sales person
modern selling and business, I would urge you to look beyond the
traditional methodologies, to the modern philosophy and concepts
contained in collaborative and facilitative selling, especially the
ideas developed and defined by Sharon Drew Morgen.

neil rackham's 'SPIN Selling®' model

Neil Rackam's SPIN Selling® model is a fine example of a
consultative selling process and 'needs-creation selling'. It was
developed by Neil Rackham in the 1970's-80's, from his extensive
12-year study into successful selling behaviour in 20 leading sales
organizations, in 23 countries, involving analysis of data from
35,000 sales calls. Rackham's book 'Spin Selling' is one of the
biggest selling on the subject of sales, and the SPIN® methodology
remains a mainstay of his Huthwaite training organization.
Rackham's SPIN® model is in simple terms:

S - Situation
P - Problem
I - Implication
N - Need (or Need-payoff)

In other words:

1. Discuss, understand or explain the situation with the

prospect.
 2. Next identify the problem that exists or could arise.
3. Explain, discuss or understand the implication of the
problem for the prospect's business (ie., what organizational
improvement can potentially be achieved).
4. This effectively creates a need or opportunity to rectify the
problem (by selling the sales person's product/service) - the
'payoff'.

SPIN® endures as one of the most versatile, memorable and useful

sales models.

Note that SPIN® and SPIN SELLING® methods and materials are
subject to copyright and intellectual property control of the
Huthwaite organisations of the US and UK. SPIN® and SPIN
SELLING® methods and materials are not to be used in the provision
of training and development products and services without a
licence. See SPIN® copyright details.

What you’ll learn:

• Essentials of successful selling

• Why feature-based selling doesn’t work
• Why pushing for a quick close doesn’t work
• Four stages of successful sales calling
• Internationally renowned SPIN Selling methodology
• How to obtain customer commitment to advance outcomes
• How to turn product advantages into specific customer benefits
• ...and much more through the SPIN Selling workshop’s combination of
lecture, discussion, interactive exercises and reinforcement tools, presented by
one of Huthwaite’s expert training consultants

open plan selling, strategic selling, e.g.,

Miller Heiman's Strategic Selling®
To my best knowledge, the term 'Open Plan Selling' was first coined
by a wonderful and inspirational British business consultant and
trainer, Stanley Guffogg, during the early-1980's. His ideas and
philosophies were many years ahead of their time, and they provide
some of the bedrock for what is written here. Strategic selling (lower
case generic description) is also commonly used today to describe
similar selling ideas and processes, but be very careful not to
confuse this with Miller Heiman's registered and protected 'Strategic
Selling® (upper case trademark) sales training methods and
products.

The American Miller Heiman organization uses the term Strategic

Selling® to describe its own particular sales training methods and
products, first published in the Miller Heiman book Strategic
Selling® in 1985, and more recently updated and revised in The
New Strategic Selling® by Stephen Heiman, Diane Sanchez and Tad
Tuleja (1995 and later revisions). See the books below, see the
explanations of the strategic selling terminology in the glossary
above, and see the Miller Heiman copyright details.

The explanation in this section is concerned with 'open plan

selling' and 'strategic selling' (lower-case generic
descriptive in the sense of selling strategically), and is not
an attempt to summarise or describe Miller Heiman's sales
training methods or products in any way. For that you'll
need to buy the books or the Miller Heiman materials, and a
licence as well if you seek to sell or provide Miller Heiman
products.

open plan selling and strategic selling

(lower case descriptive)
Open plan selling is in many ways a completely different approach
to the old prescriptive and relatively rigid Seven Steps of the Sale,
and the Professional Selling Skills model, that began in the 1960's.
Open plan selling is also more advanced than most consultative
selling methods being practiced today, largely because of the
strategic aspects of the open plan approach.

Open plan selling is especially suited to the business-to-business

major accounts selling function - which is now the principle domain
of the field-based sales person (because field-based sales people
are very expensive people and low-value business can't recover
their costs). However, the open plan selling principles - not the full-
blooded structure - can and should be readily adapted for all other
types of selling, including even telesales (selling by telephone).

In modern business-to-business selling, successful sales people and

organizations provide a tailored product or service which delivers a
big measurable strategic improvement to the customer's own
businesses. This implies that the customer contact should be a
strategic buyer - usually at least a director, or in a small company
the finance director or CEO. Nobody lower in the organization has
the necessary authority and budget.
The only way to develop tailored strategic offerings is by
researching the market and understanding the customer's business,
which means the sales person must understand business, and be
comfortable talking at director level. When you do business at this
strategic level you are at a higher level than your competitors, who
are still selling ordinary products and services to middle managers
and buyers without true authority. Selling strategically takes time -
time to train sales people, and time for selling opportunities to be
identified and researched.

The open plan or strategic selling (lower case - not Miller Heiman)
process and summary below assumes a major account scenario,
whose size and complexity let's say does not enable a sales
proposal to be formulated at the first meeting.

For smaller-scale opportunities the middle stages numbers 4 to 7

are effectively compressed or leap-frogged so that the formulation
of the proposal and its presentation happens at the first
appointment (stage 3) or soon after it.

open plan selling process:

1. research and plan - market sector, prospect, and

decide initial approach
2. make the appointment
3. attend appointment to build rapport and
credibility, gather information about business
needs, aims and process, and develop/agree a
project/product/service specification
4. agree survey/audit proposal (normally
applicable)
5. carry out survey/audit (normally applicable)
6. write product/service proposal
7. present proposal
8. negotiate/refine/adapt/conclude agreement
9. oversee fulfilment/completion
10. feedback/review/maintain ongoing relationship

open plan selling in summary:

research and plan - open plan selling - step 1

In open plan selling, research and planning is a very important part

of the process. The bigger the prospect organization or potential
sale, the more planning and preparation is required. Major accounts
need extensive researching before any serious approach is made to
begin dialogue with an influencer or decision-maker. This is to
enable the sales person to decide on the best initial approach or
opening proposition. Implicit in this is deciding what is likely to be
the strongest perceived organizational benefit that could accrue
from the product or service in question, as perceived by the person
to be approached (different people have different personal and
organizational views and priorities). Generally it is best to
concentrate on one strong organizational benefit. A benefit-loaded
'catch-all' approach does not work, because it's impossible to make
a strong impact while promoting lots of different points - people
respond most to a single relevant point of interest (see the
advertising tricks of the trade for more detail on this).

Assuming a large account is being targeted, the sales person must

acquire as much as reasonably possible of the following information
about the prospect organization:

• the organization's size and shape (turnover, staff types and

numbers, sites, management and corporate structure,
subsidiaries and parent organization)
• strategy and trading situation (main business aims, issues,
priorities, trends of business and sector, a profile of the
organization's customers and competitors, and what the
company considers important for its own customers)
• current and future demand, volume, scale for the
product/service in question
• current supply arrangements and contract review dates
• decision-making process (who decides, on what basis, when
and how)
• decision-makers and influencers (names, positions,
responsibilities and locations)
• the organization's strategic implications, threats and
opportunities that the product/service in question
affects or could affect (in terms of the organization's
strategic aims, operating efficiency, product and
service quality, staff reaction and attitudes, and
particularly how the product/service in question affects
or could affect the organization's own competitive
strengths and added value to its own customers)

The final point in bold is the really special part, and obviously
requires a good insight into the prospect's business and market. The
other information is what all good sales people will be trying to
discover, but only the open plan sales person will look for the final
point. The final point is absolutely pivotal to the open plan selling
process. When the sales person moves the dialogue with the
prospect into this area then the sale takes on a completely different
complexion; it completely transcends and surpasses any benefits,
USP's or UPB's, that other sales people might be discussing.

These days it's easier to research and plan for a sales call than it
used to be, because of the wealth of information available in
company brochures, websites and from the organization's own staff,
notably in customer service, press relations, and from the relative
openness of most organizations. Trade journals and trade
associations are other useful information sources for building up a
picture. Depending on the particular product or service, different
people in the prospect organization will potentially be able to
provide company-specific information about important matters such
as contract review dates, purchasing procedures and authority,
even sometimes very useful details of attitudes, politics, the styles
of the key people, and their priorities.

With a sensitive approach it's often possible obtain the trust and co-
operation of somebody in the prospect organization, so as to
provide this information, particularly if the discussion is positioned
as non-threatening, empathic and of some strategic potential for the
prospect. The rules of AIDA apply even to this information gathering
element alone.

The secretaries and personal assistants of the influencers and

decision-makers are generally very helpful in providing information
to sales people once an appointment has been made - assuming
they are asked politely and given proper reason - because they
know that a well-informed visitor is more likely to enable a
productive meeting, thereby saving the boss's time. It's often worth
approaching these people for information and guidance even prior
to making the approach for an appointment. Again the justification
needs to be sensitively and professionally positioned.

It's important to strike the right balance between researching prior

to the first appointment, and researching during the first
appointment. The sales person should take advantage of all
information that is obtainable easily and leave the rest to be filled in
at the first meeting - as a rule, prospects respect and respond well
to a well-prepared approach because it shows professionalism, and
allows a relevant and focused discussion. Conversely, a prospect
responds poorly to a 'blind' approach because it suggests a lack of
care and it usually produces a vague, ill-informed discussion, which
wastes time.

A good technique for planning and research is to design a 'pro-

forma' or checklist of items to be researched for new prospects. This
template will be different for each sales organization and product
and maybe sector, but once designed serves as a really useful tool,
 both to gather the right data and to provide the discipline for it to
actually be done.

sample research and planning

(customer/prospect) profile template

organization name

decision-makers, titles, locations, phone

and address data

influencers, titles, locations, phone and

address data

decision-making process information

budgetary issues, inc financial year-end

current supplier(s) and contracts

volume and scale indicators (staff, sites,

users, etc)

special criteria (eg supplier

accreditations)

trading and strategic pointers

the organization's strategic implications,

threats and opportunities that are affected
or potentially affected by the
product/service in question (in terms of
the organization's strategic aims,
operating efficiency, product and service
quality, staff reaction and attitudes, and
particularly how the product/service in
question affects or could affect the
organization's own competitive strengths
and added value to its own customers)

other notes

Having researched and gathered information from various sources,

the sales person is better informed as to how and whom to
approach in the prospect organization.
Generally the first serious approach should be made to a
senior decision-maker, normally the finance director/chief
financial officer or the managing director/CEO. This is
because only these people have the authority to make
important strategic budgetary decisions in the organization;
other managers simply work within prescribed budgets and
strategies established by the FD/CEO.

There are other reasons for planning to make the approach at the
highest strategic level:

If the sales person begins a sales dialogue with a non-decision-

maker, it is very difficult to raise the contact to the necessary higher
level afterwards. This is due to the perfectly normal psychology of
politics and pecking-order in organizations. Everyone, when
presented with a proposition which concerns their own area
responsibility, by a person who reports to them, is prone to the
initial "not invented here" reaction. The reaction of the recipient is
largely dependent not on the nature of the proposal, but upon their
relationship with the proposer.

The sales person's proposition should ideally be based on serious

strategic implications and benefits, which will not typically match
the motives of a lower-ranking influencer.

The sales person must avoid a situation developing where he is

reliant upon someone in the prospect's organization having to 'sell'
the proposition to a decision-maker on the sales person's behalf.
This is because it rarely succeeds, not least due to the 'not-
invented-here' reaction of higher ranking people in the prospect
organization.

make the appointment - open plan selling - step 2

The most important rule about appointment-making is to sell the

appointment and not the product. The sales person must never get
drawn into having to sell the product or service, either in writing or
on the phone, while trying to arrange an appointment. The sales
person cannot sell without first understanding the real issues, and
the real issues may not even be apparent at the first meeting, let
alone before even making an appointment.

Appointment-making is a skill in its own right. Some selling

organizations use canvassers or telemarketing staff to do this for
the sales person, but for large prospects it's useful for the sales
person to combine the appointment-making with the initial
researching activity. When combined in this way it helps to build
initial relationships with helpful people in the prospect organization,
and the sales person can collect additional useful information that
would otherwise be missed or not passed on by a separate
appointment-maker or canvasser.

Introductory letters are a useful and often essential requirement

before an appointment can be made. See the section on
introductory sales letters. Generally the larger the prospect
organization, then the more essential an introductory letter will be.
This is mainly because pa's and secretaries almost always suggest
that any approach to a decision-maker (ie the boss, whose time the
secretary is protecting) be put in writing first. It's simply an
expected part of the process by which credibility and level of
interest is assessed by the prospect.

Remember AIDA - it applies to the appointment-making process as

well. The aim is the appointment not the sale. When telephoning for
an appointment, with or without a prior letter, the sales person
typically must first speak to a switchboard operator or receptionist,
then be put through to the targeted person's secretary or pa.

Bear in mind that the pa is there as a defence for the boss, and
rightly so, or the boss would never get anything done. So for any
approach to succeed in getting through to the boss, the pa must
effectively endorse its credibility. Whether by writing or telephoning,
the reason for wanting to meet must be serious and interesting
enough, which is why researching and understanding the
organization's strategic priorities are so crucial. Generic product and
service approaches do not work because the are not seen to relate
or benefit the prospect's own strategic priorities.

A carefully thought-through UPB (unique perceived benefit) forms

the basis of the appointment approach. If it strikes the right chord
the appointment will be granted. A good introductory letter may win
an appointment without the need even to speak to the decision-
maker. Imagine what happens: the letter is received by the pa. If it
looks interesting and credible and worthy, the pa will show it to the
boss. If the boss is interested, and in the event that the pa keeps
the boss's diary (as is often the case), the boss often instructs the
pa to make an appointment when the phone call from the sales
person is received.

Calling early or late in the day, or at lunchtimes, often enables the

sales person to circumvent the pa, but generally it's best to work
with secretaries and pa's; they are usually extremely capable and
knowledgeable people. They can be immensely helpful, so it's best
to work with them and certainly not to alienate them.
In modern appointment-making, calling out of normal hours is
advisable only in instances where both pa and boss are extremely
difficult to reach during normal working hours.

The sales person's attitude towards the pa is very important.

Imagine a pa who has taken a dislike to a pushy arrogant sales
person - even if the approach is enormously well researched,
relevant and appealing, the pa will for certain tell the boss about the
sales person's attitude, and it is virtually inconceivable for the boss
then to agree to an appointment. The sales person should always
assume that the loyalty and mutual trust between boss and pa are
strong. Most pa's can exert positive influence too; some will even
make appointments for the boss with little reference to the boss, so
there are lots of reasons for a sales person to make a favourable
impression with a pa.

The use of serious-sounding language is important also in

presenting the reason for wanting the appointment. The pa will
generally try to divert the sales person's approach to a less senior
member of staff. By orientating the reason to fit into the contact's
responsibility, there is less chance of the approach being diverted.
So it's important to tailor the approach to fit with the level of, and
functional responsibility of the person being approached for the
appointment.

For example, a managing director's pa will refer anything purely

functional to the functional department concerned, ie., HR issues
will be referred to personnel; IT issues will be diverted to IT
department; sale sales and marketing will be referred to those
departments. The only issues which will win appointments with
MD's, CEO's, or FD's (the main decision-makers) are those which are
perceived to significantly affect or benefit the profit and/or strategy
of the business.

Therefore if the sales person seeks an appointment with one of

these decisions-makers, the approach must be orientated to have a
potentially significant affect or benefit upon profit or strategy.

On occasions, the sales person will not be granted an appointment

with the targeted main decision-maker, but instead will be referred
by them to make an appointment with a lower ranking manager or
director. If this happens it's no problem - the sales person then
proceeds with the MD's or FD's endorsement to develop the
situation with the lower ranking contact. The fact that it's been
referred by the MD or FD gives the sales person vital authority and
credibility.

Being referred down is fine; but trying to refer upwards for eventual
purchase authorisation or budgetary approval is nearly impossible,
which is why appointment-making should always aim high, with a
strategically orientated proposition.

Avoid scripts - everyone recognises and reacts against a script. Just

be your honest self. You must, however, smile and mean it. If you
don't feel like smiling, then don't do any sales calling - do some
paperwork instead until you cheer up. If you rarely cheer up then
you should get out of selling, because unhappy people can't sell.
You must also smile on the phone, because words spoken with a
smile or a grimace sound different, and people can tell which is
which. Just say "Hello, I'm/this is (first and last name), from (your
organization), can I take a couple of minutes of your time please?",
or "are you okay to talk for a minute?"

Let your personality shine through - don't force it, don't try to be
someone that you're not, just be you. If you are door-knocking and
personal cold-calling - which is only recommended for smaller
prospects - be professional, enthusiastic and straight-forward. Resist
any temptation to employ gimmicks, jokes and flashing bow-ties -
your credibility will be undermined before you even open your
mouth.

Some trainers talk about PMA - Positive Mental Attitude - and

suggest that this is some kind of magic that anyone can simply turn
on and off at will. For all but the most experienced practitioners of
self-hypnosis or neuro-linguistic programming, this is nonsense. If
you're not feeling good, don't force it or you'll waste the call and
feel worse. Just wait until you're in the right mood and everything
will be fine.

Sales people were, and still are, taught to use an alternative close
when making appointments, eg., "What's best for you, Tuesday
morning or Thursday afternoon?..." This can be quite insulting to
another person, who'll have heard the technique about a thousand
times just in the past week, so it's best avoided these days. Just ask
when would suit best; or initially, "What week are you looking at?..",
and then take it from there.

Don't suggest appointments at 9.00am or 4.30pm, or at lunchtime,

but if they're offered don't quibble.

Here is a simple stage-by stage 'script' for beginning the initial

approach to a new prospective company, through the PA:

telephone sales/telemarketing flexible

'script' for initial sales approach
There is no magic, secret or trickery involved - the process is based
on straight-forward logic, and straight open, honest, professional
language. It also helps to have done some research before-hand
about the company, and to think about what sort of proposition is
likely to be of interest, but do not make assumptions of what needs
or opportunities will arise.

First you'll normally speak to the person on switchboard. Introduce

yourself - full name and company - and ask to be put through to the
PA (personal assistant - or secretary) of the director/VP for the
function that you believe makes the strategic decision about your
offering (if in doubt ask for the PA to the CEO/MD/President/General
manager:

" Hello, this is (your full name) from (your company name) - could
you put me through to the PA for the (relevant function, eg Sales,
Finance, IT, Operations, etc) director/VP, thanks - what is the PA's
name please?" (Ask this last thing while you are being put through -
it will help you to know the PA's name now and in the future should
you call back - this person is there to help his/her boss - don't try to
by-pass him/her - ask for their help - that's their job - to be a vital
link in the communications between their boss and everyone else).

When put through: "Hello, this is (your name) from (your company
name) - is that (name)/are you the PA for the ............. director/VP?
(depending on whether you have the PA's name or not.)

If no, ask when/if he/she is available and if applicable if you can be

transferred to them. If yes -

Ask the PA: "I wonder if you could help me please?"

PA will normally say: "Sure/I'll try/it depends/what's it about?"

You say,"I'd like to submit a strategic proposition to (company)

concerning (briefly describe your area of interest using professional
straight language, but do not go into great detail, and try to use a
description that is unlikely to attract the response: 'we've already
got that covered thanks') - could you tell me to whom I should
initially approach that has a strategic view of this?"

Or:

"I'd like to open dialogue with (company) about (again describe your
area of interest using professional straight language, but do not go
into great detail, and try to use a description that is unlikely to
attract the response: 'we've already got that covered thanks') -
could you advise how best to do this, to whom I should write or
speak, and when's the best time to reach them on the phone
afterwards?"

Or:

"I wonder if you can advise me on what's the best way to find out
who, when and how for (company) determines strategy and decides
solutions and providers in the area of (again, briefly describe your
area of interest using professional straight language, but do not go
into great detail, and try to use a description that is unlikely to
attract the response: 'we've already got that covered thanks')."

And then take it from there - be guided by the PA. Fitting in with
their communications and decision-making processes and systems
is as important as your proposition and service, and the PA is the
best one to help you begin to understand about this.

the appointment - open plan selling - step 3

There are some obvious things to do pre-appointment which can be

overlooked, so here they are:

• establish how long the meeting will last and who'll be there
• confirm the appointment in writing - keep it brief, professional,
and you can even provide an agenda for the meeting, which
shows you've thought about it, and prepares the contact for
what's to come
• gather any more information that you need - the willingness of
the contact's support staff to help will be quite high at this
stage, but don't be a nuisance
• ensure you've prepared everything that you might need for
the meeting - broadly, you must be able meet the
expectations that your contact has for the meeting, mainly
this will be information about the company, its products and
services; maybe relevant case history examples (if any exist -
summaries of successful supply contracts to similar
organizations)
• learn anything you need to know to avoid being late - map
and directions; security gate check-in procedure; car-parking;
journey and travel time - allow sufficient time for delays

The sales person's aims at the first appointment are to

• complete the gaps in the basic research and planning

template, ie the basic company profile (though not necessarily
any mundane points, which could be provided later, but
certainly the strategic information and views)
 • establish personal rapport and trust, and the credibility of the
sales person and the selling organization
• learn about the prospect's business, priorities, problems,
trends and issues, and especially the corporate aims and
objectives of the main decision-maker(s)
• gather relevant information about the strategic needs,
implications and potential benefits linked with the
product/service
• understand the prospect's buying process, including people
and the role of influencers, budgets, timescales, procedures,
internal politics and attitudes, competitors and existing supply
arrangements
• understand the trading preferences of the prospect - purchase
vs lease vs rental - long term partnerships vs short term
contracts - payment, ordering, lead-times, inventory, one-
stop-shop vs dual or multiple supplier arrangements, etc
• agree a way forward that progresses the opportunity in a way
that suits and helps the prospect, in whatever areas of help
that are useful to the prospect

The sales person's aim at this stage is absolutely not to launch into
a full-blown presentation of the product/service features advantages
and benefits. Sales people who do this will be listened to politely,
ushered out and forgotten. (They'll then wonder why the once
attentive, interested prospect afterwards won't return the sales
person's phone calls, let alone agree to another meeting.)

The sales person must be prepared to talk about the relevant

technical aspects and benefits if asked, but typically this will not
happen in major account situations, because the prospect will know
that the sales person is in no position yet to present a relevant
solution or proposition of any kind.

The sales person will be expected to know about and refer to some
examples of how the product/service has produced significant
strategic benefits (profit and/or quality - making money or saving
money) in similar organizations and in similar industrial sectors to
the prospect's organization. This is more proof of the need for good
industry knowledge - beyond product knowledge and FAB's - this is
knowledge about how the prospect's organization could significantly
benefit from the product/service.

It may be also that the sales person is able to convey and interpret
issues of legislation, health and safety, or technology, that have
potential implications for the prospect's organization. This is a great
way to build both credibility and added value for the sales person
and the selling organization.
At the beginning of the appointment explain what you'd like to
achieve - broadly a summary of the points above (essentially to
understand all the relevant issues from a strategic perspective - and
to what end - which is to identify how best to progress the situation
in a way that will be most helpful to the prospect.

And then you're into the questioning phase, which has already been
outlined in the Seven Steps of the Sale.

Where questioning differs in major accounts selling compared to the

style within the Seven Steps, is that the prospect's perspective and
situation are wide and complex, so more care and time needs to be
taken to discover the facts. If the appointment is with a senior
decision-maker the breadth of implications and issues can be
immense. Any product or service can have completely surprising
implications, when an MD or CEO explains their own position. For
example, a purely technical product sale lower down the
organization, where specification and price appear to be the issues,
might have enormous cultural and cultural implications for a CEO. A
new computerised monitoring system for example, would again
simply have price and technical issues for a middle-ranking
technical buyer, but there could be massive health and safety
legislative compliance issues (threats and potential benefits) for the
CEO.

Only by asking intelligent, probing questions (mostly open

questions, and use of the phrase 'why is that') will the issues and
opportunities be uncovered.

Sales people really only need a pad and pen for the great part of the
first meeting (ask if it's okay to take notes - it's a professional
courtesy). The sales person should actually try to adopt the mind-
set and style of an 'expert consultant', specialising in the application
of the particular product or service to the prospect type and
industry concerned - and not behave like a persuasive sales person.
The appointment process and atmosphere should be consultative,
helpful and co-operative. Steven Covey's maxim 'Seek first to
understand before you try to be understood' was never more true.

Senior experienced decision-makers will provide a lot of relevant

information in response to very few questions. Lower ranking
influencers need to be asked more specific questions, dealing with
an issue at a time, and they will often be unable to give reliable
information about real strategic decision-making motives and
priorities, because they simply do not operate at that level.

There is twin effect from asking and interpreting strategic questions:

first, vital information is established; second, the act of doing this
also establishes professional respect, rapport and trust. Combine
these two and the sales person then has a platform on which to
build the next stage.

agree audit or survey - open plan selling step - 4

For anything bigger than a simple small business prospect, normally

the stage after the appointment is to survey, audit or gather
necessary data to be able to produce a sales proposal. Therefore at
the appointment it is important for the sales person to agree the
survey or audit parameters: exactly what is to happen, how it is to
be done, whether a cost is attached (rarely, but can be if significant
expertise and input is required), a completion date, who is to be
involved, and what the output is at the end of it, which is normally a
detailed sales proposal.

The survey will normally take place some time after the
appointment; it would be rare in a large account situation for the
sales person to be able or to be asked to carry out a survey
immediately.

Therefore, after the appointment the sales person needs to

summarise very concisely the main points of the meeting and the
details of the survey, particularly focusing on its purpose and
outputs, from the prospect's viewpoint. This confirmation must
include all necessary parameters to ensure no misunderstandings
develop and that seller's and buyer's expectations match.

The document outlining the survey parameters and aims should be

copied to the relevant people in the seller's and buyer's
organizations.

carry out the survey or audit - open plan selling - step 5

This part of the process will depend on the type of product or

service, and the process of the selling organization. Some will have
dedicated survey staff; in other situations the sales person may
carry out the survey.

For a large prospect organization this survey stage can be

protracted and complex. It may be necessary for reviews during the
survey process to check understanding and interpretation.
Permissions and access may need to be agreed with different sites
or locations in the prospect's organization, and this should all be
managed sensitively by the sales person.
It is essential that the sales person manages this stage properly,
thoroughly and sympathetically. This is because the way that a
survey is conducted serves as a very useful guide to the prospect as
to the potential supplier's quality, integrity and professionalism.

write the product/service proposal - open plan selling - step

6

The sales person is responsible for writing the sale proposal, which
should reflect the findings of the survey.

Some sales organizations have dedicated people who write project

proposals or quotations. In this case the sales person should ensure
that what is written is relevant and concise, factually correct, and
outlines the organizational benefits clearly stemming from the
product or services being proposed.

It may be possible for the sales person to involve an influencer or

decision-maker in the drafting of the proposal, so that it is framed as
suitably as possible to meet the requirements of the prospect
organization. Getting some help in this way is ideal.

Proposals that are necessarily lengthy and very detailed should

begin with an executive summary showing the main deliverables,
costs and organizational benefits.

The sales person should always try to present the sales proposal
personally, rather than send it. The prospect may agree to, or
actually ask for, a presentation to a group of people in the prospect
organization including influencers and decision-makers, which is
ideal.

The sales person should try to avoid any situation where a proposal
is presented on the sales person's behalf in their absence, by an
influencer to the decision-maker(s).

If the open plan process has been applied thus far then it's actually
unlikely that the prospect would not want the sales person's
involvement at the presentation stage.

See the tips on writing.

present the sales proposal - open plan selling - step 7

The aim of the presentation must be based on whatever is the next
best stage for the prospect, not for the seller. Large organizations
will not be pushed, and to try to do so often risks upsetting the
relationship and losing the opportunity altogether.

It may be that just one presentation is required and that approval

can be given there and then, or the sales process may warrant
several more refinements to the proposal and more presentations or
meetings. It could be that the decision-maker is advising and
needing the sales person's help in how to achieve positive approval
for the proposal from the influencers. Or the decision-maker may
have given agreement to the concept already, subject to cost and
being able to implement without disruption. Whatever the aim is,
the sales person needs ensure that the presentation is geared to
achieving it.

The presentation can take place in widely different circumstances,

depending on what suits the prospect.

Groups of influencers and decision-makers need to be handled very

carefully, and the sales person must by now understand the roles
and motives of all the people present, in order to present and
respond appropriately.

The presentation must be professional and concise, whatever the

format. Adequate copies, samples, reference material must be
available for all present.

The sales person must enlist help with the presentation from
colleagues if required and beneficial, which will generally be so for
large complex proposals, in which case all involved must be
carefully briefed as to what is expected of them, overall aims and
fall-backs etc.

The presentation must concentrate on delivering the already agreed

strategic organizational needs. People's time is valuable - keep it
concise and factual - don't waffle - if you don't know the answer to
something don't guess or you'll lose your credibility and the sale for
sure. Preparation is crucial.

See the page on creating and giving presentations.

negotiate/refine/adapt/conclude the agreement - open plan

selling - step 8
In open plan selling it is common for agreement in principle to be
reached before all of the final details, terms and prices are ironed
out, and if the opportunity arises to do this then such as
understanding should be noted and then confirmed in writing.
Moreover, in very complex situations it is certainly advisable to try
to obtain provisional agreement ('conditional agreement' or
'approval for the concept in principal') as soon as the opportunity
arises.

In this event the sales person must agree and confirm the various
action points necessary for the conclusion of the agreement to the
satisfaction of the customer.

A similar process takes place when the prospect seeks to negotiate

aspects of the deal before finally committing. Some situations
develop into negotiations, others into more of a co-operative mutual
working together to agree points of detail. Generally the latter is
more productive and by its nature avoids the potential for
confrontation. However some prospects will want or need to
negotiate, in which case it's essential at this stage to follow the
rules of negotiating.

It's critically important at this point to establish conditional

commitment for the sale in principle, ie., that subject to agreeing
the points to be negotiated, the deal will proceed. Do not begin to
negotiate until you have provisional or conditional agreement for
the sale.

As with the other stages of open plan selling, it's important to adapt
your responses and actions according to what the prospect needs,
especially in meeting their specific organizational needs in the areas
of operating, communicating, processing and implementing the
decision.

Management of the introduction, change, and communication of

implications (specifically training) are all likely to be important (and
often late-surfacing) aspects of the prospect's requirements when
agreeing any major new supply arrangement. So be on the lookout
for these issues and react to meet these needs. The supplier's
ability to anticipate and meet these requirements quickly become
essential facets of the overall package - often extra potential added
value - and actually contain some of the greatest potential
perceived benefits of all.

When the negotiation or agreement is concluded it is the sales

person's responsibility to confirm all the details in writing to all
concerned on both sides. Deals often fall down in the early stage of
implementation through the sales person's failure to do this
properly. Expectations need to be clearly understood to be the same
by both sides at all times.

The modern sales person needs to be an excellent internal

communicator these days (ie., to the selling organization's people,
as well as the prospect's). All big deals will invariably be tailored to
suit the customers needs, and this will entail the sales person being
able to agree and confirm requirements and deliverables with the
relevant departments of the selling organization.

This implies in turn that the sales person has a good understanding
of the selling organization's strategy, capabilities, costs, prices and
margins, so as to know what is realistically achievable, strategically
desirable, and commercially viable. The customer may always be
right, but this does not automatically imply that the supplier should
do everything without question just because the prospect needs it -
often there are limits, and these need to be managed and
explained. (See ways of saying 'no' in the negotiating section.)

oversee the sale's implementation/fulfilment/completion -

open plan selling - step 9

Even if the concluded sale is to be passed on to another department

in the selling organization for implementation, the sales person
must always remain the guardian of that customer and sale. The
sales person will have won the sale partly by virtue of their own
credibility and personal assurances, so it's unforgivable for a sales
person to 'cut and run' (see the derivations section if you're
interested in the origin of this expression).

The sales person must stay in touch with the decision-maker and
give regular updates on the progress of the sale's implementation.
There may be ongoing issues to manage - in fact there will be.

If the implementation is very complex the sale person must ensure

a project plan is created and then followed, with suitable reviews,
adjustments and reporting.

Upon implementation the sales person must check and confirm that
the prospect is satisfied at all levels and at all points of involvement,
especially the main decision-maker and key influencers.
feedback/review/maintain ongoing relationship - open plan
selling - step 10

In many types of business, and especially major accounts selling,

the sale is never actually finally concluded - that is to say, the
relationship and support continues, and largely customers
appreciate and need this enormously. Good sales people build entire
careers on this principle.

Arranging regular reviews are vital for all service-type

arrangements. Customers become disillusioned very quickly when
sales people and selling organizations ceased to be interested,
communicative and proactive after the sale is concluded or the
contract has been set up.

Even for one-off outright sale transactions, with no ongoing service

element, it's essential for the sales person to stay in touch with the
customer, or future opportunities will be hard to identify, and the
customer will likely go elsewhere.

These days, most business is on-going, so it needs looking after and

protecting. Problems need to be anticipated and prevented.
Opportunities to amend, refine, develop and improve the supply
arrangement need to be reviewed and acted upon. This must always
ultimately be the sales person's responsibility - and it should have
been part of the original product offer after all. Even if a whole team
of customer service people are responsible for after sales
implementation and customer care, the sales person must keep a
strategic 'weather eye' on the situation - not to manage day to day
issues, but to ensure that the supply arrangement and relationship
remain high quality, better than the potential competition and
relevant to the customer's needs.

selling strategically - summary of the

open plan selling process
Selling strategically, using an open plan approach requires a lot of
thought and expertise. The rewards are well worth the effort though
- the sales person is seen more as an advisor, and the selling
process becomes more of a co-operation and partnership, which is
altogether much more of a professional and civilised way of doing
business. Sales management methods which are aimed at
increasing a sales team's strategic business development
responsibilities, opportunities and capabilities (as entailed within the
process of selling strategically), generally have good motivational
effects on the sales people, because they enable personal growth,
extra responsibility, and higher level achievements.

1. research and plan - market sector, prospect, and

decide initial approach
2. make the appointment
3. attend appointment to build rapport and
credibility, gather information about business
needs, aims and process, and develop/agree a
project/product/service specification
4. agree survey/audit proposal (normally
applicable)
5. carry out survey/audit (normally applicable)
6. write product/service proposal
7. present proposal
8. negotiate/refine/adapt/conclude agreement
9. oversee fulfilment/completion
10. feedback/review/maintain ongoing relationship

collaboration, facilitation and

partnership selling
Selling through true collaboration, facilitation and partnership
enables the buying processes, and creates a sustainable platform
for supplier and customer to work together. These new theories
represent the most advanced, effective and sustainable selling
methodology today. This is a selling philosophy, beyond skills and
techniques, and a million miles further on from the Seven Steps Of
The Sale. This modern sales ideology - particularly for large
accounts and business-to-business - extends the open plan selling
or strategically-based selling approaches, and to it adds
organizational, facilitative and relationship elements that take
selling to new heights of sophistication and competitive advantage.

Essential components of the new collaborative partnership selling

model are:

• The sales person and selling organization possesses huge

strategic understanding customer's business priorities, needs
and market-place, and obviously how the product or service
relates to these issues to produce or enable significant
strategic benefit for the customer organization.
 • The sales person is likely to be a specialist in, and with huge
knowledge of, a chosen market sector, vertical or horizontal.
• The selling organization is able to offer and manage multiple
peer-to-peer relationships between selling organization and
customer, covering all relevant functions and levels.
• The sales person will be able to use modern facilitative skills
(notably 'Buying Facilitation®', as developed by Sharon Drew
Morgen, the leading thinker and advocate of modern
facilitative selling methods) in order to help the customer
assess and react to the selling/buying process at all stages.
See the super Buying Facilitation® resources available via Ms
Morgen's Businessballs Space profile.

For more details about 'Buying Facilitation®' refer to the work of

selling skills and sales training guru Sharon Drew Morgen, whose
books on facilitative selling are essential reading for all modern
professional sales people, managers and company directors.
Morgen's 'Buying Facilitation®' methods dramatically change and
improve key stages of the open plan selling and strategically-based
selling methods, notably at qualifying stage (establishing early
whether the opportunity is a real potential fit for customer and
supplier); at rapport-building stage (genuinely helping the customer
to find vital answers for him/herself, which becomes a massive
competitive advantage), and throughout the questioning phase
(during which the sales person becomes a facilitator and enabler for
the customer - arguably an organizational development consultant -
helping the buying process). Facilitative methods can also be
reintroduced (as is often necessary) at any time during the later
selling processes if the situation begins to drift from the agreed
purpose, or if communications or understanding are interrupted or
obstacles are encountered. These techniques - pioneered by sales
guru Sharon Drew Morgen - are subtle and yet fundamental. Learn
more about Sharon Drew Morgen and buy her new book called
Buying Facilitation® at her website. You can also see and download
three sample chapters from her Buying Facilitation® e-book free.
(Buying Facilitation® is a trademark of Sharon Drew Morgen.)

The 'facilitative' process (notably that associated with Sharon Drew

Morgen's methodology) typically occurs during the early stages of
whatever organisational sales process that the sales person uses or
the sales training conventionally teaches, however the principles
can be revisited and used at any time necessary during the selling
engagement.

It must be noted however that Sharon Drew's Morgen's

Buying Facilitation® is not a technique to add to
conventional selling methods for the purpose of 'persuading'
or 'influencing' the other person.
The integration of 'facilitative' methods within the
traditional selling process must be accompanied by the
appropriate change in philosophy and 'mind-set'.

Modern selling should not focus on persuasion and

influence. Modern selling should focus on helping the other
person (and other people involved with the buying decision)
to identify their decision-making criteria, and to align the
relevant elements within their organisation or system or
network, so as to assess options, actions, outcomes, etc., so
as then to decide and implement the best way forward.

Please bear this in mind when considering the following, which

seeks to incorporate modern 'facilitative' selling ideas within
traditional selling frameworks.

The planning and preparation stage (step 1 in the 'seven steps)

would then logically include planning and preparation of the
facilitative approach - particularly the preparation of carefully
constructed 'facilitative questions', aimed mainly at helping the
buyer to assess the situation, understand the issues, opportunities,
viability of proceeding further, internal priorities, communications
and decision-making aspects, etc.

In this way, according to Morgen (and she is absolutely correct), the

sales person is acting as a 'trusted advisor'. It's a significant change
of mind-set for the sales person, and for all those involved in sales
training: genuinely helping people, rather than seeing the 'sale' as
the priority. The sale becomes an outcome of helping the other
person, instead of being a course of action that results from
influence or persuasion.

The 'facilitative' process can be re-introduced by the sales-person

whenever the subsequent selling processes falters or threatens to
go off track.

As such these modern ideas - of facilitation especially - are not extra

stages to be 'bolted-on' or added to traditional earlier selling or
sales training structures; they are instead a methodology or
philosophy which can be woven into traditional processes.

For example, the traditional 'seven steps of the sale', updated for
the 21st century, with facilitative methodology added, might
nowadays look like:

the (seven) steps of the sale augmented

with 'facilitative' methods:
 1. planning and/or preparation including
preparation of facilitative questions (research is
also useful to avoid wasting time asking about
things that can be researched first)
2. introduction or opening, using facilitative
questions
3. questioning (obviously using facilitative
questions - helping to identify the buying criteria
- for the good of the buyer, not the sales-person)
4. presentation or proposition (only after prospect
is ready for it)
5. overcoming objections/negotiating - more
appropriately these days using facilitative
questioning and assistance to shape the
proposition, and the prospect's ability (and the
capability of prospect's organisation and
systems) to assess, agree and integrate the
proposition - if you are trying to overcome
objections and persuade and influence at this
stage then something's wrong
6. close or closing - not old style persuasive
'closing' - this should be modern collaborative
cooperative agreement - using facilitative help
where appropriate - complex systems need help
in arriving at good decisions
7. after-sales follow-up - facilitating supplier
fulfilment and client adoption of proposition or
solution - involves plenty of internal selling and
ideally good project management skills - good
sales-people should continue to take
responsibility for checking and ensuring proper
sales follow-through

The above sales process obviously entails a big investment on the

part of the sales person, and the selling organisation. Deciding what
opportunities warrant such investment is therefore an important
part of the process - initially at preparation stage in understanding
the depth and breadth and complexity and value of the opportunity,
and also at the level of sales strategy in determining relevant
prospect identification and qualification criteria, with particular
reference to likelihood of success.

The amount of research conducted prior to contact with prospective

customer should reflect the value of the opportunity, which is
normally related to the size of the prospect organisation, and the
typical sales or contract order value. The bigger the opportunity and
complexity, the more research is warranted and necessary.
Research should be confined to the clear available facts and
background information and should not lead the sales person to
making assumptions, which defeats the point of using facilitative
methods.

This selling and sales training model is more appropriate for

business-to-business selling (B2B) than consumer markets because
of the higher values and greater complexities involved with B2B
selling. However, some aspects of these ideas and methods are
certainly applicable to 'consumer' selling (B2C) and will be more so
where order values are significant, and where buying decisions are
more complex and protracted, for example in selling property and
large financial products.

As implied in points 5 and 7 particularly, the sales person should

possess strong 'internal selling' capabilities, since much of the
facilitative process involves shaping responses and communications
and services from the supplier organisation. Significantly, facilitative
processes and methods can be used to excellent effect in achieving
these things - inside the sales person's organisation, as well as in
the customer's organisation. In many situations, especially large-
scale B2B selling, the sales-person's facilitative involvement and
'reach' must necessarily extend to partner organisations of the
customer, since these are all part of the system that needs to be
able to assimilate the eventual solution.

The modern sales person's role is one of coordinating and

facilitating an effective sustainable 'fit' between two very
complex systems: the supplier's and the customer's. Sales
people who can do this possess the greatest selling ability of all. It's
useful therefore to incorporate this principle within sales training if
you are seeking to build - or help someone else build - a truly
effective and sustainable sales organisation.

"Always the beautiful answer which asks a more beautiful question."

(Edward Estlin Cummings, 1894-1962, poet, written in 1938,

adapted for modern times - Cummings originally used the word
'who' instead of 'which'.)

Again, please remember - Sharon Drew's Morgen's Buying

Facilitation® is not a technique to add to conventional
selling methods for the purpose of 'persuading' or
'influencing' the other person. The integration of
'facilitative' methods within the traditional selling process
must be accompanied by the appropriate change in
philosophy and 'mind-set'.
The aim is to help people, instead of trying to persuade and
influence them.

tips for gaining selling experience and

learning sales skills (for people new
to selling or seeking to teach
themselves sales skills for a career in
selling)
If you want to learn selling skills for your own personal purposes,
especially if you want to start a career in selling, here are some tips
on how best to acquire and teach yourself selling skills, and gain
valuable sales experience that will help you in interviews for sales
jobs, or perhaps to start your own business.

First improve your understanding of which type(s) of learning and

communications styles that you find most effective - look at the
Gardner's Multiple Intelligence theory, and the VAK learning styles
and Kolb model to get an idea of your own preferred thinking,
communicating and learning styles. This will give you good
indications as to your most effective selling style as well. Do
you prefer to watch (films, videos, other people demonstrating sales
and selling)? Do you prefer to experience it, hands on? Do you
prefer to read about it (books, online learning and training like the
articles above)? Do you prefer to listen (attend talks, lectures, listen
to audio-tapes or CD/DVD sales courses)? Do you prefer for
example: system and process, numbers and logic, people and
feelings, facts and figures, concepts and ideas? Understand your
own personality and strengths.

The understanding of thinking and learning styles is also a very

useful sales skill in its own right. In learning about your own style,
you will appreciate that other people each have their own preferred
styles for learning and communicating and receiving information.
This relates strongly to the style in which people prefer to receive
sales information from a sales person. By learning about this, you
have already begun to increase your selling capability - because you
are increasing your appreciation of how and why people prefer to
make decisions and to buy.

Then consider cost and feasibility of sales training and learning

options that meet your most ideal method(s). Research what is
available. Much is free or very low cost. Research is also a very
important part of the selling skill set.
If you like to read about selling there is a wealth of sales training,
selling techniques and related theory information on the internet for
free. Books are actually very inexpensive given all that they contain,
especially if second-hand, borrowed from friends or from a library.
Read all you can about behaviour and communications. Subscribe to
sales and selling newsletters, especially to the many good free e-
newsletters available from sales and selling websites, and other
websites relating to behaviour, business, marketing and
communications.

Read the newspapers and business supplements which contain

articles about sales and selling. Sales is not just about selling. Sales
is about people and relationships, business and marketing,
psychology and communications, self-confidence and attitude,
belief, ethics and trust, information, quality, equipment, processes,
and all of life. Learning opportunities for improving your
understanding of selling are all around you, everywhere, on the
internet, in books, magazines and articles.

If you like to listen and watch: observe sales people in selling roles -
in stores, at exhibitions, and especially when they call at your door,
or call you on the phone. Give them time to show you how they sell.
Learn from the good and less good things that you see other sales
people exhibiting. It's easy to judge whether selling is good or not:
did it result in a positive experience or a sale? Or did it result in a
negative experience and a feeling that the prospective customer
and the seller will never speak again?

Get yourself onto the mailing lists of the sales training

organisations. Business and training exhibitions and magazines are
very useful for identifying relevant providers and for adding your
name to their mailing lists. Look out for free seminars which they
use to promote their courses. Attending business and training
exhibitions is a good way to meet people in the sales community, to
observe sales people a work, and to add your name to their mailing
lists.

Attend talks and lectures or courses about selling - many are very
low cost - some are free. You will hear about them if you are on the
mailings lists of organisations providing them. Also contact your
local business chamber or local government business support unit
for information about such events.

Observe politicians and business people being interviewed on TV;

they demonstrate good and not so good sales techniques when they
attempt to persuade, build credibility, answer questions, overcome
objections, etc.
Join a debating society. Observe how people 'sell' their ideas and
propositions - again you will be able to judge what is effective and
what is not. Give yourself experience in public speaking and
debating.

Offer to give presentations to local voluntary groups, schools,

anywhere that you can practice, learn and get experience of giving
presentations. Capability to speak and give sales presentations to
groups is largely a question of experience and confidence. This
comes from having done it. So start now.

If you like to listen and learn, especially while driving, buy or borrow
sales training and communications audio-tapes and CDs and DVDs.
Sales and selling learning is not limited to sales techniques - listen
to anything about communications and behaviour, personal
development and confidence, goals and aims, relationships and
psychology, ethics and philosophy, process and systems, equipment
and ICT (information and communications technology), marketing
and business. All these areas directly relate to and give depth to
your sales and selling capabilities.

Aside from all this there is no substitute for experience - actually

selling something..

And you do not need anyone to give you a sales job in order to start.
Do it for yourself.

This type of learning is the most valuable and well-respected (by

future potential employers) of all. And it's free.

Start your own modest sales business - working from home. You'll
even make some money from the activity. Start a home business
and sell to local consumers and/or business people, depending on
your chosen product service. It doesn't matter what it is as long as
you have an interest in it and enjoy it, and preferably that it has a
reasonable demand and competitive advantage. Of course avoid
ridiculous pyramid investment schemes - many exist that
exploit people's inexperience and people's desire to get into
selling - so be on your guard against these outrageous
scams. Do not be persuaded to part with money for stock or
the purchase of a franchise or territory, unless you are
absolutely sure about what you are doing, and even then, get
advice from someone older and wiser.

If you decide to start your own small sales business - which I urge
you to do if you cannot get the experience elsewhere - think
carefully about what you want to sell, to whom, and how. Start
simply and modestly. Choice of what product/service to sell, and
what market to sell to, are also important parts of the selling
capability, and so this will also give you valuable experience in
choosing good products or services that are worthy of your sales
efforts and personal endorsement. You must believe in what you are
selling. Look at the marketing section to help you decide what to sell
and to whom. Perhaps become an agent for a door to door sales
organisation. Perhaps do some telesales work. Start modestly, start
learning, and you will have started selling. You will soon develop
skills, experience, and confidence that will be desirable to many
sales employers, although you might quickly decide that you like
the feeling of running your own sales business, and from then on
you will never need to find a sales job with an employer, since you
have created one of your own. To be successful in selling does not
necessarily require an employed sales position. You can do it for
yourself if you want to.

Selling is after all mostly how you feel about yourself, and making
things happen for yourself. So feel good, and go make something
happen.

successful selling goes beyond 'sales

training'
Selling and sales training ideas, courses, programmes, products,
etc., are just part of the picture.

Modern selling requires understanding and capabilities that extend

way beyond traditional 'sales training' skills.

Modern selling is about life, people, business (and increasingly

ethical business and corporate responsibility), communications,
behaviour, personality and psychology, self-awareness, attitude and
belief. Selling is about understanding how people and systems work,
and enabling good outcomes. (By 'systems' I mean organisations
and processes and relationships, not just systems in the sense of
tools and IT.)

Sales training of course addresses some of these issues, but not all
of them.

So consider and learn about other aspects of modern business,

management, and self-development that interest you, and extend
this principle to your people if you are a sales manager or coach.

Develop your experience and understanding of organisations,

management and business - beyond sales training alone - and you
will greatly increase your value and effectiveness to employers and
clients, and to the organisational and business world generally.

The more you understand about how people think, how

organisations work and how they are managed, the more effective
you will be.

Look beyond sales training and selling, and strive to become an

enabler and a facilitator of good outcomes. This is the role of the
modern sales-person. It's a highly valuable, sought-after and
transferable capability.

See the many other concepts and materials on the main

businessballs website, if you are not already there.

selecting sales training providers and

sales training programs
There are many different ways to obtain sales training, for yourself,
for your sales team and for sales managers.

The template below will help you create a specification and

selection process to find the right training methods and providers,
and to maximise the agreement and commitment among your team
and others involved.

The material above provides useful explanation about different

methods of sales and selling, which reflects the many different sales
training methods, courses, providers and programs available.

For example see the many interesting sales training providers

featured on the free Space on Businessballs.

(If you are a sales training provider you can create a profile and
presence for yourself on the Space. It's free.)

See also the theory, tips and examples for training development,
teambuilding, and motivation.

When you select your sales training methods and providers it helps
to follow a process - and ideally to create a training specification -
rather than working purely from instinct. Here are some simple
training selection guidelines, in the form of a checklist template, for
specifying and choosing sales training courses, sales training
programs, methods and providers.
 You can of course adapt this template as a checklist and process for
selecting any other training providers or support outside of sales
training. These principles apply for selecting any sort of team
development, training or support.

sales training specification and

selection and template

your answers or
main question issues and factors comments - cover all
relevant points

1. What must your sales Be able to write this down in the

training achieve? form of a specification using this
template.
Get input from those with an
interest in the sales training
(stakeholders).
Agree this specification with your
boss and other stakeholders.
What will the sales training 'look
like' and 'be like'?
What difference will it make?
How will you know if it has
worked?

2. Who are the Who is affected by the training?

stakeholders? Who needs to have some input
into what it aims to achieve and
how?
What do the trainees and other
stakeholders want?

3. What are the For making the decision?

timescales? For communicating it?
For the training?
For the follow-up?
For the period of impact and
assessment?

4. What is your budget? Per head?

Total?
Cost breakdown: venue,
accommodation, materials, design,
 delivery, evaluation and
assessment?
Cost of people's time and travel?
Cost as a percentage of improved
performance?

6. How will you How will your boss measure it's

measure the success of success?
your sales training? How will your people measure it?
This must be clear and truly
measurable.
The Kirkpatrick model is a
wonderfully simple, easy and
highly regarded method of
identifying and evaluating training
aims and effectiveness. It is
especially useful for sales training.
Preferably the cost must be
understood in terms of the extra
sales and profits that are expected
to be derived from the investment.
If expectations are vague then you
will not know that the training has
been successful, and you will not
be able to hold the provider or the
sales training program responsible
for clear deliverables and
outcomes.

7. What are the Don't guess - ask the trainees -

preferred learning styles involve them in finding out.
of the sale trainees? Use the free VAK and/or multiple
intelligence tests.

8. What are the In light of the above, how would

characteristics that your you describe your ideal sales
sales training provider training provider and/or methods?
or method must Consider the values and
possess? philosophy right through to the
materials, media, size and scale,
delivery and follow-up, and type
of service and contact you expect?
Consider also how the providers
will measure and report to you on
the progress of the training.
What flexibilities to change dates
and numbers exist?
What are your contractual
 commitments?
What are the payment
arrangements?
What certification or
accreditations must apply to the
provider, and also to the training
outcomes.

9. Where can you find Referrals?

suitable sales training Directories and listings?
providers? Past providers who have been
successful and well-liked?
Suggestions from your team?
Universities - seek out the leading-
edge?
Writers and gurus - aim high -
many great people are actually
very approachable and not as
costly as you might fear.
How much can the team itself
provide? Everyone has something
to teach - and people enjoy being
given the chance to teach and
inspire others.
Other sister companies and
divisions?
Your customers? Buyers and
Directors of your customers are
potentially very enthusiastic and
very capable teachers of your sales
people - and this of course helps
develop great relationships too.

10. How can you assess Referrals and recommendations?

the quality and Case-studies?
suitability of potential Demonstration or guarantees of
sales training providers? return on investment?

11. Can your shortlisted Try to achieve buy-in from your

providers meet your team and offer involvement to
people to see what they them in the selection and decision
make of each other? process?
Is the provider happy to speculate
time getting to know your people,
and helping to ensure there is a
good fit?

12. Other points? Ask the potential providers and

 your team to suggest any other
important considerations before
selecting your methods and
providers.

selling books and authors referenced on

this page
Sharon Drew Morgen - Buying Facilitation® (ebook - 2003) - will
fundamentally change the way you sell - and communicate with
people.

Sharon Drew Morgen - Selling with Integrity (1997) - powerful ideas

for the modern age.

Sharon Drew Morgen - Sales on the Line (1993) - the best book ever
on telephone selling? Probably.

Neil Rackham - SPIN Selling® - Neil Rackham's best-selling book on

selling, SPIN® Selling, which first announced the SPIN® Selling
process. There are different editions and prices (1988 and 1995)
and audio books.

Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale

Carnegie's 1937 classic book How to Win Friends and Influence
People is still a best-selling book on sales and persuasion. You'll
benefit by augmenting the thinking within it with the modern ideas
about facilitative communications and methods.

Heiman, Sanchez, Tuleja - The New Strategic Selling - The 1985

classic selling book (Strategic Selling) 'introduced' the win-win
concept of selling, updated for the 21st century as The New
Strategic Selling®. Again, you'll benefit by augmenting the thinking
within it with modern facilitative ideas.

Miller, Heiman, Tuleja - Successful Large Account Management -

Miller Heiman's 1991 LAMP® large account management and selling
methodology classic, again, updated for the modern age. Again,
you'll benefit by augmenting the thinking within it with modern
facilitative ideas.

selling books and authors referenced on

this page
Sharon Drew Morgen's Buying
Facilitation - direct from her
website. Available as an e-book,
paperback book or audio book.

It will take you 90 minutes to

absorb it and could change the
way you think about sales for
ever.