Nick Constable - Selling

The experts tell all!

Cover Page

Title Page Selling Secrets The experts tell all!

The secrets of successful selling

How and why people buy

1.1 Sell positive change

1.2 Understand value

1.3 Know the selling cycle

1.4 Build trust and respect

1.5 You are the difference

Selling to the right people

2.1 Understand your customer

2.2 Understand their organization

2.3 Know the roles that buyers play

2.4 Identify the agents of change

2.5 Get access to authority

Generating new business

3.1 Pick the right prospects

3.2 Make a prospect list

3.3 Plan your sales campaign

3.4 Play the numbers game

3.5 Try telephone prospecting

3.6 Create your 60-second pitch

3.7 Develop your telephone tactics

3.8 Overcome your reluctance

3.9 Handle objections

3.10 Keep yourself motivated

Meeting the customer

4.1 Plan your sales visit

4.2 Make a great first impression

4.3 Adapt your style

4.4 Telling isn’t selling

4.5 Questioning is a powerful tool

4.6 Remember to SPEND!

4.7 Be a business doctor

4.8 Qualify the opportunity

4.9 Silence is golden

4.10 Move things forward

Making your pitch

5.1 Build a business case

5.2 Write a great proposal

5.3 Present in style!

5.4 Structure your presentation

5.5 Take care with offers and discounts

5.6 Add some sparkle

Gaining commitment

6.1 Prepare for negotiation

6.2 Negotiate the deal

6.3 Price is just one variable

6.4 Spot the buyer’s tactics

6.5 Handle the competition

6.6 Ask for the business

6.7 Overcome the final obstacles

6.8 Know when to retreat

6.9 Know what to do after you’ve sold

6.10 Manage your customer

The right attitude

7.1 Prepare and persist

7.2 Define your success

7.3 Manage yourself

7.4 Develop your creativity, enthusiasm and drive

Jargon buster

Further reading

Useful websites

About the author

Copyright

About the Publisher

A few years ago, when the world of business was gripped by the Internet boom, it was fashionable to predict an end to traditional selling done by humans. Michael Dell, to name but one, was showing the world how to sell complex technology on a website. The tantalizing prospect of doing away with expensive salespeople was seriously entertained.

But 10 years on, professional selling is just as vital to the conduct of good business as it ever was. And over the 25 years that I have been selling, the skills and techniques have evolved with the development of technology and markets. It’s a highly sophisticated profession.

I’ve been a successful salesperson, a sales manager and a sales director for companies large and small, and I’ve been able to observe the very best and the worst in sales practices. Selling isn’t, as some will tell you, all about instinct. As I’ve seen when running my training courses, if you learn the techniques and skills that have been proven to work, and then develop the right attitude, you too can be one of the best.

This book will share 50 of the fundamental secretsof how to excel in this exciting profession, whilst, I hope, having some fun and building some great relationships with those you meet, along the way. The 50 secretsare divided into seven chapters:

How and why people buy. If you understand the real motivations people have for buying, you’re half-way to becoming a smarter salesperson.

Selling to the right people. Don’t waste your valuable time with the wrong people. Learn how to identify the ones who will buy.

Generating new business. No business can grow without finding and winning new clients. Learning to do this for yourself will make you a ‘self-sufficient’ salesperson.

Meeting the customer. Selling is about human interaction and behaviours. The precious time you spend with customers is when those things matter most.

Making your pitch. Whether you’re writing a proposal or delivering your presentation, there’s a lot to think about to make your offer compelling.

Gaining commitment. Reaching a satisfactory agreement, whilst negotiating the obstacles, takes patience and planning.

The right attitude. Your success will depend on your willingness to develop the personal motivation and desire to win.

You might be completely new to sales, or an old-timer like me, but I am certain that if you follow the tips and techniques in this book you will see the positive effect on your own achievements!

Selling relies on a set of professional skills that will improve with practice and persistence.

In this first chapterwe are going to explore how and why people buy. Even the smallest transactions rely to some extent on the trust and respect between the seller and the buyer. Understanding the motivations people have for investing their money with you is the first step on the road to learning the behaviours and skills that create great business relationships.

Let’s start not by considering what you need to do to become a great salesperson, or how good your products or services need to be; let’s start by thinking about customers, and the real reasons why they might spend their money with you: it’s often little to do with the technical excellence of your product, but because they want to change something.

It has always surprised and amused me that there are so many business people out there who think selling is a science, and want to find (or be sold) a mechanical formula which will always work. Actually, although there are indeed proven techniques and methods that you can learn, selling is much more of an art – it’s about behaviours, emotions, communication and people.

Buyers are just people like you and me, and if they are to be persuaded or helped to make a purchase from you, they have to feel that the result for them will be some kind of positive change – in their lives, or in their company’s life.

one minute wonderRemember that in a business context, nearly all positive change will ultimately boil down to some kind of improvement in working practice. Spend a minute to think about how you can help your customers save money or earn more money. How can you save them time, effort or resources with what you’re offering?

Let’s look at a simple example, and imagine that you are thinking about buying a new mobile phone. You’ve seen lots of the latest models in adverts, but they’re expensive, and up until now you haven’t been in any rush. Your current phone still works OK, so why spend money on a new one? That new phone will have to offer something which will improve your life in some way.

For example, you might want to pick up email on the move and you can’t do that today. You’re not buying a phone, but the positive change in the way you can communicate. Later, we’ll look at how a great salesperson might have helped you to see how important that positive change is to you.

Every successful sale happens because the buyer comes to believe the product or service will make a positive impact.

It’s amazing how many people think that selling is just about the product and its price. Offer something with a fancy new feature at an attractive price and it will sell itself. But that’s just marketing, not selling. Value is the most important concept in selling.