SET YOUR SALES
The Selling Process
WHY LEARN ABOUT THE SELLING
PROCESS?
 Brings products to you, either directly or through the businesses
 Most salespeople follow the same basic selling process
 It varies greatly from product to product.
WHY IS SELLING IMPORTANT?
 Salespeople appear organized, gaining customer confidence.
 The process ensures that customers’ needs and wants are met.
 An efficient, effective sales process may increase company profits.
SIX PHASES OF THE SELLING PROCESS
 -No one, single, correct selling process works for all situations.
 -These phases include:
1-Preparing to sell
2-Establishing relationships with customers
3-Discovering customer needs
4-Prescribing solutions to customer needs
5-Reaching closure
6-Reaffirming buyer-seller relationships
PHASE ONE: PREPARING TO SELL
 No salesperson can sell without
preparation.
 Salesperson must acquire
knowledge about the product.
 Identify the product’s features
and benefits.
 Generate and qualify sales
leads.
-Find potential customers
-Determine needs or
wants and the ability to
buy.
PHASE TWO: ESTABLISHING
RELATIONSHIPS WITH CUSTOMERS
 The completion of a sale is largely determined by the first few minutes
that the salesperson spends with his/her customers.
 Salespeople can use their initial contact time with customers to:
-Put customers at ease
-Encourage customers to want to hear about the product(s)
-Gain customer confidence
-Create favorable impressions of themselves and the business
 Your job is to try to determine what buying decisions have been made
by the customer.
 Look for clues to the customer’s personality, including:
-General appearance
-Dress
-Nonverbal signs
PHASE THREE:
DISCOVERING CUSTOMER NEEDS
 -When customers do not know precisely what they want to buy, the
salesperson must be prepared to discover their needs through skillful
questioning and careful listening.

-Asking the customer questions

-Listening to the answers

-Observing customer reaction

-Analyzing customer reactions and comments
 Assessing customer needs is also important because it:

-Reduces the amount of selling time required

-Reduces dissatisfaction and customer returns
 -Allows salespeople to serve more customers, leading to greater
potential profits for their firm and greater potential commission for
themselves
DIAGNOSIS CUSTOMERS NEEDS
-A doctor diagnosing patients’ illnesses
-A car mechanic
 recommend a specific product that meets the customer’s needs.
PHASE FOUR: PRESCRIBING SOLUTIONS
TO CUSTOMER NEEDS
 Offer solutions
 Includes the sales presentation, the sales talk and the product
demonstration.
 The sales talk:
-Convince the customer of the benefits
-Translate product features into benefits
A GOOD PRODUCT DEMONSTRATION
 Create interest
 Allow the customer to interact/become involved in the selling process
 Ask questions
 Discuss important points
 Get the product into customers’ hands to show them how it works
BASIC GUIDELINES FOR PRESCRIBING
SOLUTIONS TO NEEDS:
1-
Sell the benefits of the product rather than its features
2-
Show the customer a limited number of products to avoid
confusion, no more than three
3-
Show only products that relate to the customers’ specific needs
4-
Concentrate on the main item of the interest to close the sale
PHASE FIVE: REACHING CLOSURE
 Many salespeople feel that the closing actually has two purposes:
 Identifying any remaining objections (resistance) the customer may have
 Getting the order
OBJECTIONS
 An objection is a question or concern raised by customers after they
have been shown a product
 Salespeople should anticipate objections
 Learn to use them to their advantage in a sales presentation
SOME TIPS FOR HANDLING OBJECTIONS
ARE:
 Welcome them—
 clearing up objections can serve as a chance for you to demonstrate your knowledge and further
solidify the product’s benefits.
 Listen from the customer’s point of view to identify the real objection.
 Restate the objection to be sure that you understand it.
 Answer and overcome each objection completely, without arguing with the
customer or losing your poise.
 Review customer benefits.
 Try to develop customer conviction for the product.
WHEN ARE CUSTOMERS SATISFIED?
 They often give off signals that the time has come to close the sale.
 These signals may be direct statements
 “This is just what we need”
 Nonverbal signs such as closing and stacking product literature.
CLOSE IS A LOGICAL COMPLETION
 Customers are moved to the point where they are convinced the
product meets their needs, and they wish to purchase.

PHASE SIX: REAFFIRMING BUYER-SELLER
RELATIONSHIPS
 The salesperson is responsible for helping customers feel confident with
their purchase decisions.
 Salespeople can follow up
 Reassure customers that they have not been sold something that they
do not need.
TECHNIQUES TO FOLLOW UP THE SALE
 1-Reassuring the customer that his/her choice was wise
 2-Using suggestion selling—recommending complementary products
 3-Answering any lingering questions the customer may have
 4-Explaining the sales contract fully
 5-Checking on or being present when the product is delivered
 6-Supervising installation or adjustment of the product—
 7-Training the customer’s personnel in the use or sale of the product—
 8-Calling the customer to ensure s/he is satisfied