Getting to ‘Like’

A new look at sales skills

On a bookshelf over-stuffed with business and MBA-related reading, it seems I have missed a gem. Robert Cialdini, a respected author and academic, talked about his book ‘Influence – Put the Power of Persuasion to Work for Your Business’ last week at the ‘BOOKED for Lunch’ webinar hosted by the Australian Businesswomen’s Network. While I didn’t hear it myself (not the target market I guess!), I’ve had a fascinating conversation about it with an attendee since.

Robert’s lifetime of research has centred on the science of influence – persuasion, compliance and negotiation. While I don’t claim to be an expert in these fields, I know a little about these too.  Our expert trainers run certifications in sales and marketing at academy, my current degree covers this material and, frankly, like most businesses, we practice it too.

It’s nice to hear something new.  Or, at least, a new way of looking at something old.  When discussing the way Facebook has changed people as ‘fans’ into people electing to ‘Like’ you (or your brand), Robert’s insightful comment was along these lines…

It’s well known that the first rule of sales is to get them to like you. This is why the Facebook button is so interesting. People are actually saying they like you.  Job done.  Or not… actually Robert contends that this is actually the second rule of sales.

The first rule is that people are more likely to buy from you if they know you like them. Isn’t that fascinating? So perhaps before spending time and energy selling yourself, you need to find what you like about the person and make sure they know it.

This doesn’t have to be as mercenary as it may sound. Indeed, I think it’s an excellent rule for life, not just selling whatever your business sells.  Start with the other person. Make sure they feel liked. It’s basically active listening, isn’t it?

The academy sales and marketing course lingers over the sales quadrant, or grid. This is a way of looking at the selling opportunity from four perspectives… the buyer’s problem, what the buyer thinks the solution is, your view of the problem and your view of the solution.  Of course the one you cannot lose sight of is the buyer’s view of the solution… and I’m betting if you understand that, you probably already have ‘like’ in your favour.

As for me? I ‘like’ Robert’s ideas enough to buy – and read – the book.  Influence at work indeed.

Selling as a Component of a Marketing Plan

When you cut right to the chase, the point of marketing is to generate sales leading to income and eventually profits. Knowing this you would think all companies would focus on the interactions between company staff and customers because, as they say, customers are the lifeblood of the business. Without customers and sales, there is simply no business.

All too often organisations see selling as the responsibility of the sales department or the telemarketing centre, and everyone else working for the business is in a strictly supportive role. This is an unfortunate viewpoint that can limit the ability of the organisation to grow and thrive. Selling is an integral component of a marketing plan which covers everything from direct customer contact to customer service.

What is important to realise is the fact customer service is a function of every single department within the organisation. For example, in the finance or credit departments, employees frequently talk to customers on the phone or communicate through email concerning payments on accounts. How efficiently and productively the communication is handled can have a direct bearing on whether that customer ever does business with the company again.

From that perspective, the accounts receivable clerk is a sales person when she discusses a past due amount on a bill. Senior management are sales persons every time they attend a professional meeting. The examples could go on and on. Each contact a member of the organisation has outside the business is a form of a “sales call”.

Selling and Marketing Make Great Teamwork

Selling involves a number of marketing tactics.

• Generating customer leads
• Presentations
• Promotions distribution
• Customer research and surveys
• Selling plans
• Analysis of competitor demographics
• Distribution of marketing materials
• Sales lead and customer inquiries
• Liaison between outside market niche and internal organisational departments

When you consider the entire selling function, it’s easy to see how it fits into an overall marketing plan. It’s also clear that the selling function is much broader than just asking someone to buy a product or service. Selling is a mixture of promotion, presentation, sale closing, and follow-up.

An organisation that takes a restricted view of selling as an independent function within the business most likely has never developed a comprehensive marketing plan. One of the goals of sales management training is and employee sales training is to broaden the viewpoint of the role of sales within a strategic marketing plan.

Successful selling offers a variety of useful and critical elements.

• Serves as information link which communicates customer needs and desires to business
• Assists with developing customer loyalty
• Provides basis for effective promotional campaigns
• Provides relevant and practical market information for successful organisational teams
• Develops customer relationships that lead to repetitive sales
• Promotes company integrity
• Promotes high quality customer service
• Provides market insight

Making sales is very different than selling as a marketing function. Though you can say selling is a component of marketing, it is a central element around which all other marketing functions revolve.

Using Presentation Skills to Close a Sale

How do you measure whether a presentation is successful? This is not a riddle, because the answer is obvious. A successful presentation leads to a customer sale. The words “closed sale” hold a certain magic in the business world, because they mean a person or business has decided a product or service your company sells will meet a particular need.

But for the sales person there is also a personal success element that makes the words “closed sale” even more spectacular. But it can be a long difficult road from initial contact to the final agreement if the presentation is not handled correctly.

A sales presentation is obviously a method used to convince a prospective customer to become a buying customer. But presentation skills are used in a variety of circumstances.

• Telephone sales presentation
• Group presentation
• One on one personal selling

A sales presentation should not be considered as something that is always elaborate and time consuming. It may be a simple 3 minute conversation in a call centre with a customer trying to decide if a particular product will meet his or her needs. If the sales representative says the right things, the customer will purchase what is being offered. But if the representative is unprepared or uninformative, the prospect will probably go to a competitor to buy what is needed.

Customer Rapport

Developing presentation skills to close a sale is best achieved through sales training led by a qualified professional. By accessing specialised training using work-specific situations including workshops and even role playing, it is possible to develop presentation skills which teach staff how to successfully close sales at a higher rate.

Effective sales presentations require a lot more than reading prepared telephone scripts or flashing computerised displays on a wall. The presentation must have certain characteristics which are adaptive to the situation. The presentation should have the following features:

• Informative
• Offers customer based solutions to a need
• Adaptive to situation
• Establishes rapport with customer
• Well prepared without looking or sounding as if it is a recording
• Contains information consistent with company mission
• Tailored to audience

Of course, presentation skills training includes more than presentation content preparation. The information in the material must be conveyed in a way that leads to a closed sale, conflict resolution, or meets any other intention. An excellent presentation requires the development of techniques which lead to audience commitment.

Coaching staff in how to use presentation skills to close a sale is a marketing strategy for increasing sales and profits, but it also gives staff the confidence to do their job well. With each closed sale comes renewed confidence leading to improved on-the-job performance and morale.

The Beginning to End of Presentations

Presentation skills are tools employees and managers can use in a variety of situations. Closing a sale often requires much more than just describing a product or service.

• Being able to respond authoritatively to customer questions in a way that resolves concerns
• Satisfying difficult customers
• Creating an environment which promotes customer satisfaction with the company
• Providing effective personal contact or telephone service
• Developing listening skills in order to better understand customer needs
• Developing questioning and responding techniques

Closing a sale is often the most difficult step in the selling process. Presentation skills include developing all the abilities needed to take initial contact with a customer through to the final sale.