Sales lessons every startup founder needs – 03.. CONCLUSION…..
This is the concluding part of the three article series on what startup founders must know about selling. Hope you enjoyed reading them.
What are the stages of selling personnel!
- Unconscious and incompetent
- Conscious and incompetent
- Unconscious and competent – luckily would have sold a few but cannot be consistent
- Conscious and competent – good sales man who can sell anything to anyone
- Unconscious yet very much conscious and competent – this type thoroughly understand the sales cycle and even in their sleep can sell the product
SEVEN STEPS TO MASTER THE ART OF SELLING: PAID ACS – FORMULA
P – Presales – preparation before meeting a client on a case-to-case basis decides your success
The three stages of Presales are
|
Preparation |
Positive expectations |
Prospecting |
| Work on details:
Product knowledge Company knowledge Market knowledge Customer knowledge Prepare about self |
Don’t worry about the ‘no’ maybe your next could be an ‘yes’
Never be intimidated or influenced by the prospect it must be the other way round |
Start with the problem and make the solution
Understand the mechanism What are the typical challenges your product addresses |
A – Approach and Attitude – be confident and move with a positive approach
People with positive attitude make more money – universal truth
You need to push during cold calls but you would be pulling during inbound calls. Create a mechanism to attract clients so they reach out to you. The ideal time to take an appointment for a f2f meeting would be one to three minutes. So prepare accordingly to ease out customer acquisition. Address pain points and work on ways to approach. Good attitude plays big on gains.
|
Intro |
Purpose | Hook |
Close |
Flow of cold calls: Always make a script for every cold call depending on the business |
| Be different prepare a one liner | Explain reason, identify problem and narrate solution | Assure the returns with factual figures that interest them | Suggest the times and dates with limited options for them to take a call to fix the appt |
WIIFM – WHAT IS IN FOR ME &
SMTYKM – show me that you know me – this is what everyone expects
I – Identify – Try understanding the pain / need of the client
Work on emotional reasons than on logical reasons. Identify five need points
| Introduce in terms of client’s benefits | Build a rapport: make them like you & make them trust you
Compliment them to like you and strike a chord of common issues that they get connected and results in trust creation |
Gather basic information of their needs | Design the questionnaire to benefit you that makes the deal positive | Qualify the prospects – talk with the ‘MAN’
where the acronym stands for MONEY NEED AUTHORITY |
D- Demonstrate – after identifying the problem suggest the ways your product will solve the issues
Show what your client is interested. Be focussed on results than on the features. Convert features with advantages and results. Realise FAB (Feature Advantages and Benefits) & FAR (Features Advantages and Results). Make a list of 10-20 points that benefit your clients, subsequently use them as per the requisites of each individual client.
A classic example quoted: a sales man who had a speech disorder and could not speak handsomely won the best sales award continuously for three consecutive years. The astonished team inquired the reasons of his success. He replied that he noted twenty benefits of the product and shows each one of them to the client. The inquisitive senior grilled him further and said what if the client shows no interest even after seeing the twentieth one. The smart sales man replied that he would again show from the beginning. That is the story of the winning horse.
Imagine no one wants drill bits but want only holes. However, only bits are bought and not the holes. Prepare your pitch properly and place the benefits in order too. Success is not far off.
A – Ask – always ask for the order – going further without this is waste of time
Always at this stage ask for point of action, an order. Always a ‘NO’, if addressed appropriately will help you walk out with an order. Making them agree to various points that were their apprehensions will increase your probability in multiples. This is the SPS, standard process of selling. Realise that ‘NO’ means I want to know more.
C- Clarify – once you ask for order the objections are raised, typical sales cycle, address them
Clarifications to objections always help you scale up in the order cycle. Imagine your client says you are too expensive and beyond his budgets. Simply agree with him and further add on the returns and benefits that are a trifle compared to the investment. Never start conversations with a NO or a BUT, both these words dampen the sale prospects.
Always practice and rehearse adequately before meeting clients. This will help you grab the order in style. Quote From Brucelee, I am not afraid of a person who learnt 12 kicks but I think twice to handle a person who has particularly practiced one kick a hundred times’, because practice makes perfect.
S – Sell – Seal – Service – the concluding part assure the client that you are there always, this will get you referral business
Always acknowledge the order with a good smile and congratulate your client for taking a good decision. Never feel indebted for the order by signing off with a ‘thank you.’
In a candid chat with WAY2WORLD, Yathiji informed, “Our Passion is Making India Grow by helping Startups, Entrepreneurs and MSMEs to become More Profitable by Increasing their Sales & Improving their Profitability. We offer 100% Results-oriented Training for Salespeople and Coaching for Management”.
In a nutshell each of us need to know the above key-take-away that could have a positive impact in any situations. Way2World admires the expertise of the two stalwarts and feels that every startup founder must master the sales mechanism to scale greater heights. With inputs from internet – RajKishan