Selling Solutions
Selling Solutions
Problem: You are trained to be a great doctor, electrician, or financier, but you have no formal sales training.
Fact: Professional success is created from a two-part equation: one part occupational skill, the other part sales. Having one without the other means that you are leaving valuable opportunities up to chance.
A lot of us don’t much like the idea of being a salesperson. We want to let our work speak for itself. Of course, it’s vitally important that our work or product is top-quality. That is the baseline. But, it’s not enough. We can’t sit in our offices waiting for the phone to ring.
Solution: Getting beyond your disdain for sales may be as simple as replacing the word selling with the word solution. In fact, that’s what good salespeople do. Their product or service provides a solution, which in turn meets the needs of a customer.
Selling is a skill. Selling can be learned. And it must be practiced. Happily, there may be steps in the process that you are already very good at. Did you know that half of selling is listening? To start you on your way to increased sales, here is a six-step “solution-selling” guide:
1. Ask open-ended questions. Ask lots of questions. If you are selling art, ask what kind of art your customer likes, what museums they visit, what they already have at home. DO NOT start with what kind of art you are selling; start with what they have and what they are interested in.
2. Listen. Listen actively. You will be listening to discover needs and wishes. When the person stops talking, ask them another question. Uncover needs. The idea is to (eventually) provide a solution to those needs, but not yet. DO NOT jump to solutions. You have not won their trust yet.
3. Pay attention to body language. Listen some more, and pay attention to the messages you are getting, both verbal and non-verbal. If your client is pulling back, you might need to soften up; if they are sitting forward, they are connecting with what you are saying. Try to mirror your own body language to match theirs. DO NOT bulldoze. Pay attention.
4. Clarify. Make sure you understand what you are hearing. Ask more questions. Get more specific.
5. Provide solutions. Once your have a good understanding of exactly what your client needs, you can start sharing with them how your product or service authentically meets those needs. Watch out – even now, your client will probably come up with some obstacles (lack of time, money, or information). Be ready for them. DO NOT talk about features of your product; talk about benefits to your customer.
6. Facilitate action. Instead of asking for the sale – the much anticipated “close” – ask a question that will move the process forward. Usually these questions start with what, where, when, or how. It’s a question that is not easily answered with a yes or a no. If the signals align, assume the sale. Ask: Which of these pieces of art most interests you? What can we do so that you can take this home today?
Try it out. Practice the art of providing solutions. It means first uncovering the needs your customers truly have. It also means untangling from your mind the negative stereotypes you have about sales. Whatever your product or service, you are in the business of meeting customers needs. You are a salesperson. You provide solutions.
Resources:
Duncan, Todd. High Trust Selling. Thomas Nelson Publishers. 2002. A great book, easy to read, yet offering an in-depth approach to the art and science of selling.
Vass, Jerry. Soft Selling in a Hard World. Running Press, 1998. This is the nuts and bolts of selling. No frills, but good information in a straightforward, condensed format.
© 2005 Kristin Thalheimer, MBA & Coach
Selling Solutions - To learn more about this author, visit Kristin Thalheimer's Website.
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It’s true for artists, bankers, consultants, doctors, and on through the alphabet. Regardless of your occupation or title, everyone needs to be comfortable selling. Selling is integral to the success of any business or practice, so you must become adept at it to thrive.
Problem: You are trained to be a great doctor, electrician, or financier, but you have no formal sales training.
Fact: Professional success is created from a two-part equation: one part occupational skill, the other part sales. Having one without the other means that you are leaving valuable opportunities up to chance.
A lot of us don’t much like the idea of being a salesperson. We want to let our work speak for itself. Of course, it’s vitally important that our work or product is top-quality. That is the baseline. But, it’s not enough. We can’t sit in our offices waiting for the phone to ring.
Solution: Getting beyond your disdain for sales may be as simple as replacing the word selling with the word solution. In fact, that’s what good salespeople do. Their product or service provides a solution, which in turn meets the needs of a customer.
Selling is a skill. Selling can be learned. And it must be practiced. Happily, there may be steps in the process that you are already very good at. Did you know that half of selling is listening? To start you on your way to increased sales, here is a six-step “solution-selling” guide:
1. Ask open-ended questions. Ask lots of questions. If you are selling art, ask what kind of art your customer likes, what museums they visit, what they already have at home. DO NOT start with what kind of art you are selling; start with what they have and what they are interested in.
2. Listen. Listen actively. You will be listening to discover needs and wishes. When the person stops talking, ask them another question. Uncover needs. The idea is to (eventually) provide a solution to those needs, but not yet. DO NOT jump to solutions. You have not won their trust yet.
3. Pay attention to body language. Listen some more, and pay attention to the messages you are getting, both verbal and non-verbal. If your client is pulling back, you might need to soften up; if they are sitting forward, they are connecting with what you are saying. Try to mirror your own body language to match theirs. DO NOT bulldoze. Pay attention.
4. Clarify. Make sure you understand what you are hearing. Ask more questions. Get more specific.
5. Provide solutions. Once your have a good understanding of exactly what your client needs, you can start sharing with them how your product or service authentically meets those needs. Watch out – even now, your client will probably come up with some obstacles (lack of time, money, or information). Be ready for them. DO NOT talk about features of your product; talk about benefits to your customer.
6. Facilitate action. Instead of asking for the sale – the much anticipated “close” – ask a question that will move the process forward. Usually these questions start with what, where, when, or how. It’s a question that is not easily answered with a yes or a no. If the signals align, assume the sale. Ask: Which of these pieces of art most interests you? What can we do so that you can take this home today?
Try it out. Practice the art of providing solutions. It means first uncovering the needs your customers truly have. It also means untangling from your mind the negative stereotypes you have about sales. Whatever your product or service, you are in the business of meeting customers needs. You are a salesperson. You provide solutions.
Resources:
Duncan, Todd. High Trust Selling. Thomas Nelson Publishers. 2002. A great book, easy to read, yet offering an in-depth approach to the art and science of selling.
Vass, Jerry. Soft Selling in a Hard World. Running Press, 1998. This is the nuts and bolts of selling. No frills, but good information in a straightforward, condensed format.
© 2005 Kristin Thalheimer, MBA & Coach
Selling Solutions - To learn more about this author, visit Kristin Thalheimer's Website.
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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