Sales

From A to Z …

عن المدرب

النسور : • الرحيم� عبد قصي االسمالبلقاء – • جامعة برمجيات هند�سة بكالوريوس

التطبيقيةحاسوب • علوم ماجستير طالبالسلط – 1970مواليد� • مدينةالمعلومات • تكنولوجيا مهندس�ي رابطة مؤسس�

اإلدارية الهيئة وعضوااللكترونيين • الك�تاب لجمعية رئيس� وأول مؤسس�

األردنيينفرع – • األردنيين الكتاب لرابطة اإلداري المدير

البلقاءالشركات • كبريات من إلثنتين مبيعات� مسؤول

. المملكة في الصناعية•. الشركتين تاريخ في مبيعات ر�قم� أعلى صاحبالهيئات • من العديد لد�ى للمبيعات معتمد مد�رب

. المدني المجتمع ومؤسسات

We all are selling something by the end of the day …!

Sales from A to Z is just a big lie … in fact there is nothing that you could learn from A to Z in life … I might be an expert in sales but I am just a human like you and him and there will always be something new, something to learn or to add to your knowledge, but this is how we sell our products, we do our best and we wish that what we have done is good enough and will satisfy our customers ….! Please Keep yourself updated, follow your heart only when there is no guide or nobody to hold responsibility …! Qusai Nsouremail : qusainsour@yahoo.com wgfit@facebook.com Tel : 0096 7 99 30 40 89 / will always be there for you …God willing

The first and biggest success you may achieve in sales is knowing how

to sell your products and services not YOURSELF…!

Terms

• Products / Goods / Services.Sales person / Salesman / Saleswomen Are all the same in this course.

What do we mean by “Sales”?

• There is no absolute true definition.But still we can try ….A process where two parties or more exchange

goods, services or money in a certain place.Note : where is the profit?Write here your definition :

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Sales Vs Marketing

There are great differences between marketing and sales in terms of definition, scope, process , and Identity .

For further readings please refer to : www.diffen.com/difference/Marketing_vs_Sales

Is it a gift or some thing that could be learned…?!

• Yes it is a gift…!Why?.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

• No it is something that could be learned…!

Why?.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

What was your first sale?

• Write in brief : ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sales Process Elements

• Salesman/woman : what we mean by salesman?........................................................................................................................................

• Buyer ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

• Goods/ Services ..etc …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

• Market (further explanation) :……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Salesman / woman Classifications

• Sales support staff• Reception • Order taker• Customer account manager• Sales• Sales officer• Sales supervisor• Sales Engineer • Sales executive• Sales manager

• The bigger the title, the harder it gets…!

• It is you that matter and the title won't be used after few visits.

• Trying to be nice, is not good at all, people could easily discover your attitude, you must be nice rather than trying to be.

The Salesman / woman- cont.

• Your role is defined by your employer upon agreement, should be written …!

• The way you achieve your targets is set by your management.

• Salesman duties are also written in a clear way, if not; try to write them down and get your management approval.

• Salesman is usually directed on daily basis by his supervisor.

The Salesman / woman- cont.• Am I missing something?• What are the company / organization polices …!?A clever salesman will always restrict him self to his company polices, you

must never break those rules, believe in your administration no matter what; there will be lots of times when you feel that there decisions are not a great support, believe me this not true, tell them what you think, defend your point of view; but restrict your self to there directions.

Sales is a team work, and breaking the rules means that you are breaking the circle with your team; and remember that you cannot hold responsibility for a possible great loss…!

-Human resources, are suppose to explain to you your role.- Sales department , are suppose to train you.- Marketing , will draw the guide lines for your department.

The Salesman / woman- cont.

• What should I know about my organization?

Typically … every thing that involves your organization products.

• Polices regarding employees and products

• Capabilities.• Scope, in terms of place and time.• Sales rates.• Your company Vs competitors.

The Salesman / woman- cont.• Salesman tools :• Note book, this is something belongs to you and nobody else; keep it

safe and never through used ones; always ask for permission from your customer to write what he says down, you shouldn't look like police investigator with all do respect.

• Pen, if you lost yours , get another one, lots of customer might go crazy if you forget there pen with you …!

• Phone (this must be something permanent / contact info.)• Suit case, never leave it in the back seat of your car, thieves are ready to

break your car windshield to take it.• Means of transport, always park in a safe and sound place. • Business cards, don't be surprised if the customer used it to clean his

teeth, pretend that you have not seen that.

Some Ethics

• Never ever disparage your competitors.• Appreciate people who give you help.• Respect time.• Work hard, and even harder, salesmen are the

owners, we are not “just employees”.• Always think of your team.• Never brag about your sales, let your numbers talk.• Devote some of your income to charity to increase

your sales, this is proven by studies.

What to wear ?!

• With every new possible customer it is like a job interview …!

• There is no general dress … but all the ways you must be clean and smell nice …

• Your clothes will say something about what you are selling.

• Clean doesn't mean that you should wear fancy clothes.• Smell nice does not mean expensive perfume• Sometimes it is better not to have any smell at all ….!

What to say?• Now you need to think about selling process as if you were a

doctor and the buyer as your patient … if you were the doctor; would you understand your patient needs from talking or listening ?

• Your buyer (patient) needs are the guide to decide what to say …and of course if you are the right DOCTOR …!

• In fact you shouldn't always start talking about your product, try something else , weather has been a good thing to start talking about for long ages.

• Look carefully around your customer … who knows he might be a big fan of Barcelona Like you …!

What will I hear?- Mainly you will hear answers to your questions, and

never forget to ask for permission to ask / collect information .

- People normally contact verbally by questions and answers, it is not wrong to ask, and it is bad to ask wrong questions.

- You will also be asked Questions, Never ever lie …!- You will hear Objections, Don't give promises that you

cannot keep.- Negotiations, don't break your company polices.

I am a little bit shy

• This is the love story of sales …! you are great, we all love shy

people, no matter what there gender is …!

Propose … if it is yes …that is it…!If the answer was no … you wont

be wondering for the rest of your career/ life ...!

My customer has no clear idea about his needs…!

• Take the lead …• Ask questions • Explore his needs• What do you like / not what you hate?• In fact there is no way to set the right questions,

because these questions will vary from customer to another and it depends on what you are selling, in many times you will find that your customer is trying his best to explain to you something that might seems silly and clear to you, but still “are you sure”?!

Hold on …!

• Do you really see the hall picture … the big picture?

• The moon has a dark side ….!(this is something that we all know)

• Qusai says “What you really see is what really prevents your vision …!”

homework

Define target from sales perspective?

• What is a break even point?

Buyers

• Walk in buyers :This is the most popular

types of customers, normally the seller is in a fixed –known- place and customers go to get there needs from the seller.

• Outdoor sales:This is where the seller

goes to reach for possible buyers and present his goods and offer prices.

• online buyers.

Buyers development phases and growth

• If you are dealing with a good customer your customer is suppose to develop with time, in the beginning he is just a customer, with time he become a partner, if you are good enough your customer must be developed to be a sales person that works for your benefit.

• Think hard to prevent your customer from trying to deal with someone else, this “else” might be better than you.

Buyers Types• Mr. Complain : this type of customers will keep complaining no

matter how hard you try, the best way to deal with him is by explaining to him his contract details again…!

• Skeptical : Take good care of his thoughts/ fears, read between the lines, check his fear reasons, explain to him how you will overcome his fears.

• Friendly : this type of customers is widely expected to be a sales person that works for your benefit.

• Spendthrift : he is coming to buy, hold your breath and watch…!• Leader : He thinks and act as if he knows every thing, will ask

questions as if you were in a middle of an exam, are you prepared?

Homework• What is body language?………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Write down three moves and there meaning?................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

What you are selling?

• Find your self a niche …!• Find a gap in the market — go where the market

is less crowded• Use your expertise — market your knowledge not

just your products• Do take it personally — personalize your

communication• Grow by small steps — don’t take the risk of giant

leaps

Goods life cycle

1. Introduction.2. Growth.3. Maturity.4. Decline.

Goods/products /services Introduction.

• During the Introduction phase, there will most-likely be heavy promotional and advertising activity designed to raise awareness of the new product.

• Salesmen will help and assist in achieving the marketing polices of the company.

• Depending on the nature of the product, it will either have a premium price so that its development costs can be recouped quickly (this is the approach used with most high-tech products) or be priced low to encourage widespread adoption – what marketers call "market penetration".

Growth

• Moving on to the Growth phase, promotional activities will tend to focus on expanding the market for the product into new segments – usually either geographic or demographic – and supporting this by expanding the product family, for example with new flavors or sizes (cartons of fruit drinks specifically sized for kids lunch boxes, for instance).

Maturity

• By the time a product reaches its Maturity phase, the company producing it needs to collect considerable rewards for the time and money spent developing the product so far.

• The product's features may continue to be refreshed from time to time, and there will still be some promotion to differentiate the product from the competition and increase market share. However, the marketing activity and expenditure levels may be much lower than earlier on in the lifecycle.

Decline.

• Finally, once the product begins to Decline, marketing support may be withdrawn completely, and sales will entirely be the result of the product's residual reputation amongst a small market sector. (Elderly people, for example, may go on buying brands that they started using forty or even fifty years earlier.)

• By this stage, the most important decision that needs to be made is when to take the product off the market completely. It can be tempting to leave a declining product on the market – especially if it served the company well in its time, and there's a certain sentimental attachment to it. However, it is essential that the product is not allowed to start costing its producer money, and this can easily happen if production costs increase as volumes drop.

• More importantly, the old product's very existence can absorb managers' time and energy, and can discourage or delay the development of a new, potentially more profitable replacement product.

Pricing

• Getting your pricing right will make an enormous difference to your turnover and your profits. But it's a difficult art — set it too high and your customers will flock to cheaper competitors; set it too low and people will assume your product or service is low quality and steer clear.

Competitive pricing• In most markets, competitors' prices will tell you what you

can or should be charging. Assessing how your product or service compares to theirs — and the value your target customers put on the different features and benefits you offer — will also give you a good idea of what your own offer should be worth.

• Setting your prices near to those of your competitors is a safe strategy because potential customers won't rule your products out immediately for being too expensive. You'll also avoid the risk of starting a price war by undercutting rivals.

Premium pricing

• If you have a grip on your market prices, it's tempting to set yours just a little lower to give yourself a competitive edge. In fact, setting a slightly higher price is often a better pricing strategy.

• In the minds of many customers, a higher price suggests better quality and any reduction in turnover caused by high prices can be more than offset by larger profit margins. If it doesn't work, you can always reduce your prices to a more competitive level.

Discount pricing strategies

• Setting your prices lower might squeeze your margins, but it can be a good way to seize market share, particularly if you're offering a new product or service. You'll be sacrificing short-term profits, but you'll also be discouraging competitors from entering your market. As your volumes grow, your unit costs will fall and you'll have a lasting cost advantage over new firms trying to grab your share of the market.

Pricing software services / products

• Pricing a service can be trickier than pricing a product, which tends to be led by unit cost. Getting it right means valuing your time and expertise, and accurately weighing up customer perceptions

• Research your market : The next step is to conduct some simple market research. You might look online or in your local directory to find out who you are competing with, what they offer and for how much.

Pricing software services / products – cont.

• Calculate your costs : You then need to understand what it costs you to provide your service to customers. Calculate your direct and indirect costs when supplying your services, including labor, training costs, overheads and additional such as marketing. You will need to decide to what extent these costs should be reflected in your pricing.

• There are two basic pricing models to work from:1. cost-plus pricing, which involves adding a mark-up to your

break-even costs.2. value-based pricing, which takes into account the value of

your service to your customers.

Homework

• Define “market share”?• What is meant by Product Diffusion? • What do you think about the product life cycle

in software, what phase you think that can be omitted?

• What is Shelf life for a software?

Market

• A medium that allows buyers and sellers of a specific good or service to interact in order to facilitate an exchange. This type of market may either be a physical marketplace where people come together to exchange goods and services in person, as in a bazaar or shopping center, or a virtual market wherein buyers and sellers do not interact, as in an online market.

Defining Your Market

• There are two basic markets you can sell to: consumer and business. These divisions are fairly obvious. For example, if you are selling women's clothing from a retail store, your target market is consumers; if you are selling office supplies, your target market is businesses.

• No business -- particularly a small one -- can be all things to all people. The more narrowly you can define your target market, the better.

SWOT analysis

Defining Your Market – cont.

• 1. Make a wish list.With whom do you want to do business? Be as

specific as you can: Identify the geographic range and the types of businesses or customers you want your business to target. If you don't know whom you want to do business with, you can't make contact. "You must recognize that you can't do business with everybody,". Otherwise, you risk exhausting yourself and confusing your customers.

Defining Your Market – cont.• 2. Focus.

Clarify what you want to sell, remembering: a) You can't be “all things to all people” and b) "smaller is bigger." Your niche is not the same as the field in which you work. For example, a retail clothing business is not a niche but a field. A more specific niche may be "maternity clothes for executive women." To begin this focusing process, these techniques to help you:

• Make a list of things you do best and the skills implicit in each of them.• List your achievements.• Identify the most important lessons you have learned in life.• Look for patterns that reveal your style or approach to resolving

problems.

Defining Your Market – cont.

• 3. Describe the customer's worldview.A successful business uses what the Platinum

Rule: "Do to others as they would do to themselves." When you look at the world from your prospective customers' perspective, you can identify their needs or wants. The best way to do this is to talk to prospective customers and identify their main concerns.

Essential Selling Skills

• A sales culture is one in which everyone in the organization understands the sales workflow, sales objectives and goals, what prompts a potential customer to buy, and how he can contribute to the close of that sale.

• With the creation of this sales culture, the job of sales is not left to the sales professionals alone.

Essential Selling Skills – cont.

• Sales leaders must coach, evaluate, and mentor sales professionals to enable them to develop and use these essential skills.

• Personal skills ensure that the sales professional is assured and competent in his own skills and self-awareness.

• Relational skills ensure that personal skills can be used in collaborative scenarios to build trusting and positive relationships with others, customers as well as fellow employees.

Essential Selling Skills – cont.

• Professional business skills : include all elements of business planning, objective setting, goal definition, metric, and measurement of achievements toward goals.

• Return on investment skills : combine the use of all other skills to enable sales professionals to maximize sales culture environments and activities for new value creation. This would include innovation, new product and service development, and sustainment of long term customer relationships.

Essential Sales Skills

• Natural want to sell : To be a great sales professional, you must want to sell

• PASSION : You have to be passionate about your work and the product that you sell.

• ENERGY :High energy means that you bring the right energy and intensity to work with you and try to instill it in those around you

Essential Sales Skills

• SELF-MOTIVATION :When passionate about yourself, you extend that passion to your work. This is reflected in the value that you convey to your customers.

Essential Sales SkillsIntegrity

• The best sales professionals are honest. They are punctual, dependable, reliable, respectful, and caring. It is never a good idea to tamper with your credibility. It is important to always make sure that you do what you say, say what you do, and be completely honest with your customers. You get one chance to build credibility towards sales success. Always be ready to acknowledge mistakes and apologize without blaming others.

RELATIONAL SELLING SKILLS

• Relational skills define how we handle ourselves as individuals and form relationships with others.

RELATIONAL SELLING SKILLS – cont.

• HUMILITY :Humility is at the heart of lasting sales success.

Genuine humility is not faked or insincere. It is a strength of character that creates success. People would rather buy from a person who is modest and real, as opposed to one who is arrogant and overconfident.

RELATIONAL SELLING SKILLS – cont.

• EGO CONTROLBe careful not to be too impressed with your own

success. It takes a lot of hard work, time, skills, and a little bit of luck to be a great salesperson. Keep these factors in mind when presenting yourself. Customers sense your concept of yourself. An oversized ego will alienate you from your customer and your co-workers, making it very hard to create a collaborative work environment.

RELATIONAL SELLING SKILLS – cont.• CONFIDENCEGreat sales people create success when they are comfortable

with their skills and knowledge, while simultaneously understanding their limitations and leveraging their strengths. Confident sales professionals possess a natural comfort in dealing with customers and an ability to converse and interact with ease. Customers like to work with confident and capable sales professionals and will place a higher level of trust in them. Being comfortable with yourself, your company, the products, and knowing how to handle rejection creates success and boosts your confidence level.

RELATIONAL SELLING SKILLS – cont.

• RELATIONSHIP- BUILDING :Customers buy from sales people who they trust. This

trust happens as sales people invest time in building a relationship. Closing on a complex sale is due to a relationship of trust and it leads to other sales, as well. Selling is frequently less about products and solutions and more about the relationships and trust that have been established. You must create success through solid relationships and trust. These elements become your support system for tomorrow’s sales.

RELATIONAL SELLING SKILLS – cont.

• SharedBuilding great relationships allows you influence

to collaborate and network with your internal team in order to close business.

RELATIONAL SELLING SKILLS – cont.

LISTENING

RELATIONAL SELLING SKILLS – cont.

• PATIENCE :Patience is essential to let deals develop, mature, and

close. Rushing a deal to closure can mean sacrificing business and long-term relationships. Every sales campaign’s buying cycle and customer are different. This requires the sales person to be patient, to understand, and to adapt to those specific needs. Great sales campaigns take time. Your customer will not be rushed.

RELATIONAL SELLING SKILLS – cont.• PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITYPersonal responsibility is the total of all of the above skills.

Only you are responsible for your own success. Your image, power, and energy are clear every day. Your treatment of customers is critical to these perceptions and controls your sales karma. Whatever happens is within the sales professionals’ domain of control. If an event occurs that is obviously beyond your domain, such as a bankruptcy or company change, consider the options, and perhaps move on to create success someplace else. You are the creator of your own success.

RELATIONAL SELLING SKILLS – cont.

• COMPETITIVENESS :Competitive sales professionals are expert in why and how their products and services are the best choice for the customer.

EXCEPTIONAL SELLING SKILLS • INTELLIGENCE :Intelligence is a vital combination of common sense

with a healthy quantity of knowledge that leads to make solid business decisions.

• SEE THE BIG PICTURE : Today’s sales are exciting, for sure, but are you seeing the opportunities that are six months, a year, or two years down the road? Your customers are not one-time opportunities. Use your business maturity to gauge long-term impact and to view your customers as accounts with future potential. Every customer has a chance to be that star customer who will continue to engage you for products and solutions. Be sure to look beyond the deal at hand. Customers are multiple opportunities and the building blocks of the long-term sales strategy.

EXCEPTIONAL SELLING SKILLS – cont.

• BECOME A THOUGHT LEADER : You must sell with a perspective of your industry. Be able to talk intelligently about where your customer’s industry is going, about internet developments and chances that are likely to occur.

• DESIRE TO EDUCATE YOUR CUSTOMERS: You must create a convincing story and convincing reason for them to buy.

• COMMITMENT TO CAREER LEARNING :Always be open, willing, and able to learn new things, develop new skills, and volunteer to teach colleagues by sharing your experiences.

Time consuming things

Time consuming things

Time consuming things

Time consuming things

Sales Process

Definition :“Sales process” most often refers to a

repeatable set of steps your sales team takes with a given prospect to move them from an early stage prospect to a closed customer. Some common stages or steps of the sales process may include:

Sales Process Steps

1. Chances : The process of sourcing new early stage leads to begin a sales process with. Prospecting – looking for chances - may involve online research to find new prospects /chances , or researching into an existing database of contacts.

Sales Process Steps – cont.

2. Connect :Initiating contact with those early stage leads to

gather information and judge their worthiness for moving forward.

Sales Process Steps – cont.

3. Research : Learning more about a prospect customers and their company as they progress through the sales process can help sales reps offer a more tailored experience, and improve the likelihood a deal will close.

Sales Process Steps – cont.

4.Present• A typical stage of many sales processes is to

run a formal presentation or demonstration of what is being sold. This stage is time consuming, so it typically comes deeper in the sales process and only for well qualified prospects.

Sales Process Steps – cont.

5. Close• This stage refers to any late stage activities

that happen as a deal approaches closing. It varies widely from company to company, and may include things like delivering a quote or proposal, negotiation, achieving the buy-in of decision makers, and other actions.

Dealing with objections • Gratitude• Say “Thank You!” Always thank your customer when they put

an objection in front of you because this is an opportunity to address it and move on with your deal. In fact, ask them about all of their concerns and objections right up front and you’ll receive even more opportunities to turn the table to your advantage. Don’t forget, an objection is better than a “no” because it gives you some place to begin the conversation. I can’t tell you the number of times a simple thank you has helped to diffuse a situation with an angry or upset customer and get me on my way to solving their problem or getting them back on the happy train.

Dealing with objections • Empathize• Empathy is a way to connect with your customer on a personal

level, show you care and that you’re listening. All of us have had to say “no” at one time or another, and in business, you’re not always speaking to the decision maker. Often times, they’re just the messenger so don’t shoot yourself in the foot by getting defensive. After thanking the customer for bringing the objection to your attention, empathize in a way that will help further diffuse the situation. For example: I hear this a lot, I’m sorry you feel that way, it sounds like this has been very frustrating, I hear what you’re saying and I think I can help. By empathizing with the customer, they’re more likely to open up and share more.

Dealing with objections • Let the Discovery Begin• Now that you’ve begun to diffuse the situation, take your time to

uncover what’s really going on. Good customer discovery always focuses on asking open-ended questions. If the customer can respond with a “yes” or “no,” then you’ve got to rephrase your question. This is a lot harder than it sounds and it takes practice to develop this ability. You can test yourself at home or with a friend – have a conversation with someone and only ask them open-ended questions. If you get stuck, just do what every 4 year old does and ask “why?” -- you’ll be amazed at how powerful that little question can be! Building rapport is equally important during the discovery phase. Check out the recent blog article titled “Your Best Sales Prospecting Asset is You” for some great tips on building rapport and trust.

Dealing with objections • Ask, Probe, Confirm• Now that you’ve got the questions flowing, it’s important to keep the

conversation moving further and deeper. As the customer responds to your open-ended questions, you should probe further by asking more questions about what they’ve just said. If at any time you don’t understand something, ask them to clarify. A great example of this tactic is when the customer mentions an contraction or other words specific to their company or business process. Experts say that it takes at least 4-5 layers of questions to really uncover the pain or nature of the objection. Take your time and keep asking questions until you truly understand the reason for the objection and they’ve satisfied you’re curiosity. Finally, restate what you heard in your own words and ask them to confirm that you’ve understood them correctly.

Dealing with objections • Show Them The Value• To keep your customer around for the long haul, they must see

value in your product or service. The purpose of good discovery is to understand what’s important to them, why it matters, and what their business would be like without your product or service. When you uncover a pain, your next step should be to quantify what that pain is costing the business. If the customer continues to object or restate the same objection then you’re not asking the right questions to align your value to their pain. Pain can cost a company in a different ways; lost revenue, wasted time, customer satisfaction, employee turnover and more.

Dealing with objections • Back It Up With Proof & Customer References• Now that you’ve gone through steps 1-5, it’s time to back up your

statements with industry research, customer references or customer success stories to prove the value of your product or solution. For research, find out what analyst firms say about your industry or product and incorporate this data into your conversations. I’ve had great success getting new customers interested by mentioning what leading industry analysts say about our products. Customer references are another great tool because those stories often represent a pain or objection that was overcome with success. I challenge everyone I mentor to learn at least 3 new and relevant customer stories a month. Overtime, your stories will set you apart from others and give your customers another reason to trust you with their business.