Sometimes, salespeople can have their quirks. The following is an excerpt from “The Portable MBA” identifying different sales techniques used by salespeople.
We’ve all heard the “You’ve gotta sell the sizzle, not the steak” or “Push the benefits not the features” methods to selling. Even though we subscribe to multiple magazines, each trying to sell us the super-secrets of top salespersons, no matter how much we search, there doesn’t seem to be one single best method of selling products. Different experts suggest using different techniques.
1. The “Naïve” Sales Approach: The least effective of all techniques, yet embarrassingly common. The sales rep is “shotgunning” for sales, doing no prospecting at all. This method is best demonstrated by travelling fair vendors, howling “Come get my product, how many do you want?”
2. The “Canned” Sales Approach: This is the classic, memorized babble technique. Many large and distinguished companies of our past have insisted on using this approach. The distinct benefit of this method is, that when faced with buyer resistance, the sales rep can think up a response while effortlessly reciting memorized sales points. Key terminology phrases include: “Do you accept shipments on Fridays or Mondays?” and “Would you prefer the jumbo or family size?”
3. Stimulus - Response Approach: Peppered with phrases such as “Wouldn’t you love to win….” or “Haven’t you always wanted…”, the artful salesperson is undertaking “yes, yes” questioning in an attempt to induce an interested response. While a slight improvement over the canned approach, it is still a fragile effort at meaningful customer involvement.
4. Features and Benefits Approach: Perhaps the granddaddy of all selling techniques. Sales reps are taught to focus on stressing the benefits of the product to the prospect, not just telling the features of the product. A vocabulary of benefit and action words are included in sales pitch training to prove the product is superior. “We’ve installed Schulz Subwoofers so you get twice the listening pleasure.”
5. Needs and Benefits Approach: While close to the features/benefits approach, this approach varies because the seller customizes the benefits selection to the needs of the individual customer. This is similar to a college grad customizing their resume for each job they apply for. This is a good approach, because it focuses on the needs of the customer.
6. Mental States Approach: This is where the salesperson pushes the prospect along from awareness to interest to conviction to trial to repeat purchase. A rather complex and manipulative procedure, in which a representative sales call might start as: “Mr. Hall, I’m Mr. Schulz from Corvallis Incorporated. (awareness) It is nice of you to see me, Mr. Hall, and you will be delighted to know that my offer will be of real benefit to you. (interest) You are under no obligation to buy. In fact, my call will only take a few moments of your valuable time…”
7. The “Party Selling” Approach: A technique that concentrates on group interaction and the ambience of the selling environment. The technique creates an informal, related setting. Tupperware and Mary Kay Cosmetics rely primarily on such sales parties held in private homes.
8. Personal Relationships: Usually used in conjunction with one of the above selling techniques, provide a useful selling approach. Salespeople acquaint themselves with the buyers and build a relationship over time, based on confidence and mutual respect. Once the empathy is established, a volume of business is executed. After all, most of us would prefer to do business with our friends.
9. Selling Tools are discount structures, terms guarantees, and “freebies.” It often seems that, aside from its selling skills, the salesforce has very little flexibility in creating a sale. It is faced with the task of selling products whose prices are set by marketing , whose features are determined by product development, and whose markets are circumscribed by its competitors. Looking behind the scenes, however, the sales rep often uses numerous tools to make a product look more attractive.
10. Psychological States is the attempt to have the salesperson play psychologist on each call. The customer whose psychological state is understood by the sales individual can be handled more appropriately. Thus, the selling approach will not be the same for the timid, the self-styled expert, the introvert, the social animal, and the aggressor as the sales rep chameleons to match the customer.
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