The document discusses the importance of sales training for promoting a company's products and services. It outlines the key elements of an effective sales training course, including understanding one's sales style, planning and preparation, using selling tools, understanding the core business, presentation skills, overcoming objections, closing the sale, and follow up. The training course helps salespeople balance obtaining orders with building effective relationships by teaching techniques for each stage of the sales process.

1. Barry M Hurst

2. If you take the ‘no training’ approach to its logical conclusion, the end result will be high staff turnover, high risk of mis-representation a nd loss of potential business and profit. PROMOTING YOUR COMPANY AND PRODUCTS

3. The course is designed to complement your current business practice and offer meaningful suggestions to help you promote and sell your companies’ services or business offering. SUCCESS PROMOTING YOUR COMPANY AND PRODUCTS

4. 1. What Kind of Sales Person am I? 2. Planning & Preparation 3. Selling Tools 4. Core Business 5. Introduction, Benefits & Presentation Talk 6. Overcoming Objections 7. Close the sale THE COURSE DETAIL

5. The course is designed to complement your current business practice and offer meaningful suggestions to help you promote and sell your companies’ services or business offering. SUCCESS PROMOTING YOUR COMPANY AND PRODUCTS

6. To be consistently effective and successful at undertaking sales activities there needs to be a balance between two factors: a desire to obtain orders and a need to build effective relationships which in turn are balanced. Obtaining Orders Involves: • Gaining the buyers attention • Selling specific and relevant benefits • Overcoming objections • Closing the sale. WHAT KIND OF SALES PERSON AM I? SELLING STYLES QUESTIONNARE

7. A paper exercise which is for you only (no other person will see your scores and you will not be asked to discuss them) - this is purely for your own benefit, but will give you ‘food for thought’ about yourself and your selling style. This questionnaire aims to find out how your normal style of selling compares with the styles of others you have observed WHAT KIND OF SALES PERSON AM I ?

8. WHAT KIND OF SALES PERSON AM I ? There are 10 situations – for each situation there are 4 possible responses given, ask yourself: “ Does that sound like me? ” Allocate 10 points to the 4 responses according to how near they are to what you would say in such an instance. If one response is typical of your style and the other 3 are nowhere near, allocate 10 points to that response. More likely than not you will want to allocate a range of points to i.e. 2, 3 or all 4 responses .

9. WHAT KIND OF SALES PERSON AM I ? After many calls, you have persuaded a prospect to see you. The buyer specifically needs to use your services/product. He points out that the price is still higher than your competitors by an amount not justified by the difference in the quality of service. You have already brought the price as low as you can. You know that the buyer has a reputation for looking for the best deal and as already stated that you will not get the opportunity unless the price is reduced. Question 1. Scenario

10. WHAT KIND OF SALES PERSON AM I ? Do You 1.1 Emphasise that your price is fair for the product/service you offer and that it would be a false economy to buy cheaper elsewhere? 5 1.2 Find a way of giving a further discount 2 1.3 Repeat the benefits of your product/service, emphasising actual value for money . Explain that you have already offered a price lower than you would normally go to. 4 1.4 Say you appreciate the desire to get the best possible price, but that he drives a hard bargain. You will need time to think about it and will then come back to him. 1

11. Scoring Summary WHAT KIND OF SALES PERSON AM I ? Transfer to the next sheet all your scores for your answers, putting each score by its corresponding number on the questionnaire. The total of your columns should add up to 100.

12. 1.4 5 1.1 1 1.2 3 1.3 2 2.3 2 2.4 4 2.2 1 2.1 3 3.4 2 3.2 3 3.1 1 3.3 5 4.3 4 4.4 3 4.1 2 4.2 1 5.2 3 5.1 1 5.3 2 5.4 4 6.1 2 6.3 3 6.2 1 6.4 5 7.3 3 7.2 2 7.4 1 7.1 4 8.2 2 8.4 4 8.3 1 8.1 3 9.1 3 9.2 5 9.3 2 9.4 1 10.3 1 10.1 3 10.4 5 10.2 2 Total 28 Total 28 Total 19 Totals 30 RB P O S

13. Record your overall results in the appropriate box below WHAT KIND OF SALES PERSON AM I ? P Push Seller S Natural Seller O Order Taker RB Relationship Builder

14. PLANNING & PREPARATION ANALYSE THE SUBJECT MATTER Q: Would you go on a long car journey without consulting a road map or set your GPS to help get you to your destination? A: No Therefore you must break down the benefits of your service or product and relate this to your customers’ business.

15. PLANNING & PREPARATION CHECKLIST & RESEARCH Analyse the subject matter: benefits, service and product. Define the purpose of your visit. Know your customer and its people – Secretary, Managers etc. Company knowledge and information . What do you know, what do you need to ask? The Decision Maker’s scale of contact.

16. SELLING TOOLS WHAT ARE SELLING TOOLS? They are a functional way to present your product/service to customers and potential customers. By using selling tools you are talking about and discussing your product/services and their benefits with the customer; in some instances they may be reviewing their current range.

17. THE REQUIREMENTS OF SELLING TOOLS • Have a clear purpose for the material. • Make sure the material is clear and legible. • It has the right amount of information. • It’s the right size for clarity and contrast. . • Use the layout as part of a message. • Highlight the main points. • Know when to use the material. • Will you be giving out handouts? • Make sure handouts are given AFTER your presentation . Presentation material or visuals are vital

18. CORE BUSINESS • PERIPHERAL BUSINESS This is an area where many companies fall down . Having discussed Planning and Preparation and Selling Tools, we now need to understand: • what products we are selling • the benefits that should be sold as part of your product range.

19. INTRODUCTION, BENEFITS, PRESENTATION TALK Like all good sales people you will have a number of different ways you can present or talk to your client. However there are some key elements I would suggest should be followed: First Impressions Take control. Know what your goals are. Establish contact with your buyer. Ask questions about their business and its needs. Listen to the answer they give, this is vital to how you can sell your product.

20. PRESENTATION SKILLS Organise Communicate Opportunity Professionalism Sale Today’s buyer is more professional, organised and looks at their business in a different way than yesterday’s buyers. A single recurring theme throughout a training session/discussion will be: A SUCCESSFUL PRESENTER WILL ALWAYS TALK AROUND THE NEEDS OF THEIR BUYER. WHY DO WE NEED THESE SKILLS?

21. STARTING YOUR TALK • Decide your strategy • Identify the key elements of your sales pitch • Choose your starting point • Be selective • Ensure the pattern makes sense and flows two ways • Choose a method of describing Find the Best Route :

22. OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS This is probably the most under-used part of your sales process. You can sell the benefits, the price and other areas of your product/service, but when the customer asks questions can you overcome them? The next session we will breakdown these headings and look at ways we can overcome the dreaded Objections .

23. OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS Firstly examine a phrase that should be uppermost in every sales persons mind and what it means? L ISTEN I DENTIFY S EEK COMMITMENT T HINK E XPLAIN HOW AND THEN EXPLORE N OW ASK FOR THE BUSINESS

24. OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS Planning and Preparation is VITAL Knowing your customers is ESSENTIAL Knowing the market place is PARAMOUNT REMEMBER!

25. OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS Once practiced and put to work, these objection handling techniques will have some of your customers eating out of your hands, or at the very least giving you good repeat orders. Selling is about FOLLOWIING THE SALES PROCESS

26. CLOSING THE SALE Closing the sale has many different techniques that can be used, my general advice is individuals should find one that suits their personality, one you feel comfortable using. This can be something taken from observing others when using a closing technique. Whichever you use make it effective and that means getting the order ?

27. POST MEETING NOTES/FOLLOW UP ACTIONS Why do we need to make notes from the meeting and follow up action when you have just obtained a written confirmed order from the buyer and you feel really good about what you have achieved? You should feel good, but what next? Preparation and Planning has been at the forefront of the selling process; therefore as part of that process you should be looking at WHY you are attending a meeting in the first place? What do you want out of the meeting with the buyer? Could I suggest you should look at three areas, basic, but very functional?

28. POST MEETING NOTES/FOLLOW UP ACTIONS Your objectives: What you want from the meeting? An order, confirmation of an agreement, or are you filling time in? Meeting Notes: Write the results of the meeting; it may be that you have an order but you will need to ensure the delivery date, time and delivery point. You may need also to re-visit your proposal, or give vital competitor information, your product information etc.

29. What follow up is needed? , Do you need to take your proposal back to your head office? Have you agreed a timeline with your client and will this be met? They are very basic principles but they are part of the sales process and to be followed as a professional sales person. Action Plans POST MEETING NOTES/FOLLOW UP ACTIONS

30. POST MEETING NOTES/FOLLOW UP ACTIONS I would add a Caveat to this If you see the same buyer regularly it’s good to be able to get to know him/her a little better i.e. what he likes to do outside of work, has he got children is he/she Married etc. Remember: Know your buyer WHY DO WE NEED THESE SKILLS ?

31. GOOD LUCK AND GOOD HUNTING! Barry M Hurst