The Science of Selling describes Carpedia Consulting's approach to making the sales process more measureable, and therefore more manageable.

1. The Science
of Selling
opens the The Science of Selling
opportunity
to a
measureable
sales process
Werner Hess
A White Paper
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

2. The sales Introduction
Newcomers to the sales environment may perceive the sales
Newcomers to the sales perceive the sales function to be an activity
process that somehow comes naturally to some people, whilst others struggle
to achieve success.
shouldn’t be a
The Science of Selling de-mystifies the elements of successful
mystery. It selling and reveals approaches, systems and processes that can be
put into place to create a platform for sales success. An essential
should be a element in this science is that the customer is central to all sales
activities. This makes relationship-enhancing processes paramount to
well thought achieving sales.
The Science of Selling looks at –
out, purpose
• Needs and value realisation
designed • Sales systems and processes
• Relationship-centred selling and relationship-based conversion
process that • Key success factors and skills application for enhancing
commitment, improving presence, and widening the scope of
defines how opportunity.
the sales
should
executed.
It’s a simple
fact:
No apparent
need,
No sale!
No apparent
value,
No sale!
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

3. Central to the science of selling are the concepts of needs and value. It’s quite
simple; if you are unable to define a specific need with a potential customer, you
probably won’t be selling anything.
The challenge with the concept of needs, is that it’s not exactly measureable, so that
makes it difficult to put a value to how strong your customers needs are! The needs
continuum is a great tool that enables sales people to envisage the strength or
intensity of a need along the needs continuum.
Introducing the needs continuum…
The concept of needs The needs
Needs:
A need can be described as the difference between an actual and a desired continuum
state, while wants are desires to satisfy needs in specific ways that are culturally
and socially influenced.
The needs continuum:
helps
measure
Low Needs High Needs
needs
Low perception of needs High perception of needs
Low need to act High need to act
intensity
In sales, the conversation with customers revolves around building a strong perception
of the needs, and the need to act
Move the needs line from the left to the
The needs continuum starts off “cold” in other words there is a low
perception of needs.
It is only through effective exploring that needs may become apparent to potential
customers. Many sales people have felt the frustration of simply not getting
anywhere in a sales meeting.
The root cause of that is that their customer’s needs are not clearly apparent.
Getting to the customer needs, means that the measure of needs intensity will move
to the right on the continuum, until the needs are at a “high”. Customers tend to act
when the needs intensity is high.
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

4. Introducing the value continuum…
Customers are unlikely to commit to your offering unless they can see, or at least
calculate the value of your offering. They may have a need, but they also have a
choice to either live with the situation or they can do something about it, i.e. they can
act on the need. The value continuum is a great tool for judging the extent to which
your value proposition aligns with the customer’s perception of value. The customer
will further check the value in terms of ROI and in terms of other options that he may
engage to satisfy the need. Sales people are in essence agents of value!
The value The concept of value
continuum Value: The quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable
measures The value continuum:
the level of
Low Value High Value
value Low perception of value High perception of value
appreciation
In sales, the conversation with customers revolves around building a strong perception
of the value
Move the value line from the left to the
A sale is most likely to happen when both needs and value are high. The
customer has a pressing need to be satisfied and he can clearly see and calculate the value
of going ahead and buying your product or service.
The sales person can use the needs and the value continuum to measure the extent to
which the customer is at the ready to buy. Logically, when the needs are high and the value
is high, the sale has a strong chance of going ahead.
Relationship Centered Selling is based on enabling sales people through skills application,
to effectively explore needs and to project the value of buying the product or service. The
benefit if the relationship selling approach is that sales people can follow a step-by step
selling process that enables them to conclude the deal when needs and value are high on
the matrix. The conversion process can successfully be applied to selling in any environment
and be personalised to a company’s particular sales environment.
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

5. Relationship Centered Selling is a program where sales people can learn the
skills of executing the sales process steps successfully. The concept of the
sales conversion process and relationship centered selling is highly adaptable
Acquisition and customisable to all sales situations.
Retention
Penetration The Conversion Process and sales
systems
Most companies don’t actually have a defined sales process in place, and
Identification rely on sales people to make their own way in terms of knowing where to
find customers and how to set up meetings with them. Any opportunity is
Research seen as a good opportunity and often a lot of time and effort goes to
waste chasing deals that are not ripe for conversion.
Classification
Setting up a sales process is much simpler then what most companies
can imagine. In the absence of a specific sales process, a generic version
Targeting
can easily be modified and changed to suit specific go-to market models.
Qualification
Conversion
Registration
The Revenue Eco-System
Acquisition
System
Retention Penetration
System Lead Identification System
Lead Research
Lead Classification
Lead Targeting
Lead Qualification
Lead Conversion
Lead Registration
Shareholder
Value
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

6. What makes this approach specifically effective is that the revenue streams have
been defined. We are therefore able to build specific processes for customer
acquisition, retention and penetration. The process design for acquisition would
normally be different to that of penetration.
Introducing measurability of the sales process….
The sales
pipeline Once a process had been established, the execution elements of the
process become measureable. Lead identification and research
not only probably only moves the sale 7% down the pipeline and once a need
has been established and the value is clear to the customer, then a
has value sale is qualified and can be seen as being 30-80% complete.
to keep This kind of measurability not only makes a lot of sense to the sales
person managing the sale through to completion, but it also has great
sales value to the company in terms of quantifying the sales pipeline in
terms of number of opportunities and the stages to completion. Most
people on sales managers will find the sales pipeline invaluable in terms of
planning, controlling and organising sales focus and activity levels.
track, it’s
also a
valuable Sales Process Planning
The Sales Process Planning Continuum converted into the sales metrics system:
forecasting
tool
ID Researc Segment Target Qualify Convert Register
h
3% 7% 10% 20% 30--------80% 100%
Now converted into measurable Pipeline Goals
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

7. The complex
meeting system is
the most critical
The Golden Hour – The part of the sales
complex meeting system process ….
Sales people often refer to sales meetings with customers as the It is also the part of
“golden hour” and it is indeed in the sales meeting where the
rubber meets the road and the opportunity is either moved
forward to the next step in the sales process, or it falls flat and
the process where
goes nowhere. Not only a lost opportunity, but also a wasted
activity!
sales people are
In general, sales managers underestimate the power of being least prepared for
process ready and being able to use effective communication
skills to move the sale forward. The complex meeting system is a effective execution!
systems focused tool that provides a framework for structuring all
the key meeting steps needed to successfully execute the sale.
In essence the complex meeting system needs to be underpinned by a relationship focus in
order to manage the sale with the best interests of the customer in mind. The system as well
as the process skills needs to be relationship centered.
Introducing Relationship Centered Selling….
We talked about needs and value earlier in this white paper and how sales people should
have the skills of uncovering needs and projecting the value of their offering. In structuring
relationship centered selling, the needs and value continuum forms the basis on which
Carpedia Consulting built the structured meeting system.
The essence of relationship centered selling is to keep the customer in control of where the
sale is going (without the customer actually being aware of it!). The sale is broken down into
defined process steps which again are measureable. The logic applied to the process is
such, that the customer feels in control of the sale and removes elements of “features and
benefits punting” from the process. The relationship centred selling system is also structured
in a way so that sales people can use it as a framework, injecting their own style and content
into the mix.
Sales people detest using a sales methodology that is rigid and makes them come across
stiff and rehearsed. Relationship centered selling provides the framework for setting up the
process so that both the customer and sales person can advance the sale using logical
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

8. Sales people
detest sales process steps and relaxed communication techniques. In fact the process very
effectively uncovers customer’s needs and helps the sales person project the
methodologies value of uncovering the needs sets effectively. In fact we like to talk about
that make customer conversion rather than selling!
them appear
rehearsed and
stiff – The complex meeting system – Relationship
Centered Selling
They would
much rather
use a
framework, High Value
and inject their
own
Concluding
personality
and content Negotiating
into the
system!
Presenting
Projecting
Exploring
Positioning
Connecting
Low Value
High Needs
Low Needs
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

9. Critical Success Factors
Providing sales people with a
structured sales process, using
well defined sales systems and
being able to navigate the
complexities of a complex
meeting may not necessarily
guarantee sales success. Success
is defined by the individual.
Attitude, behaviour and skilful
execution.
Introducing the success matrix…
Attitude
The success matrix has attitude, behaviour and skills at its foundation. Having a
winning attitude that says “can do” and approaching the world with dynamic
enthusiasm and the will to succeed lies in the hands of every sales person. While
attitude is deeply ingrained and can’t easily be changed, behaviour can be changed
tomorrow!
Behaviour
Behaviour is simply putting attitude into action. At its foundation, behaviour is all
about having clear goals and objectives. Clear goals (written & committed to) are
what keeps the individual on track and results focused. The further elementary
behavioural aspect that applies to sales, is to develop a plan to realise the goals and
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

10. objectives. The planning phase should define high value segments and quantify the
number of meetings required to reach the goals. Finally, the plan should include a
clear action plan to drive execution.
Skills & Knowledge
Having the right attitude in place, and engaging in a defined planning process will
only lead to success once sales people are able to apply knowledge and skills to the
interface, in order to convert customers successfully.
Knowledge amounts to the sum total of what is known about the market place,
products, competitive offerings, and sales policies and procedures. Skilful application
of the conversion process (relationship centered selling) is the final element that
ensures individual success.
Sales people capable of combining a great attitude with skilful execution, leads to the
all elusive quality of presence being nurtured. When combining skills with behaviour,
more and more opportunities will open up, and finally, being able to combine a great
attitude with the right behaviours will lead to the level of commitment required to
succeed.
Coaching
Coaching is perhaps one of the most critical elements in
sales effectiveness program implementations. Having
achieved a fairly high degree of measurability in terms of
the systems, processes and skills development, the
No less than 4
opportunity is now there to make coaching work, coaching sessions are
removing some of the subjective elements from the
coaching process and replacing the subjective with required in the 14
quantifiable measures.
week period after
Coaching is a key management imperative providing the
opportunity not only to get out into the market, but also in training or learning
terms of measuring go-to-market model execution.
decay will be 80%!
Managers should take the opportunity to engage with
each sales person in a coaching mode, at least every Don’t waste money
quarter and use measureable coaching tools to assess
progress. on training, if you are
not serious about
coaching!
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

11. About Carpedia Consulting…
Carpedia Consulting is an internationally relevant management consultancy firm, dedicated
to assisting clients to improve sales and profits through the implementation of improvement
programs. Our approach is what makes us unique. The way we design, develop and execute
our programs is hands-on, solutions-based and excellence driven.
Our programs are customized to the needs of your organisation and are designed to ensure
significant and sustainable improvements are made both internally and externally – by the
sales team, for the customer.
www.carpedia.co.za
About Werner Hess…
Werner Hess has spent 20 years of his career in various sales, marketing and leadership
positions with Bayer, Triad Electronics, GE and GE Plastics before serving as managing
director of GE Plastics and Polymerland. Werner’s first experience in the world of consulting
came about when he joined Proudfoot Consulting as Director of Business Development,
which included several international assignments in Europe and the USA, leading sales
effectiveness projects for global clients. Werner’s current company, Carpedia Consulting is
a specialist niche consultancy focused on sales and profit improvement.
Werner’s latest book, The Science of Selling has just been published and reveals
approaches, systems and processes that can be implemented to create a successful sales
platform.
Werner can be reached on: whess@carpedia.co.za
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling

12. Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd
PO Box 1701
GALLO Manor
2052
Building 2
Country Club Estates
Woodlands Drive
Woodmead
Sandton
South Africa
Tel: 27-11 – 258-8813
Fax: 27-11- 258-8511
Mob: 27-82-888-0228
Email: info@carpedia.co.za
www.carpedia.co.za
The Science of Selling is the essential, must-have handbook
for all sales people, in any industry, regardless of one’s level of
experience. Use this book to sharpen your approach and sales
skills even further to maximise your performance and exceed
your sales targets!
Carpedia Consulting (Pty) Ltd – www.carpedia.co.za – The Science of Selling