Development of specific sales skills

Generally speaking, the result of low knowledge of sales and negotiating techniques in each industry is numerous anti-commercial behaviors. A brief overview of the most important areas of anti-competence is described below.

2. Lack of practical skills in the application of training knowledge on the basis of daily business visits

The use of training knowledge in real-world meetings is most often the case for training groups. Most often this is due to the lack of periodic training focusing on specific areas: asking questions, opening, paraphrase and many other skills more widely discussed during our classes. Unfortunately, the reason may also lie in the poor quality of the training sessions themselves.

From our observations, a significant number of them are only focused in the area of knowledge - without giving practical help to traders. It is also important to mention that the most commonly learned during training sales techniques are used only for a certain period of time after training. A return to old habits is characterized by many employees of sales departments.

3. No preparation for the talks

The effectiveness of the negotiations may, up to 99%, depend on good preparation. At this stage of the sales process, it is not enough for the trader to have catalogues, price lists and other materials supporting the sale. It is important to define the purpose of the conversation:

-What are we going to sell?,

-How will we be selling?,

-What arguments will we be using?.

We are referring to these questions, which will allow us to correctly recognize the needs of our interlocutor. Another important aspect is the involvement of the client in providing broader answers. Our interlocutors can't feel like they're auditioning. That's why during our training we develop the art of professional questioning and the ability to build and develop scripts and trade interview scenarios. Most importantly, the benefits of professionally preparing for conversations according to our methodology are truly impressive.

In practice, it appears that professional preparation for sales talks allows:

-realize sales as soon as possible,

-give the impression of a more competent person,

-minimize the trader's stress,

-feel more confident,

-significantly increase the effectiveness.

4. Inability to convert technical aspects of products into an understandable commercial language

Very often, sales conversations in technical industries are marked by theoretical lectures. Our training observations confirm that most often our customers are not interested in the history, structure of our company, prestige, experience and even the product itself. Customers look at our offer from the point of view of benefits for themselves. Implementing the language-speaking method of benefits in sales conversations allows for a number of benefits. One of the advantages of its use is the constant search for positive properties of our products. Technical products are generally characterized by certain technical parameters specified in the product sheets. The role of the merchant is to present them to customers in the most comprehensible and accessible way possible. As a rule, the property of product A directly or indirectly affects product B. Often, the use of a more expensive solution in place of the cheaper place results in financial savings in further time perspectives. An important aspect is the fact that our customers like to compare competitive products in terms of price. Nothing more wrong. Most often we are dealing with similar products, not the same ones.

The differences lie in the details: parameters and properties, real wear in place of the application. The same is also true of the packaging of the product itself: the quantity in the carton, the type of film thickness used. Such characteristics can also affect logistical benefits in financial and non-financial aspects. It is most often in the eyes of customers that a product supplied by competing manufacturers looks the same. In reality, however, the differences can be considerable. Customers very often also like to weaken our message using the argument that similar companies like you are on the market a lot. It's a classic merchant's lick. Weakening the merchant is a very common shopping trick in order to get out of the certainty of the seller.

Based on our observations of many conversations, one of the more frequent errors in this regard is a negligible knowledge of the most important features (advantages). Group classes devoted to this training method allow you to discover more and more of the properties of our customers' products. The role of the trainer conducting the classes is to help in replacing the characteristics and advantages with benefits for the buyer. Exercises of this competence give many effects. In addition to the commercial benefits, conducting classes with this method allows the marketing department to continuously create elements of market advantage For our classes devoted to this training module, as a rule, people with the greatest product knowledge are invited: product managers, heads of technical support.

5.Trying to gain orders only through features of the product's price

One of the biggest weaknesses of the trading teams is the focus on price. It is also not uncommon for additional aspects of it: discounts, discounts, bonus vouchers, price promotions. The whole of such behaviour causes only market disgust. Many industries are affected by all sorts of price wars. Virtually everyone agrees that the war is caused by competition. Apparently, 52% of companies surveyed believe that it is in a state of price war. On the other hand, as many as 95% of them believe that competition is to blame. Why do companies think competitors are cheaper?

In most cases, the information is incorrect e.g. other products are compared, the customer bluffs very often. Overcoming price objections is very difficult for traders. Classic merchant manipulation involves directing the conversation to focus the trader's action on a quick price calculation from the first moment.

Most queries also apply only to prices: What is the price? Looking for a price?. The whole commercial art is about properly dealing with objections of this type. It is helpful to understand the source of their origin. There is nothing worse than talking only about prices. Price is just one of the marketing elements of the mix. In our classes on these issues, we teach your traders to sell more expensively. Most of our role-playing exercises, where your traders can take on the role of observers, the most expensive and cheapest manufacturer are confirmation that despite the high price, the customer has decided to make a more expensive solution.

"Our customers expect information, why are we more expensive?"

Among the classic attitudes of a trader who "plays only the price" you can see actions characterized by the absence of any pricing policy. Most often, a seller of this type offers his partners suddenly changing conditions: prices of the week, prices of the day and even the price of an hour. Poor ability to overcome price reservations is most often due to many factors. The level of prices obtained is only a reflection of the quality of the whole conversation. Similarly, if we take a closer look at preparing for talks and negotiating meetings, it is with the seller, who will focus too much on price calculations before the meeting, the consequence of such actions is most often only talking about price. Similarly, a person selling in this way can also feel all sorts of fears and frustrations before visiting. In his head, most often there are fears: do I not have too high prices? Will I break through with such a price?

All preparation for the talks is only in the price aspect. It is not uncommon for the seller to even come to the conclusion that it is not worth meeting the customer because the prices of the offered products are too high. Losing time only tries to find out what customer has already had price offers located by competitors. As a result, there is no more time to prepare professionally for the meeting. Another thing that the customer himself will ask us about prices if he is interested in our product and solution.

Very often, high price pressures characterize sales processes based mainly by distributors. With such a distribution model, the manufacturer's seller is constantly weakened by wholesalers and dealers in order to propose ever lower prices.

The result of sales trainings by Sales Power School®

are professional after training materials, which include:

-personal and phone call scripts

-training materials for distributors

-comparison of products to competitive counterparts

-examples of open preliminary questions

-examples of open ended questions

6. Low knowledge of needs recognition techniques

Our training experience and sales practice has been proving that this stage of sales is a peculiar key in professional trading. There is a great deal of attention to asking the right questions that focus on the needs of our interlocutors. Good and hit open questions will lead the conversation in a way that allows you to make sales in much greater effectiveness. Knowing the specific needs of our customers becomes extremely important. Our classes help you understand and classify the needs of different groups of clients. Different needs can be taken by individual participants in the sales process. Another extremely important competence that we practice during our commercial trainings is to take notes during the meeting. This seemingly easy skill in practice proves difficult to apply. When our customer starts articulating their needs, it is a real difficulty for sellers to remember all the information provided to us by the customer. That's why the quotation allows you to focus on your most important needs.

Ability to edit notes during trade talks will help you to constantly focus on the interlocutor.

By noting you can confirm that you have understood the customer in right way?

7. Little faith in yourself and company

Today's trader is constantly weakened by customers. Weakening the product is one of the techniques of the merchant, whose goal is to overturn any positive beliefs about the product and our company. Negative trade signals can cause fluctuations in sellers' motivation. A strong sense of faith is a kind of antidote to such situations. It is impossible to be deceived that sellers bombarded with many negative daily events will have a level of faith at their maximum level all the time. A significant problem may also be the lack of motivating on the part of the sales manager.

In our sales techniques training, we used to use brainstorming and multidimensional discussions to help increase faith in our own skills and the company we represent.

Sometimes too much faith can also be an obstacle- the trader gives the impression of a person too confident. In such situations, sales training on the job can provide a great deal of help, where the trainer can correct certainattitudes and competences through a kind of relationship with the participant of the session.

8. Low customer activity planning skills

"Even the worst plan is better than no plan at all"

Activities with customers should be planned on a recurring basis. Contrary to appearances, this skill is not one of the easiest. A good trader has to keep going with the challenge:

Should I search new customers? or would be better to expand the range of existing partners? Most often, however, the actions of sellers are targeted at the least demanding activities. Achieving goals on the smallest resistance line is one of the biggest mistakes. Our trainings develop the effectiveness of planning in a very pragmatic way.

More information about developmnent of sales skills you can find in book: "The art of selling in practice-training guide book" was written by Krzysztof Czupryński Sales book

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