Sales Training
Professional For Life Sales and Management Series
Some general info or an overview on the series. Talk about classes being able to be taken individually or as a group.
Foundations
Overview:"You only get one chance to make a good first impression," and this first impression is vital in retail sales. A large part of what we need to accomplish with customers is building rapport. Based on consumers' general opinions of sales associates and the retail sales process, we have a bit of an uphill battle. more
Concept: Create consistency throughout the selling methods by building a foundation based on non-confrontational and value selling concepts. This approach is also known as consultative selling in many industries however, our term will be a "Customer-Centered" approach. When a presentation is given to a customer, it is offered in the form of concepts, examples, parables, ProTracks and/or specific language. It is always based on predetermined and understood client wants, needs and motives. Foundation is like a skeleton, we all have one. However, what we look like, act like and sound like differ. Just like of marketing styles, each one of us is truly different in a good and original way. Topics:
Goal: The core of the Foundation stage is to use your own words; come from the customer’s point of view; and always be more professional, so that the client emotionally connects more quickly and deeply with you. Every Professional for Life class supports the elements that are outlined in the Foundation stage. |
Meeting & Greeting
Overview: When you build a building, you first establish a strong foundation. In the art of selling, this foundation is critical to every skill or technique taught in the sales and management process. We use the reference process because the skill sets and concepts used need to be flexible. The reason is simple, they will be used with a variety of human beings.
The approach we take is to engage the customer and avoid techniques used in the past that upset or add stress for consumers. Here again, the psychological aspects of selling and marketing become clear. Knowing and noticing why our clients feel the way they do is our best tool for building rapport. more
Concept: When you are yourself and true to your own personal ethics and values, people will naturally like you. When you seem to be trying too hard or are not natural with your approach, customers take much longer to connect emotionally. Professional Meeting and Greeting is all about making that personal connection as quickly as possible. Topics:
Goal: The customer’s perception is all that matters in our world. If we rush over to the customer immediately or compete with other sales associates to meet a customer first, you can imagine the customer perception. The concept of "Think of the Customer First" must be understood completely so that we provide an approach that is customer-centered and engaging. |
Professional Counseling
Overview:
The old approach was to simply and immediately show your clients all you have to offer or what is available in your inventory. The new standard is to first fully understand your client’s wants, needs and motives. By drilling down on those client items, the sales associate knows not only what the client wants, they also know why the client wants it. With that information, the sales associate can much more effectively develop a customer-centered professional presentation and demonstration. more
Concepts: Apply everything you have learned from the "Foundation" and "Professional Meeting and Greeting" stages to counsel and engage your clients, using a blend of client engaged conversation (originally approached and presented in the Professional Meeting and Greeting stage). We will also apply technique-like sales cushioning and differentiation statements to gain critical information through natural customer-centered conversation. Topics:
Goal: Information acquisition is most effectively accomplished when your client is comfortable. Professional Counseling demonstrates your concern for their wants, needs and motives, thereby establishing the credibility of your questions. Noticing what is working allows for the conversation to always be customer-centered. Now we know exactly how to present and demonstrate the product to maximize client enthusiasm levels. |
Professional Presentation and Demonstration
Overview: Just for a moment, think of the impact you would have on a client if you knew exactly what and why they needed to see a specific feature or benefit of your product. The reality of the situation is that you do already know this information from your Professional Counseling efforts. Now the art form is utilizing the information you have obtained. more
Concepts: Rather than focus on a predetermined order of presentation or demonstration, just stick to the items the client told you was important to them. Once these key areas are covered, you can move on to value added areas. This approach simply satisfies the client first before we bring in new concepts. It supports our focus of being psychological. Topics:
Goal: This extremely simple concept allows for the client to take a quicker psychological ownership of the product much earlier. The client has been presented and demonstrated exactly what they told us were their needs. The result is that the product becomes perfect for them in their mind’s eye because it addresses their specific wants, needs and motives. |
The Art of Negotiation
Overview: Negotiation: This is commonly feared as a deceptive and frustrating practice for both consumers and sales associates. The main reason for this misconception is that the focus of negotiation often tends to be on money rather than value topics. Clients want to know what the investment will be and why they should pay that amount. The sales associate needs to provide customer-centered answers in a timely, simple, clear, relevant and easily understood method. This approach makes negotiation simply a business conversation rather then a confrontation. more
Concepts:"Seek first to understand, then to be understood": Approach each client negotiation as a business conversation. Negotiate from a point of value, justify commitment and price on the customer’s pre-established and confirmed wants, needs and motives. Present logical and pre-discussed reasons that make sense to your client in order for them to commit to investing in your product. Now we leverage on the "Justification Barrel", "Silent Walk-Around", and "Professional Counseling". Topics:
Goal: Understanding why the client feels the way they do and confirming that your value proposition meets all of their objectives. Then and only then will the client reconsider their stated concern. Use logic and the client’s topics to make your case and all parties will win.
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The Art of Personal Marketing
Overview: Personal Marketing is simply an effective and professional prospecting program which takes an entrepreneurial. It focuses on both follow-up and includes how to redefine long, medium and short-term prospecting. The essence is letting your clients know: 1) Who you are; 2) What you do; and 3) Where to find you when THEY need you.The days of emphasizing the organization over the individual are over. Clients want to do business with a person, not bricks and mortar. Our organization realized very quickly that every aspect of how we do business needs to be centered around the customer. We are no longer afraid to make our sales associates strong and independent. We are no longer afraid if a sales associate leaves with our knowledge base. We fully realize successful sales associates stay more often than leave any organization. more
Concepts: Personal Contact Data is the life blood of personal marketing. Each sales associate will have a thorough understanding of how to approach, obtain and maintain data on paper or stored digitally. This "Pure Data," regardless if housed in the organization’s CRM program or the sales associate’s personal PIM (Personal Information Manager) is what makes the difference, medium and long term, for every organization. Promote the Person not the Company; that is what the client wants. Topics:
Goal: Develop a network of contacts that is ever expanding and represents future business opportunities. This class will insure our client base never forgets: Who we are; What we do; and Where to find us when they need us. It also supports trust and commitment among teams. We can’t do business like we once did, the client won’t allow it. |






