Everyone sells
An engaging one-day course
Delivered by Tony Bray
[email protected]
0870 2414298
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Contents list
Course benefits
Page 2
An effective ‘salesperson’
Page 3
Features and benefits
Page 4
Situation, problem and effect
Page 7
Voyage of discovery
Page 13
Skill practice sessions
Page 14
Action planning
Page 16
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SunSpot
By the end of today you will:
Know how to build rapport with people in all
situations.
Be able to encourage people to talk openly about
things that need changing.
Know how to turn general dissatisfaction with a
situation into specific needs.
Understand how to discuss ‘features’ and ‘benefits’ in
a persuasive way.
Be able to understand and deal with barriers in a
positive way.
Understand the role of the engagement manager.
Feel more confident about your ability to spot
potential business opportunities, and know what
information to pass on.
3
Picture an effective
‘Salesperson’…
Focus on your
Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes
Knowledge
Skills
Attitudes
How do you measure up?
Please identify three items in each column you could
usefully improve.
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Features and benefits
Customers don’t just buy products…
they buy solutions to problems
Features
You,the producer see…
•Raw materials.
•Technical specifications.
•Production systems.
•Packaging.
•What it costs to make.
•Marketing initiatives.
•Sales and distribution.
•Taxation.
•Revenue streams.
•Trademark protection issues.
Benefits
Your customers see….
•Improved productivity.
•Cost-effective solutions.
•Reduced hassle.
•Seamless transfer of information.
•Happier customers.
•More time to get on with core activities.
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What about you?
Please spend a few minutes thinking about what you produce. List three
or four things you produce or do – it could be installations, new designs,
new processes, completed projects, reports or analyses.
List those under
the Features
column.
Now list one
Benefit for each
Feature.
Feature
Benefit
_________________________________________
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POWER
Of
First Impressions
The 90:90 Rule
You create:
90% of your lasting impression
in the first 90 seconds!
Sincere smile
Assertive movement
Steady eye contact
Appropriate dress
Firm, confident handshake
Confident voice
Assertive stance
Ask your way to success
Work down this cascade
Situation Questions
Problem Questions
Effect Questions
Start with Situation Questions…
Situation Questions
Low threat - to get the other person talking.
Open questions - to allow you to build the general picture.
Enables you to confirm your understanding of their
organization, key people, sites and current resources.
What do Situation Questions sound like?
‘Tell me about your role…’
‘What do you do/make/supply/provide/build…?’
‘How many people work here?’
‘What processes do you use?’
‘Who supplies your materials/data/support/etc?’
‘How do you turn the raw materials into finished product?’
‘What targets do you have?’
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Ask your way to success
Once you understand the situation, you’re ready to ask
Problem Questions, which simply help the other person to
vocalize internal feelings.
Problem Questions
Problem questions should uncover dissatisfactions, the
starting point of all 'needs'.
Problem questions should contain at least one word to
prompt a value judgement about the current situation:
happy, unhappy, concerned, awkward, difficult,
satisfactory, confident, comfortable, inadequate, etc.
What do Problem Questions sound like?
‘What difficulties do you experience with…?’
‘If you could change anything what would it be?’
‘You must experience some frustrations with…?’
‘What feedback do you give/receive about…?’
‘Which products/staff members take up most of your time?’
‘What stops you getting 1% better performance?’
You can see how these questions:
Identify issues or concerns.
Uncover potential problems.
Reveal causes of frustration or dissatisfaction.
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'Situation' or 'Problem‘ question?
Imagine that you are in the early stages of discovering someone's
needs. Please look at the following questions and decide whether they
are 'situation' or 'problem' questions.
1. How many tons/cartons/packages do you produce each day?
2. Which aspects of your operation are least satisfactory?
3. Does your current output meet your corporate objectives?
4. What proportions of raw materials are used in each batch?
5. What sort of difficulties do you experience with your distribution network?
6. How do you feel about the limited production facilities?
7. What impact will increased production have on the supply of raw materials?
8. When was the computer system introduced?
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Ask your way to success
Once the other person has vocalized issues you’re ready to
ask Effect Questions, which help them to realize their
importance or implications.
Effect Questions
Help the other person to translate the 'niggles‘ into
tangible effects, such as quality, quantity, cost or time.
They realize the impact on reputation, staff morale,
profit margins, customers, cash flow, etc.
What do Effect Questions sound like?
‘What impact does that have on your profit/margins/
customers/reputation/supply chain?’
‘So if this situation continues, what will it be like in six
or twelve months?’
‘Do your competitors face similar problems?’
‘If you don’t change, this what do you think we may have to
do?’
I never realized the
full impact this has
on our business!
The moment of
truth!
We must have a
solution to these problems
and soon!
Do you hear a ‘need’?
Look at the following statements. One of each pair is a statement of
‘need’. Which one?
1.
a. I need some way to reduce the price per copy.
b. We spend a lot on photocopying.
2.
a. My tyres are so worn I feel unsafe driving in the Winter.
b. I would like to replace my tyres in the next month.
3.
a. Our kitchen looks a bit shabby and dated.
b. We intend to redecorate our kitchen in the Spring.
4.
a. Our computer system seems to be rather slow and inefficient.
b. We should have a computer system that allows all users access to high
quality graphics packages.
5.
a. The production line is not operating at all well.
b. I would like to be able to increase production by 2.5%.
6.
a. The hotel bedrooms are not equipped to modern standards.
b. We should have television, tea and coffee machines and trouser presses
in every bedroom.
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The conversation flows like this…
Icebreaker… natural, friendly
Build rapport – common areas?
‘Situation’ questions
– explore their world
‘Problem’ questions - what
would they like to change?
‘Effect’ or ‘Impact’ questions
– show the real value or impact
They mention a specific need
You offer help
Part on friendly and positive
terms
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The whole conversation flows like this…
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Icebreaker… natural, friendly
‘Hi. Are you on the Heathrow flight
too? I guess we’ve time for one
drink before we start boarding.’
Build rapport – common areas?
‘I noticed your trade magazine – is
it “soft drinks”? Is that your line
of business?’
‘Situation’ questions
– explore their world
‘Problem’ questions - what
would they like to change?
‘What do you do?’
‘Run a factory, eh? That must be
quite a challenge?’
‘Listening to you talk about your
job it sounds as though there are
quite a few things that cause you
unnecessary pressure.’
‘Effect’ or ‘Impact’ questions
– show the real value or impact
‘If/when that happens - it must
have quite an impact on your
profit/costs/reputation/stress
levels/effectiveness…?’
They mention a specific need
They reflect and say something
like…
’You’re right - I really must do
something about it.’
You offer help
‘One of our guys is an expert in
that area. Would it help if I put
you two in touch?’
Part on friendly and positive
terms
‘It’s been nice talking to you. I’ll
get onto that tomorrow morning.’
‘Let’s hope the flight’s on time,
eh? Bye now.’
Voyage of discovery
Time for practice!
Please work with a partner – someone you don’t know well.
Using the Situation–Problem–Effect cascade to try to discover
a hidden desire or concern.
Remember – it should feel like a natural conversation, not
an interrogation!
See if you can discover something they haven’t shared with
anyone previously.
Try to discover a specific desire for change.
Change partners and try it out again.
Timings: 40 minutes in total.
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The skill practice sessions
There are three parts…
Preparation – 5 minutes
Decide roles – who’s A, B and C?
A reads the Sun brief and decides how to open up the
conversation.
B reads the other person’s brief and decides how to
respond.
C reads both briefs and prepares to observe.
Discussion – 15 minutes
A opens the conversation with B and encourages B to reveal
underlying business problems that may be an opportunity for
Sun PS.
B responds realistically to A, adding any personal
‘perspective’ or flavour to make the situation more
challenging.
C observes what happens and make notes to lead the
feedback discussion.
C calls ‘time’ at 15 minutes.
Feedback discussion – 10 minutes
C opens the feedback session, giving examples of
how the discussion went.
A and B discuss what happened, drawing learning points
from the discussion.
A summarizes what he/she has learnt and commits to
specific action points.
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Performance
Improvement
Grid
Please review the course and decide…
What you will do more of.
What you will start doing.
What you will stop doing.
What you will do differently.
Do more of
Start doing
Stop doing
Do differently