CREATIVE SELLING PROCESS
As shown in the figure below, the creative selling process consists
of eight steps, none of which is less important than any other if the
process is to be effective. It should be emphasized to all employees
that all steps are vital to the achievement of effective selling.
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1. Pre-Customer Contact.
A smart builder would not attempt to build a house without a good foundation.
Likewise, a businessperson should not place people on the sales floor
or telephone until these people know the business, merchandise, services
and customers. Before any contact is made with the customer, every salesperson
should know.
Polices, Procedures, and Rules. Have these in writing for all employees
to see and to know.
Operation of Equipment. No matter whether the register is electronic
or mechanical, the time to learn how to work it is not after a ales
while the customer waits for change.
Target Market Knowledge. The better sales person knows something of
the likes and dislikes of the firm's primary customers. The business
operator should tell all sales personnel about the business's customers
and their lifestyles. Tell the salespeople about customer's interests
and ability to buy.
Product Knowledge. A salesperson gains confidence by knowing about
the products and services he or she is selling. If a person sells shoes,
it helps to know the merchandise as well as how to fit them. If a person
sells building materials, the selling job is probably more effective
if the salesperson can also help answer questions about home repairs.
It helps the person who sells clothes to know something about fabrics
and current fashions. If the person is in the lawn service business,
that person should know about lawn care. Most sales personnel will not
take the initiative to acquire product knowledge on their own. It is
management's responsibility to encourage employees to gain product and
service knowledge. Management should make such knowledge available to
them.
2. Prospecting.
Although not appropriate to every selling situation, prospecting should
be used whenever possible. Essentially, prospecting involves not waiting
for the customer to show up at a store or to phone about a service.
It is concerned with taking the initiative by going to the customer
with a product or service idea. Prospecting may be of two types: new
or regular customer prospecting.
New Customer Prospecting. A salesperson sees that a person is getting
married. Action is taken on this knowledge by contacting the person
and telling her about appropriate items (or services) that might be
of assistance to a new bride. By using newspapers and personal contacts,
a salesperson can take the initiative to contact and create new customers.
Regular Customer Prospecting. A firm's best prospects are its current
customers. A salesperson should make a practice of calling regular customers
on a periodic basis to tell them about products or services. "Hello.
Mrs. Anderson, I just want to tell you about the new shipment of dresses
that we received today. As I unpacked them, I saw several that made
me think of you." Prospecting with regular customers works! All
salespeople should be encouraged to prospect by phone and in-person
whenever they see regular customers. A word of caution must be emphasized.
Don't go to the well too often. Prospecting with the same regular customer
on a frequent basis can make prospecting lose the special feeling that
it can create in customers. Do not overuse it.
3. Initial Contact.
The most effective way to close a sale is to open it on a positive
note. Unfortunately, most sales do not open this way. The typical initial
store contact begins in this manner:
Clerk: "May I help you?"
Customer: "No thank you. I'm just looking."
This ritual leaves much to be desired. Why? It is an automatic statement
that shows no creativity on the part of the salesperson. Also, because
the customer has heard this statement many times, his or her response
is usually given without thinking what was said. Every salesperson should
be challenged to treat each customer as an individual by responding
differently to each customer.
Initial contact also means responding to customers when they enter
the sales areas even when they cannot be waited on immediately. Salespeople
should be instructed to tell waiting customers that, "I'll be with
you in a moment." Such actions will reduce the number of customers
who leave without being served. When the employee is free to help the
waiting customer, the initial comment should be, "Thank you, for
waiting." A courteous, creative initial contact with the customer
can go a long way to promote sales.
4. Presentation of Merchandise.
In presenting merchandise (or services) to the customer, the salesperson
should use product knowledge to best advantage. How? Buy Benefits. Although
it is good to talk about the lawnmower's 3 1/2 horsepower mower, customers
may be more interested in hearing about how fast the lawnmower will
cut the grass. Product knowledge is important but the salesperson must
remember what makes the customer buy. Clothes may be made of durable
fabrics, but it is also important to stress the implied benefit that
they will also appeal to the opposite sex. Sell benefits!
Customer Involvement. Product knowledge can be used to get customer
involvement. Show the customer several features of the digital watch
and then have the customer put it on and work it. If the interest is
there, it will be hard for the customer to take off the watch so that
the salesperson can put it back into the case. The best way to present
many products is to get involvement. Want to sell dance lessons? Get
the customer on the dance floor and let the fun of dancing do some of
the selling. The same is true with clothes, perfume, sports equipment,
and almost anything else.
Limit the Choices. If during the sales presentation more than three
items are in front of the customer, the changes of a sale are reduced
while the possibility of shoplifting is increased. If, for example,
the salesperson continues to carry dresses into the fitting room for
the customer to try without removing any from consideration, the customer
will likely not buy any because of the inability to decide from among
so many choices. Also, with so many items under study, the clerk may
lose track of how many items are in the fitting room. It is possible
that some may be put on under the customer's clothes while the clerk
is not present, thereby resulting in an expensive experience for the
store. Likewise, if a travel agency attempts to sell a customer a Caribbean
cruise, the changes of making the sale will diminish if too many trip
options are presented. Unless there is a definite reason for an exception,
the rule of three (never show more than three choices at one time) should
be followed whenever merchandise is presented. Limited choices have
been found to promote sales.
Use Showmanship. In presenting merchandise to the customer, encourage
all personnel to be creative. Be enthusiastic about the merchandise.
Hold the necklace up for the customer to see it. Make the portable baby
crib "look" easy to work. Lay the different pieces of the
cookware set before the customer in an attractive easy-to-see everything
manner. Ask your salespeople to think like a customer. If I were a customer,
what would I like to see?
Message Adaptation. A knowledgeable salesperson should know about the
products being sold. Message adaptation involves deciding what information
is needed to sell a particular customer and how that information should
be presented to that customer. Canned sales presentations do not allow
for adaptation. The effective sales person will make an effort to adjust
the presentation to the customer. If the customer knows about gardens
and lawns, the person selling a lawn service should adapt the sales
presentation to the level of the customer's expertise. Don't bore the
customer with known facts. It could lose a sale.
5. Handling Objections.
Remember, if objections are present, progress is probably being made
on the sale. Most salespeople are afraid of objections. Stress to all
employees that objections are a natural part of the selling process.
They do not mean that the sale is lost. In most cases, all that is required
to overcome an objection is more selling on the part of the salesperson.
Common types of customer objections that are faced by a salesperson
are:
Product: "That dress looks out-of-date."
Store: "You never have the right merchandise."
Service: "If I believe what I hear, I can't get good service from
you."
Price: "It is just too expensive."
Salesperson: "Are you sure these shoes fit right?"
These and other objections can be met by the salesperson in several
ways. Using the above product objection as an example, these methods
include:
Yet-But: "Yes, it does look out-of-date, but it is the latest."
This approach beings on a positive note by agreeing with the customer
and then moves on to answer the objection.
Counterquestion. "Why do you feel it's out-of-date?" The
counterquestion puts the ball back in the customer's court. By asking
"Why?" the real reason for the objection may become known.
Restate Objection. "You feel that the dress looks out-of-date."
By restating the objection, the customer may respond by saying, "No,
I mean it just doesn't look right on me," or something of a similar
nature. This approach tends to reduce the magnitude of the objection
in the eyes of the customer.
Direct Response. "The dress you have on was first shown at the
market this season It is the latest thing." Although offensive
to some, this approach may be necessary if the customer is not going
to buy unless the untruth can be corrected. Tact is important when using
this approach.
These four approaches for handling objections are not meant to be all-inclusive.
These and other approaches do point out, however, that objections should
and can be answered by the salesperson. Unless objections are overcome
to the satisfaction of the customer, it is questionable the sale will
be made.
6. Closing the Sale.
In various ways, the salesperson can assist the customer by helping
him or her to make the buying decision. Closing techniques that can
aid in this effort include:
Offer a Service. "Let us deliver it to you this afternoon."
A "Yes" implies purchase.
Give a Choice: "Do you want the five-piece or eight-piece cooking
set? Either choice implies purchase. Note that "No" was not
one of the choices.
Offer an Incentive. "If you buy now, you get 10 percent off the
already low price." If you wait, you don't get the 10 percent discount.
Better Not Wait. "If you want this refrigerator, butter get it
now. It's the last one in stock." Note it pays to be honest. If
the customer buys and then comes by the store the next day and sees
that the store did have another one, this closing technique may have
made the sale, but it could lose the customer.
7. Suggestion Selling.
The customer has made a purchase. Now what? Encourage your sales personnel
to make a definite suggestion for a possible additional sale. For many
businesses, sales can be increased by 25 percent through positive suggestion
selling. Please note that statements such as: "Will there be something
else?" or "Can I get you something else?" are not suggestion
selling. They do not make a positive suggestion. When the customer buys
a lamp, what about a light bulb to go in it? IF a picture is purchased,
what about the necessary hardware to hang it properly? If a suit is
bought, what about a new blouse or shirt that goes well with the color?
Where appropriate, the creative sales person will actually get the suggested
item and show it to the customer. Or if a person brings in a watch to
be repaired, why not also clean it while it is taken apart? This type
of initiative usually results in more sales. It should be emphasized
that most customers like to receive a valid suggestion. In some cases,
suggestions may even permit the customer to avoid another shopping trip
to pick up that needed item that they had not thought about. Good suggestion
selling makes sales and builds confidence in the firm's business.
8. Sales Follow-Up
Although not apparent to many salespeople, follow-up is a part of every
sale. The closing statement, "Thank you for shopping at (name of
store," is a form of sales follow-up if done with enthusiasm. Unfortunately,
just making the statement in an automatic manner is about as effective
as that other worn out phrase, "May I help you?" If done correctly,
however, it allows the customer to leave on a positive note, thereby
increasing the changes of repeat business by the customer.
Follow-up may also concern itself with checking on anything that was
promised the customer after the sale. If delivery is supposed to take
place on Friday, the salesperson will check to make sure that the promise
will be met and, if not, will notify the customer of the problem. Good
sales follow-up will prevent the type of situation that occurs so often
when the customer calls on Friday asking, "Where is the delivery
truck?" A business with a reputation for sales follow-up is going
to obtain additional business because of its concern after the sale. Sincere
sales follow-up is good business. Imagine the impact that can be had on
a customer when the carpet cleaning service telephones the customer 48
hours after cleaning her carpets to be sure that everything is satisfactory.
Sales follow-up buildings good will and repeat business.
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