"To sell in today's environment, you must become a partner with the customer, seeing their business from their perspective and helping them develop options."

Consultative Sales Approaches

Here are the top 10 mistakes your Salespeople may be making and therefore not meeting goals and developing new customers:

10) Customers and prospects appreciate outgoing personalities.
9) I spend the first part of our time together talking about what we can do for the prospect.
8) I'm ready with a recommendation as soon as I hear a need.
7) I've got this formula I use. Most of the time it works.
6) It's just about impossible to get through voice mail, secretaries, etc.
5) If the customer says he has a supplier, I move on to another prospect. That way I don't waste time.
4) Yes, we have a lot of customer turnover--that's the way this business is.
3) My territory has some real problems. It'll never produce much volume.
2) I ask many of questions. I hear that's what the pros do.
1) I work on getting the sale first; the relationship usually follows (I hope).

Of course, your sales people may never admit to these things, but (survey data suggests) it does represent the way a many sales people operate. Unfortunately, even a technique that works in one type of sale doesn't work in another--in fact, it may interfere with the other sale.

AlexanderHancock Associates offers Value Added Selling^™ to help your sales people focus on genuinely hearing customers' concerns, then translating and refining what is learned into mutually agreed upon needs which can be addressed using relationship-building techniques. An outline of the course is available and it can be customized for your business--likely at no extra charge.

If you want your sales efforts to stand out (the positive way), call us at the number below.

Value Added Selling^™

Definition: selling in which

• sales person becomes a "consultant" to customer, adding value by helping customer make a buying decision by developing and exploring options (as opposed to selling product)

•  sales person becomes customer-focused partner, helping customer convert implied needs into concrete, stated needs, which can be met by the seller with the mutually agreed upon "best fit" solution

• product features/benefits are discussed later rather than sooner in the dialog and only as value-based answers to customer-documented need

• objections are prevented rather than overcome by relating value of proposed solution to problem/need in real ROI or other opportunity terms

• the goal of closing "quotas" is less important than development of the customer relationship and redefining the sales process (including the length of the sales cycle) to one of helping the customer do what he needs rather than what the sales person wants or needs

Also, Value Added Selling^™ Sales Training at AlexanderHancock Associates provides detailed laboratory work on:

• Setting sales objective for each call (telephone or in person) and each phase of the sales process

• How to advance the sale not just continue the dialog; how to know the difference

• Learning to translate implied needs into stated needs which can be met with the mutually agreed upon "best fit" solution

• How to translate stated needs into value-producing terms and prevent rather than just handle objections

• How to formulate the proper types of questions for each phase of the sales process

• Preparing the contact (who likely is not the ultimate decision maker) to answer the questions decision makers will almost assuredly ask (Not "be sure to tell him...")

Are you a Partner???

Being seen as a partner in solving customer problems and being able to view his/her concerns from a business viewpoint is what Value Added Selling^™ is all about. As contrasted to the old "sales quota" approach, it instead offers the opportunity to generate sales through skillful observations made in probing interviews with prospects and customers. The result is more than a sale--it is a loyal customer.

AlexanderHancock Associates recommends sales training be focused on consultative approaches in which consulting techniques are substituted for traditional "pushing product" approaches.

Training materials in our sales training classes are highly interactive and graphic in nature, inviting further use through thoughtful layout and design. All participants receive a full set of materials to be used as a reference and review tool in the future.

Videotape Skill Practice is included for all participants to further enhance their value added sales effort. This would require an additional breakout room and video equipment.

Program Topics