Selling is a process, not an event! Selling isn’t something you do TO a customer, it’s something you do WITH a customer. The process involves both the sales person and the customer.
When we teach the selling process at Ziglar Training Systems, we focus on asking questions that allow the sales person to examine the real needs, issues and concerns for the prospective customer. The more questions you ask, the more needs you uncover. The more needs you uncover, the more sales you’re going to make. Remember: Selling isn’t telling, it’s asking!
Our process is a four-step plan and it’s easy to remember if you think of the acronym BEST.
B=Build Trust
E=Examine the Customer’s Needs
S=Sell the Benefits
T=Take Action by Closing the Sale
Build Trust. To succeed in sales, forget that you’re selling a product or a service. You’re not! You’re selling a relationship. Trust is what every customer really wants. The sooner you build trust, the sooner you will get a sale.
Examine the Customer’s Needs. Vitally important! It’s only after identifying the customer’s needs that you can begin to Close the Sale. In our opinion, sales professionals spend too little time trying to discover the customer’s needs. Improve your skills in this area and you will sell more!
Sell the Benefits. This is easy to do once you know the needs! Simply show the customer how the benefits of your product or service solve the needs.
Take Action by Closing the Sale. Ask the customer to buy from you!
BEST is a simple process to learn and use. Try it. In future newsletters we’ll examine each step of this process in more detail.
The Sales Training Zigget includes eight lessons that you or an associate can teach at your business. Each lesson can be taught within 30 minutes. Great for “brown bag lunches.”
For more on the subject of how to be successful, read Zig’s popular book, “Success for Dummies,” published by IDG Books. It’s at your bookstore, and it’s also available from http://www.zigziglar.com.
