Video Series

There is no doubt about it; you have been deluged with information about selling. You have not however, been asked to give up your style or not to be authentic. Selling by Design is a simple process that guides salespeople through a conversation about products and services, and how they may benefit our target customers.

A structured conversation that simply starts with opening the call; here is who I am, what I would like to talk about, why it is important for you to listen, and is it ok with you? Once you have agreement (the first of many), you are moving together in this conversation with the intention of finding a win-win solution for all.

Next, we have to find out as much information as possible- other wise our solutions will be off base and not relevant. We ask good open probe questions to determine where we may help. Open probes are followed with close probes to that we confirm for ourselves and our customers that we are on the same page. Once we have a clear, complete, mutually understood foundation of needs identified, we then can move on to supporting our products, services and company.

Supporting is where salespeople love to shine- after all they are paid to tell the story. But this is also the skill where we find the call to derail most often. Poor understanding of needs, focusing on too many features and too little benefits are two of the largest culprits of lost sales. People buy solutions, not products- benefits, not features- the experienced salesperson knows and understands this implicitly.

Closing is the next logical step of the process. You have not arrived here haphazardly- if you follow the process- you have arrived here by design. Customers will want you to ask them to try your product- to solve their problems, make them more money. Yet, most sales people don´t ask for the next steps. Following the process of Selling by Design makes asking for the next step natural and expected.

If the customer says "no" you now have a plan. Simply acknowledge the objection and ask permission to gather additional information. You missed something. Don´t take it personally; after all you are just having a conversation! Repeat the process as you have been taught making sure you are asking the right questions to the right person. That"s it. Selling by Design made easy. Make your time and work matter, don´t leave anything to chance, do everything by design.