Techniques of sales excellence to build profitable business

This seminar is designed specifically to help you win profitable business. It presents powerful methods, concepts and techniques designed to win orders in competitive conditions.

Through practical analysis and with suggestions based on best current practice rather than theory, it sets out to:

• Analyse changes occurring in difficult market conditions and suggest responses

• Review the techniques of selling and focus on key areas that make selling successfully more likely

• Highlight techniques to differentiate you, your company and your product or service from competition.

The coverage reflects the activity necessary to match the challenges coming from buyers in competitive economic times: the need for customer focus and the creative nature of successful sales activity.

Who will benefit

All those wanting to communicate persuasively with customers, win business and create and build positive customer relationships.

Content and coverage

Introduction: selling defined: who sells, what that entails and how it relates to overall marketing activity.

The challenge of competitive markets
• Selling was never easy, nowadays it is downright difficult: the new realities and challenge of selling in an increasingly competitive world – the task related to the situation sales people face in the real world
The concept of customer orientation
• The personal approach to help you maximise your sales effectiveness – tailoring your approach and manner to individual buyers
Preparing for action
• Before the sales meeting – action to create a favourable situation for yourself – keeping and using good records and information – individual call planning – picking up and linking to customer expectations (and prior knowledge/image of organisation) – product knowledge as a foundation to success
Focusing to create the best potential
• Key approaches to making sure you set up the best sales meetings – seeing the right people – identifying the decision making hierarchy
First impressions last
• Starting as you mean to go on – looking the part – setting the scene and engaging each individual customer’s interest in a unique way – building rapport and being seen as professional
Every customer is different
• Understanding customers – assessing their situation and adopting the manner and approach that will suit them best
Identifying customers’ requirements
• What customers want – identifying their needs – questioning techniques (and listening skills) to provide the information basis to allow the meeting to move in the right direction
The persuasive core of the meeting
• Presenting your case and making it powerful – the concept of benefits and features and how to utilise it - ensuring what you say is clear and understandable, attractive and well matched to the individual customer, and credible
Seeing is believing
• The effective use of sales aids to enhance sales effectiveness
Responding to customer objections
• Taking a positive view of, and dealing effectively with, objections – prevention and cure – the route to additional opportunities, a creative approach - the specifics of price objection handling and the link to negotiation
Gaining a commitment
• Watching for “buying signals” and ensuring an effective “close” at the right moment – different types of commitment and follow up action to move to an actual order
Follow through action
• Action to create continuity and set the scene for securing interest and generating repeat business – ongoing communications tactics that utilise a range of methodology (from telephone to e-mail and letters) – link to ongoing account management (another book).
The way ahead
• Key attitudes and actions to maximise success and ensure it continues and develops over time.

NOTE: The seminar includes exercises, a training film and is practical throughout in its focus and approach.

Patrick Forsyth runs Touchstone Training & Consultancy based in the U.K. He specialises in marketing and communications skills, including selling in all its forms. He has been a regular visitor to South East Asia for more than twenty years, and has conducted training for bodies such as Singapore Institute of Management, The Marketing Institute of Singapore and The Malaysian Institute of Management, as well as commercial training organisations, in addition to conducting in-company courses. He also writes extensively on business matters; his books on selling include The Selling Edge, The Sales Excellence Pocket Book and 101 Ways to Increase Sales.

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