4. Sales

Subject title Sales

Purpose of the activity To develop young people‘s effective sales skills, to help them see the aspect of the sales process in every life situation, and also to introduce them the rules of commercial sales.

Duration 2–4 hours.

Location and tools Writing tools, paper sheets, paper clips

Number of participants 10–25 participants

Acquaintance/ team building methods Participants are grouped in pairs. Each group of two people is given the task of communicating for 10 minutes and during that time refining the greatest needs of both people as well as the challenges that arise in their daily lives.

At the end of the task time, each pair introduces themselves to a group of all participants. The leader emphasizes that this task perfectly introduced the topic of the session itself and one of the key parts of the selling process – the practice how to examine the client.

Practical tasks Participants are divided into groups of 3–4 people. Each group is given a paper clip and participants are invited to prepare to spend 1 hour on the street. Groups of participants are invited to exchange the given paperclip for as useful thing as possible on the street. Then exchange the new acquired thing for an even more valuable one. In this way, participants have to exchange items with passers-by for the entire hour devoted to the task. Participants are invited to use all the knowledge acquired during the theoretical part.

For the safety of the participants, the leader should write down the telephone numbers of all participants so that he/she could keep in touch with them.

End of session reflection methods When returning after the task and one hour spent on the street, all groups of participants put all their collected items on one table. Each group shares their impressions about performance of the task.

After the general group impressions, each participant shares what skills they strengthened during the session and what they learned during it.

Notes to the leader In order to achieve maximum effectiveness, it is also recommended to conduct sessions on the topics covered in this module about presentation and commercial offer.

THEORETICAL INFORMATION

Sales are an integral part of the modern world and life. Whatever activity a person takes, he/she in one way or another faces the need to offer his/her goods, services, or simply his/her acquired skills and knowledge. The theoretical part of this activity provides information related to direct commercial sales. However, this information is also applicable and relevant to other types of individual self-expression. The commercial sales model can be applied and work well for a young person also when looking for a job.

RULES FOR EFFECTIVE SALES:

Popular author, consultant and lecturer Brian Tracy highlights a few key rules which should be followed in order to develop an effective selling strategy:

1. Examine and understand customer needs well. One of the biggest mistakes an inexperienced salesperson can make is desperately trying to sell without a clear understanding and vision of what specific needs a potential customer has and what challenges they face in their daily lives. An experienced salesperson knows that the customer buys what confidently solves his biggest problems and pains. Therefore, a good salesperson should not start from a detailed technical presentation of the offer, but from the interest in the potential client and the detection of his/her needs. 2. Build a relationship based on trust with potential clients. People are willing to buy goods and services from those they know well and feel safe next to. Therefore, the process of sales and offers should not turn into a tense presentation which looks more like a recruitment process than a naturally evolving conversation. Under no circumstances should a salesperson act as if his/her life depended on an ongoing conversation and the potential client should not be seen only as a source of money. During the conversation, it is important to create a relaxed, free atmosphere where one can laugh, talk about neutral topics, as well as share information and advice in a friendly way, and the service offer is a more generalising clarification of emerging topics and client needs. It is important to give the customer the opportunity to get to know you better as a person, then the customer will gain more trust and will be more likely to trust you.

3. Conduct a thorough analysis of the potential client before negotiations. A more detailed analysis of the potential client’s work specifics, activity structure and work volumes will provide an opportunity to better understand the client’s needs. The client will also appreciate the fact (if he notices it) that he/she does not need to tell in detail and describe certain facts that the seller has already figured out independently and adapted to the context of the offer.

4. Ask questions and study the client. The best negotiation session is one in which the potential client speaks approximately 70–80% of the time, answering the salesperson’s questions and expressing his/her needs. And only the remaining 20–30% of the time the seller himself/herself speaks, summarizing the client’s needs and making offers that meet them. The essential secret of this rule is that, in fact, all people like to talk about themselves the most and and appreciate the most those interlocutors who are attentive listeners. After being sincerely listened to, such clients will gladly choose to continue cooperating with a person who is attentive to them.

5. The main purpose should not be to sell, but to help.

It is also important to understand that a potential client chooses not to buy a specific service or product, but a solution to a specific problem he/ she has that would facilitate daily processes. Therefore, during the conversation, it is necessary to emphasize the improved result that the client will have after purchasing certain goods or services, and not the technical values of the offered goods or services.

SALES STAGES:

1. MAKING CONTACT is the first stage of sales, where it is important to establish a relationship based on trust and security, in which the client would feel safe and interested.

2. EXPLORATION. At this stage, the seller explores the needs of the potential client that are related to the product or service he/she offers. It is important to ask questions about how this problem is already being addressed. It is also important to ask about the criteria for the client’s choices, about his/her attitude, about what is important to him/her, the budget that can be allocated, and so on.

3. PRESENTATION. After clarifying all the issues of

concern, the seller undertakes to present the services or goods, directly relating all the information to the problems, challenges and visions expressed by the client.

4. OBJECTIONS. The better the steps of the sales process mentioned above were performed (establishing a contact, exploration, presentation), the less objections should arise, although they are also a natural part of the sales process. The client may hesitate about the need for certain product or service, its price, the purchase period. One of the most important rules in the objections phase is that the seller must not in any way confront the client but, on the contrary, establish a merger relationship with him/her. 5. A TRANSACTION is the last stage that closes the sales cycle. A transaction is considered completed when the client pays for the services, goods or makes an initial payment contribution.

FEATURES OF “COLD” SALES

The concepts of “cold commercial offer” and “hot commercial offer” were mentioned in the theoretical part of the session about the commercial offer. Similarly, there is the concept of “cold” sales, which refers to sales cycles which have been launched by getting to know potential clients who are not yet familiar with the product or service being offered. Such sales are usually made through large potential customer bases. Sales can be made using several forms of communication: sending an email, calling and meeting live. It is known and taken for granted that implementing sales during a phone call is more efficient than by sending an email, and implementing sales during a live meeting is more efficient than during a phone call. Therefore, in the most effective sales strategies one aims to include all three forms of communication with customers.

In order to streamline “cold” sales processes, prethought-out sales scripts are integrated into them – these are question-and-answer algorithms that are used in specific situations, no matter how the conversation with a potential customer develops.

For notes, ideas, observations

For notes, ideas, observations

Subject title

Purpose of the activity

Duration

Location and tools

Number of participants

Acquaintance/ team building methods

End of session reflection methods

Practical tasks

THEORETICAL INFORMATION