Sales Training Program

Have you noticed that the business climate is more competitive and aggressive than ever? That is because the rules have changed. In the new economy, if you want to stay in the game you have to be able to be fast, flexible, and creative. If you are in sales, what can you do to get an edge these days? The answer is to deliver value before you try to sell products and services. Our intensive and highly interactive Consultative Selling Skills training class will thoroughly prepare you to help your customers find solutions to meet real needs, rather than just trying to underbid the competition and make a quick sale. The result will be a long-term, and profitable, relationship for both of you.

Customer’s objections offer a window of opportunity for closing the sale.

Until a prospect reveals the truth about what he or she is thinking during the sales process, no salesperson--no matter how good--can move in the direction of closing the sale. Maybe it's a temporary truth, such as "It's more than we want to pay." But for that customer, at that time, you have to take what they say at face value.

Most salespeople cringe when the truth surfaces because it's generally in the form of an objection. The solution to handling objections successfully is to anticipate them in advance so you can convert them into opportunities. If you do this, you'll find that hearing objections won't have such an emotional impact on you. Instead of feeling shaken, you'll feel confident that the prospect is giving you a foundation to stand on as you chip away at the problem.

Here are four ways to anticipate an objection:

1. Keep an objection journal. You'll encounter plenty of objections in your daily meetings with customers. Keeping a list helps you formulate answers to future objections.

The good news about objections is, you either overcome them or you learn something valuable when you don't overcome them. Get in the habit of examining every lost sale. I often write down things I should have said that may work during the next go-around with that customer.

2. Study human nature. Certain types of objections seem to go with particular personalities. Conservative customers who ponder every purchase may object to costs. Brush up on your financial answers before meeting with them. Technically oriented customers may ask mechanical questions. If necessary, take along a technical person from your company on these sales calls.

3. Investigate proven methods. Study sales experts’ proven techniques to handle objections. Adapt their approaches to create your own method of conquering objections.

One of the best books I can recommend for dealing with objections is Neil Rackham's Spin Selling (McGraw-Hill). Rackham treats each objection as a problem to be solved and uses a formula to analyze objections.

4. Become a logical and clear communicator. When your knowledge of the product is comprehensive enough to give customers a clear understanding of your proposition, they are less likely to object. Instead, they can weigh the pros and cons in their minds and hopefully overcome the negatives themselves.

By Danielle Kennedy

"Sales Training Program - Enjoy A Profitable Relationship"

Sales Training Quote
"Business is not financial science, it's about trading.. buying and selling.
It's about creating a product or service so good that people will pay for it."
Anita Roddick

Suggested Reading:

Build a Successful Sales Program: Forms and Organization
by Perry Goldman

The complete field sales program
by Gerard J Carney

The Soft Sell Sales Course
by Tim Connor

A Writer's Guide to Overcoming Rejection: A Practical Sales Course for the As Yet Unpublished
by Edward Baker

International sales: Course manual
by Allen B Green

Selling Benefits: A Study Course for Perceptive Sales People
by T.J. King

Course materials on sales transactions
by Ann Lousin

A course in hotel sales
by Susan Anne Baker

Selling people;: A twelve-hour sales training course based on the behavioral sciences
by Pauline W Burbrink

The closer's catechism: A top gun course on closing sales
by Bill Granieri

Paint power: How to start a sales training course
by Lonore Kent

Sales techniques and course outline: Independent research project : submitted to Donal A. Dermody
by Laurie A Clemente