Team Selling - selling: the profession

Chapter 2 Relationship Selling Learning Objectives  Understand the role of relationship selling in today’s market and how it differs from past stereotypes of selling.  Learn the steps in relationship selling and the purpose of each step.  Compare and contrast relationship selling and the traditional sales model.  Examine the usefulness of continuous quality improvement in a sales organization.  Recognize how to build relationships through team selling. 1

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Quotable Quotes

- Dr. Tony Alessandra

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Value Creation Through Relationship Selling  The trend in professional selling today is toward relationship, problem-solving selling  Customer Satisfaction: the ultimate goal of the relationship salesperson throughout the selling process  Relationship Management:  Managing the account relationship  Ensuring that your clients receive the proper service during and after the sale

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Relationship Builders  Treat customers like life-long partners  Become a solutions provider  Deliver more service than you promise  Schedule regular service calls  Develop open and honest communication  Use the ‘we can’ approach  Take responsibility for mistakes made  Be an ally for the customer’s business 4

Relationship Breakers  Simply wait for the problem to develop  Focus only on making the sale  Over-promise and under-deliver  Wait for your customers to call you  Lie or make exaggerated claims  Use the “us versus them” approach  Blame somebody else; Knock a competitor  Focus on your own personal gain 5

Relationship Selling Versus Traditional Selling The face-to-face steps of the Relationship Model: 1

The Approach

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Identifying Needs

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Making the Presentation

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Handling Objections and Gaining Commitment

Time: 40 percent spent on gaining rapport and trust Empathy: Think the way your customer thinks. Standards: Customer expectations, higher than ever 6

Relationship Selling Versus Traditional Selling Traditional Model of Selling

Relationship Model of Selling Phases

Approach

Identifying Needs

% time spent Building Trust (Rapport)

40%

Probe, Ask Questions, and Listen

Making the Presentation

Sell Benefits

Resistance and Gaining Commitment

Reassure and Close

30%

20%

10%

% time spent

Telling

Qualifying

Presenting Features

Closing Long and Hard

10%

20%

30%

40%

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Sales Cycle Framework for Relationship Selling Chapter 14 Service after the Sale

Chapter 7 Prospecting

Chapter 13 Closing the Sale

Chapter 12

The 8 STEP SALES CYCLE

Handling Objections

Chapter 8 Preapproach and Telephone Techniques

Chapter 9 The Approach

Chapter 11 Making the Presentation

Chapter 10 Need Discovery

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Phase One  Identifying Qualified Prospects  Qualified prospects must have:  Need

 Money  Authority

 Planning Preapproach Activities  Telephone Activities

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Phase Two  Approaching the Prospect  Discovering Needs  Success of the process depends on this  Requires questioning and creative listening skills

 Making the Presentation  Takes planning

 Handling Objections and Gaining Commitment  Resistance happens because an atmosphere of mutual trust was never fully developed  There may be problems beyond your control  The closing stage is the most tedious for the traditional salesperson 10

Phase Three Service After the Sale  Relationships keep satisfied customers coming back  Customer satisfaction is an asset to you and your company  The relationship really begins when the buyer says “yes” Cognitive Dissonance (buyers remorse) must be reduced

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Continuous Quality Improvement  Total Quality Management     

Listen and learn from customers and employees Continuously improve the partnership Teamwork through mutual trust and respect Do it right the first time Get your whole company involved

 Service Quality  There is a process and an outcome. Both are necessary for customer satisfaction.

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The Service Quality Interaction

Service Quality

The Process The Actual Outcome

Influences…

Leads To…

Perception of Service Quality Received

Overall Customer Satisfaction

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Traditional Management Versus TQM Traditional Management Model

The TQM Model

Focus on product

Focus on service

Company knows best

Customer knows best

Transactions

Relationships

Individual performance

Team performance

Fire-fighting management

Continuous improvement

Blame/punishment

Support/reward

Short-term (year or less)

Long-term (years)

Intolerant of errors

Allows mistakes

Autocratic leadership

Participative leadership

Bureaucratic

Entrepreneurial

Top-down decisions

Consensus decisions

Inward focused

Outward (customer) focused

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Team Selling

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The Growth of Team Selling  It has grown to take advantage of diverse skills and personalities needed to sell complex products  The selling steps are the same, but rules are needed  Usually at least one salesperson and some technical specialists  The buyer may also have a team

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Benefits of Team Selling  Customer gets involved with more than one person  More accurate need definition

 Very useful if product is technical  Different individuals bring more selling skills

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Risks of Team Selling Requires special planning

Must have a leader

Must agree on objectives

Must be better rehearsed

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Combinations That Work  Opener and Closer  Just as in baseball (starting pitcher and the closer)  Some salespeople are good at opening up relationships while others are masters at closing the sale  Both are very important-a symbiotic relationship

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Selling in a Multicultural World Multicultural Sales Professionals:  Place an emphasis on diversity  Establish a pro-diversity climate that benefits from different cultures’ contributions  Provide ethnic diversity that helps foster relationships

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