In reality, sales skills and sales process should probably have been at the top of this page. Too many sales and sales management people don't pay enough attention to their sales process and where CustomerGolf® fits. It is amazing to me how often, in seminars or while speaking on business golf, companies don't consider where golf fits into their sales process. Even more astonishing is how many companies don't have an agreed and adhered to sales process. How can the expense of golf in terms of time and money be justified if there is no plan?Golf is a traditional business activity that is frequently a large part of corporate and industry culture. Unfortunately, it is seldom used to its maximum benefit. Little assessment is given to return on investment Poor knowledge and lack of training regarding how to maximize business golf as a relationship/sales building activity creates expectations without preparation.
It is up to management to establish objectives with business golf as with any other aspect of using the company's resources for business purposes. These objectives must be definable, measurable and appropriate. Boondoggle golf has no place in CustomerGolf®. People may have a good time playing golf but the company's objectives will probably not be met.
First of all, as mentioned on our Home Page, business golf is going to take place. It is either a covert act on the part of the staff or it is condoned by the company and is overt. Businesses should have an overt CustomerGolf® policy. It should include:
- Where does the planned golf outing fit into the sales process? (That is, what are the objectives for the outing?)
- Who are the players involved and why are they involved?
- How much will the outing cost and what will the return likely be.
- Review results.
In our seminars, we spend a significant amount of time discussing sales process and where golf fits. There are many different sales training and sales management training systems available. How sales skills are employed is obviously more important than playing a game of golf. That is why it is so important to include process in the scheme of things.Throughout my sales years and currently in running my businesses, sales process and sales training has been integral to mine and my companies' success. We use Need Satisfaction Selling. Other systems like Solution Selling from Sales Performance International, Dale Carnegie, Janek Sales Training, Sandler Sales Institute, Peak Performance Training, Sales Builders and many more can provide the building blocks for good sales process. The key is to have one. In seminars, less than 25% of the participants can recite the steps of their sales process when asked.
Need Satisfaction Selling! As I mentioned we use this system mainly because I learned it while with IBM and it has served me well over the years. If your company doesn't currently have a sales system in place, it can work well for you.
The 6 Steps of Need Satisfaction Selling
The steps are simple. However, there are many techniques such as questioning techniques, listening techniques, presentation techniques, closing techniques etc that will improve a sales person's ability to get prospects to the bottom of the sales funnel. The steps can have a tendency to run together for the sales person as well as the prospect. A good technique is to keep each sales opportunity separate on a piece of paper or in sales management software. Frequent reviews with management and other sales personnel can help insure sales reps stay in tune with their prospects on each opportunity. It's not uncommon to find that just because the sales person was able to move from one step to another, the prospect may have not. Sales may need to go back and pick the prospect up wherever they are in the process...not where they are.
Where a potential client is in the process is what is important to CustomerGolf. The use of business golf needs to be related to the obstacles being faced by sales and how it will help them move the process forward.
- Rapport - Develop confidence with the prospect in your ability to help him solve his/her problem. This is a step that is too often taken for granted. Demeanor and approachableness makes establishing rapport easier. It is important to make sure each prospect is comfortable with the company and the representative and are ready to move on through the process. This can best be accomplished by making sure each prospect knows who you are and what your qualifications are. Creating a 30 second statement on what you do would work well here. You just need to make sure the prospect succinctly understands who you are and why you are qualified to discuss the prospects problem(s). Don't skip over that or allow the prospect to skip past it. It should be important to the prospect that they know whom they are dealing with and why they are qualified.
- Need Awareness by Sales Rep. - You must first become aware of what the prospects problem(s) is. It may be different than what the prospect thinks it is. This is accomplished through OPEN, DIRECTIVE and REFLECTIVE questioning techniques that qualify the prospect in terms of not only the problem(s) they have but also when and how they plan on solving their problem. WRITE THEM DOWN
- Need Awareness by Prospect - In this phase the prospect is made aware of their real problem(s). It may be the one they called about or it may be re-engineered from the problem(s) they thought they had. The key is to get the prospects agreement on the problem(s). While it is good to get this agreement in person, it is a good technique to confirm it in writing.
When the prospects problem(s)/objective(s) are well defined, it's probably, inappropriate to suggest a solution or solutions. In this day and age of internet access and information availability, the prospect may get to the solution more quickly than we want. This can set the stage for price shopping and negate the ability to get to "the heart of the matter." This can be an excellent time to set up a game of golf because it can create the opportunity for a better relationship thus allowing, at the appropriate time a more in depth discussion of the prospects needs. - Develop Solution - In most businesses, this phase may be pretty simple. However, I think we all have a tendency to come up with a solution too quickly. It is all too easy to make the solution the product or the answer to the question for which the prospect contacted us. In my DME business we have come to know the solution is the whole package. For example, we learned the customer's need for help in getting up and down stairs is more complex than just buying a stairlift. Selecting the correct stairlift; getting the order placed correctly; getting it shipped correctly, in a timely manner, to the right place; working with the installer or helping find an installer are all just as important. That's all more than just product and price. The solution is the whole package and helping a prospect understand this is a function of what kind of relationship we have developed with him. If we are having a problem getting the prospect to see the whole solution it may be time for a round of CustomerGolf.
Often we take for granted what the prospect knows that. Make sure and review with the prospect what you understand his issues to be and how you are taking them into consideration in the solution you are developing. The solution needs to be thought out for the prospect to take it seriously. In doing so it gives us the chance to make sure our solution is as differentiated as possible. In many cases, competitors have the same product, pricing and delivery mechanisms as do we. It's important to think seriously about why we are different. It may be the difference we make is in the fact we are taking the time to truly understand the prospects needs. Why not? If we have done the right job of taking the prospect through the sales process, we have developed the rapport we need and have earned the right, the prospect will do the rest of the job for us. - Present Solution - In this phase of the process it's most important to make sure and review what you and the prospect have agreed upon. The solution you recommend must reflect the exact criteria you've identified and gotten agreement on from the customer. This is where you can differentiate your solution from your competitors. If you've done the right job in establishing the criteria and in making the prospect aware of his/her needs, your solution will be the only one he will consider. What is critical here is to make sure you demonstrate in your solution how it best meets the prospects criteria.
A good technique to relate your solution is through the feature/function/benefit of each aspect of your proposal. Don't leave it up to the prospect to figure out. Be specific. If you are recommending a new system, relate the features of the system and what they do. Next discuss the function these features perform and finally, demonstrate the benefit to your prospect of each. In the example above, I mentioned how we sell stairlifts for the handicapped in my DME company. How feature/function/benefit might apply would be as follows:
Review the Summit AC powered stairlift in relation to the criteria established. (E.g. ac power,)
- Feature (ac powered)
- Function (operates the lift without the need for circuit boards etc)
- Benefit (reduces the risk of failure).
- Close - This should be the easiest phase of all. In fact, if the five steps above have been accomplished successfully, the prospect will ask you how soon they can get it done. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case because prospects don't always tell us the truth and we aren't always good at getting through the process as well as we think we have. In fact, many times we are trying to close a deal and find that we haven't yet earned the right to ask for the deal. This is ok because we can use the closing process to help us identify where we really are in the 6 steps. This is called the trial close and you should use it all along the way.
Going back to the stairlift situation above, an example of the trial close might be, "Ah, Mr. Prospect, so getting the stairlift installed is your major concern." "If I could help you arrange to get the stairlift installed, when would you want to place your order" The prospect responds, "Well I need to get it installed, but how do I know it will work in my home?" Now we know we have to go back to the place in the sales process that deals with the prospects issue. In this case the prospect is still not aware that his real problem is, "what is the best solution for my home." You haven't earned the right to ask for the order because the prospect isn't at that phase yet. He may have thrown out all kinds of fake buying signals like I'm buying a stairlift today and I'm just looking for the best price. Let's face it; he's just selling you. There's still work to be done to earn the prospects business. You're ready but the prospect isn't. The most common mistake made by sales people is they don't stay in tune with where the prospect 'really' is in the process. To net it out, find out where the prospect is and go back there with them.
