All sessions involve theoretical introduction and practical exercises in pairs as well as sales situation simulations in front of the film camera. Sessions can be adapted for different needs and expanded if necessary, as well as combined or split.

Training participants receive handouts at the beginning of each session and certificates upon completion of the course.

Session I: First Contact with the Client

Goal:

• to learn to control your attitude, body language and emotions in order to create a positive first impression and to establish contact with a customer.

Topics:

• Original contact with the prospective buyer – the role of first 7 seconds.
• Verbal and non-verbal communication: gestures, handshake, personal distance, way of speaking, self-confidence, empathy. Why do they affect the perception of the sales representatives and their companies?
• Dress code and the importance of nice clothes. Role of appropriateness.
• Intent statement: methods of introducing the agenda and relieving the pressure. Techniques and strategies of self-presentation and educating a client.
• Sales representative as an expert: how to control your image to convince the buyer that you are both trustworthy and competent?

Session II: Building Trust

Goal:

• to develop and practice the skill of managing client’s fear and building mutual trust.

Topics:

• Role of trust and its place in the selling sequence.
• Understanding of customer fears: why many buyers are afraid of salespeople and what we can do about it?
• Trust building: how to win prospect’s trust in 3 simple stages (3 Cs: Commonality, Credibility, Competence), and then make them like you and want to listen to you?
• Methods and strategies of finding a common ground.
• Feedback and monitoring for positive emotions. Role of empathy. Warming up a prospect as a way to reduce sales resistance.
• Retaining customer’s trust in the course of selling process: common snags and pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Session III: Sales Questions and Qualification

Goal:

• to learn to ask proper and powerful questions.

Topics:

• Role of qualifying the prospects. Differentiating the serious buyers and the people looking around.
• Confirming that a prospect can afford your product or service. Identifying their expected price range. Defining if he/she is the sole decision-maker.
• Questions in the process of qualification. Typology and application of sales questions. Direct and indirect ways of questioning.
• Open and closed questions. Involvement questions. Porcupine strategy. Examples.
• Practicing the use of appropriate questions to determine the course of the sales process.

Session IV: Uncovering the Need

Goal:

• to discover what is essential to the customer with the view to selecting the product or service that would address those needs.

Topics:

• Reconnaissance and identification of the general situation.
• Phase of need discovery. Sale questions and interpreting the client’s answers.
• Narrowing down the possible solutions for prospect’s needs. Selection of the key need.
• Choosing the option most suitable for that need.
• Need acknowledgment: making the prospect realize and acknowledge the need (or needs). Role of reflexive questions.

Session V: Powerful Presentation

Goal:

• to deliver the persuasive presentation of your offer, based on the client’s acknowledged need.

Topics:

• The product or service as a solution for the client’s problem. Presenting the offer as a way of answering to the previously identified need of the customer.
• Elements of the powerful presentation: product identification, developer experience, sales agent expertise, third party endorsements.
• Visual aids, gadgets and new technologies – how to use but not abuse them.
• Pre-planning the presentation, selection of the key acts and benefits to discuss. Tailoring the pitch for an individual customer taste and expectations.
• Selection of features to discuss, based on customer’s needs and his or her expected benefits. Preparing the logical and emotional appeals.
• Proper demonstration. Walking the prospect – methods and strategies.
• Explaining product features. Role of facts and benefits.
• Face-to-face presentation and feedback. Role of timing.
• Techniques of making the customer emotionally involved with the product or service and ready to rationalize the purchase.
• Acknowledging and breaking the “pact”.

Session VII: Handling Objections

Goal:

• to learn to answer customer’s questions and objections.

Topics:

• Client’s questions and complaints as the steps to the sale. Minor objections as the signs of interest.
• Logical and emotional approach to prospects’ qualms. Acknowledging the concern as the way of building rapport.
• Asking for feedback. Objection isolation tactics. Most common objections and basic scripts for answering them.
• Typology of objections. Minor vs. major objections.
• How should you react? Strategies and techniques of answering client’s qualms. Bypassing vs. clarification. Answering objections with questions.
• Preventive attack and bragging about drawbacks: how to convert the flaws into benefits?
• Compensation, covering tactics and sandwich strategy.
• The ultimate objection killer: weighing the facts.
• Practicing the scripts in front of the film camera and getting the feedback.

Session VIII: Price and Negotiations

Goal:

• to efficiently present and negotiate the price.

Topics:

• Methods of disclosing the financial aspect of the purchase. Anchor price strategies.
• Role of language – how to speak about client’s investment.
• Preparing for the negotiations: determining your bottom line and aspiration point. Defining your negotiation style. Identifying the optimal tactics, techniques and tricks.
• Preparing your script with the potential arguments regarding the investment aspects.
• Techniques of substantiating the price and reducing prospect’s price resistance. Slicing the price, reductio ad absurdum and other useful tricks.
• Emotional control during the price presentation and negotiation process.
• Closing with money: the three option close versus the investment close.
• Negotiation games: practicing discussed skills and techniques by bargaining in pairs.

Session IX: Creating the Urgency

Goal:

• to persuade the customer that decision regarding the purchase should be made very quickly.

Topics:

• Role of hurry in closing: why it is important to make the customer want to buy your product or service here and now.
• Methods and techniques to create the sense of urgency. Time, price and other key factors.
• Role of feedback and timing. When to introduce the client to the phase of hurry?
• Techniques of developing the emotional involvement and pressure without discomfort or anxiety.
• Practicing the sequence in face-to-face conversation.

Session X: Strategies for Closing

Goal:

• to develop your unique methods of closing the sale.

Topics:

• Closing and its importance. When and how to close?
• Elementary closing strategies: asking for purchase and other test closes.
• Three option close for eliminating “I’d like to shop around” attitude.
• Summary trial close and weighing the benefits.
• Elaborate and atypical closing strategies.
• Closing and negotiations. Final investment close.

Session XI: Complete Conversation

Goal:

• to practice all previously discussed techniques during arranged sales appointment with the prospective client in front of a film camera.

Topics:

• Summary of all previously discussed elements.
• Preparing your own script of the whole face-to-face conversation with the potential customer.
• Whole selling situation simulation: practicing the script before the film camera and discussing the outcome.
• Getting the global feedback from the coach and the audience.

Session XII: Telephone Techniques

Goal:

• to prepare and practice scripts for telephone communication with the customer.

Topics:

• Techniques of answering the first call from the future client.
• Building trust. First seconds of the conversation when the prospect does not see you.
• Discovering the need in the course of telephone conversation. Prospect pre-qualification.
• The phase of help and urgency. Method of getting prospect to book a face-to-face appointment.
• Role of questions in the phone call. Involvement questions.
• Handling prospect’s questions about the price and other inconvenient issues.
• Developing and practicing one’s own phone call script.
• Recording and evaluating the prepared conversations. Getting the feedback from the coach and the audience.