Programme Topics

The Principles of Consultative Sales

It is often said that people buy from people.  When we buy a product or service, we often do so without being ‘sold to’, because we believe that we genuinely need to make that purchase.  We will cover:

  • Understanding why people buy products or services
  • Exploring the advantages of pull versus push selling techniques
  • Identifying the qualities of a successful sales person
  • Structuring an effective sales pitch
  • Understanding your marketplace

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Identifying Needs

A successful sales pitch requires a solid understanding of the needs of the potential client and a genuine desire to want to deliver those needs better than any of your competitors, whilst making a profit.  We will cover:

  • Learning how to prepare for a successful sale
  • Recognising the importance of identifying genuine needs
  • Understanding the scope of the needs
  • Learning not to sell before uncovering all of the needs

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Conversational Control

One of the key challenges faced by the sales person is the ability to control the conversation, especially when speaking with key decision makers.  We will cover:

  • Understanding the importance of conversational control
  • Active listening techniques
  • Identifying and practicing effective questioning techniques
  • Understanding the power of silence

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Features and Benefits

It is often tempting to reel off a list of features which we hope will be of interest to our potential client, rather than formulating a bespoke selection which will be of genuine interest to each individual.  We will cover:

  • Determining the difference between a feature and a benefit
  • Understanding your unique selling points
  • Identifying and practicing how to sell a benefit to a prospective client
  • Recognising which features to sell

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Closing a Sale

This is often the most daunting part of the sales process, after all, they might say No!  They might say yes however…  We will cover:

  • Recognising buying signals
  • Identifying the different methods of closing a sale
  • Exploring what may prevent us from trying to close a sale
  • Managing difficult objections

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Effective Pricing

Pricing effectively and with confidence will often lead to the difference to whether or not we make a sale.  We will cover:

  • Explaining your price with confidence
  • Structuring your pricing breakdown
  • Understanding when to discuss price

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Negotiation Skills

Making a sale is obviously important, but only if the price and terms agreed are to a satisfactory level, enabling you to make a sustainable profit.  We will cover:

  • Identifying the skills of an effective negotiator
  • Understanding your tradeables
  • Identifying your elegant currencies
  • Establishing your best and worst outcomes
  • Persuading and Influencing to achieve a mutually agreeable outcome

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Face to face Meetings

The gains to be made from meeting face to face are significant; however this can often be difficult to achieve, not to mention daunting.  We will cover:

  • Understanding the advantages of meeting face to face
  • Exploring body language techniques
  • Recognising the different communication preferences of others
  • Adapting your style to meet the needs of the potential client

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Selling over the Phone

When you are restricted to selling over the telephone, it can often be difficult to make an impact.  We will cover:

  • Recognising the power of the voice over the telephone
  • Identifying techniques to retain the interest of the potential client over the telephone
  • Maintaining control
  • Recognising the barriers to effective communication over the telephone

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Retaining Business

It has been statistically proven that it is far easier to sell to existing clients than it is to potential clients.  We will cover:

  • Maintaining long term business relationships
  • Exploring service level reviews
  • Maintaining control in the client supplier relationship
  • Identifying further business needs

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