Chapter 5:

The stages of the sales process

Pre-approach.

It is the process of researching and collecting information about the client that
before the sales presentation. Appearance, Attitude and knowledge of the product and
client.

Approach.

Having a purpose, a friendly environment, a solid opening statement, engaging the 5

customer senses, listen attentively to the customer, determine their needs
client.

Sales presentation.

Sales talk and demonstration of the qualities, features, and advantages of

product.

Handling objections.

From the maximum point, of a third party, of the explanation, of the demonstration, of the
boomerang, of questions, of direct denial.

Closure.

Make a complete sales pitch, relate the sales features to the

benefits for the customer, highlight the key benefit, achieve commitments to the
long presentation, stay alert for any buying signals.

Tracking.

Post-purchase customer behavior. Evaluation of the level of satisfaction that

It is maintained. Valuation of the product and the brand by the consumer.

1. Pre-approach

How to start a sale:

The first moments a salesperson spends with a potential client are the most
important parts of the entire presentation. It is necessary to make him pay attention to
our product -"capturing the potential customer"-. It must transform customer attention
in positive interest. Here are the steps to follow to gain attention and to
move to the stage of interest.

The interview begins with a good approach, which the seller must
prepare very carefully. For this purpose, a detailed study of the
possible client, so that he/she knows:

What are your needs, desires, financial capacity, and specific traits of
character or personality. Also asking investigative questions or
listening to your comments.

Know the product in detail and the competitor's product.

How to make a good first impression:

The potential customer must be convinced that the seller is an intelligent person.
sincere and friendly. The seller must sell themselves before expecting to sell the
product.

The basic factors that help to make a good impression are:

Appearance: well-dressed, neat...

Attitude: positive, friendly, interest in the problem, desire to help.

Product knowledge: advantages, complete, accurate, respond to any

question, about the competition -advantages and disadvantages-, knowing how to communicate them.

The customer begins to consciously or unconsciously judge the seller in the

moment when it appears before him. The three factors are for the customer to decide.
dedicate a few minutes to the salesperson, that is, so they can present properly
effective presentation of sales.

It is important for the client to see that the seller believes in their product, in their
company and in itself.

2. Approach

Necessary steps to achieve a good approach:

a. Your visit must have a purpose: customers are annoyed to waste their time, for
we have to prepare and we must visit the clients and not wait for them
come to us.

You must create a friendly environment: it should begin in a friendly manner, so the client
will feel inclined to listen to the presentation. For this, it must have:

Open and friendly smile.

An encouraging and considerate attitude.
Speak clearly and confidently - handshake -.
You should know the names of your clients.

c. Prepare a solid statement or opening speech: The first 25 words that the
seller is the most important of the entire presentation. It must be planned,
giving specific statements, in order to achieve attention and time must be given
necessary to say something that captures the client's interest, such as:

- With a question.
Out of curiosity.
For special interest.
With a gift.
With a service.
With a recommendation.
With an exhibition.
With something about the product.

How to prepare an appropriate approach.

This is the most important stage in sales, because the customer sees if...
the product does what the seller says.

The goal or what the seller needs is to place in the consumer's mind for that
he has to transform the interest that was formed in the stage of approach into desire
to acquire the product.

3. Sales talk and demonstration

In a sales pitch, present the sales proposition to the customer's ear. In a

demonstration, presents the sales proposition visually, by touch, by smell, and by taste.
This can convince the customer of the value their purchase can have.

4. Objections and excuses.

Both present obstacles that can prevent the seller from making the sale.
Objections are honest points of difference; they are valid reasons not to buy.
Objections should be well received, as they give us the guideline that the
the client is committing to the sales presentation.
Excuses are false reasons for not wanting to commit to the purchase.

One must anticipate objections, so that responses to them can be interspersed.

objections. Generally, objection analysis is used, where the seller
will examine the product from the customer's point of view.

5. How to close a sale.

The purpose of the closing is to induce the customer to act, following their own
convincing and buying. This begins when the seller starts the sale.
How to prepare a natural closure:

Make a complete sales pitch. Follow all the steps described for a
successful sale.

Relate the sales features to the benefits for the customer.

Highlight the key benefit.

Achieve commitments throughout the presentation.

Be attentive to any buying signals.

Specific techniques for closing a sale.

Review the sales points - concentrate all the important features on

closure-.

Compare the advantages with the disadvantages - create a duality.

Assume the closure -to be convinced and have an attitude of having closed-.

- Do not offer another option - favorable purchasing decision, do not let them decide between
to buy or not.

Suggest the possession -as if it were already theirs-.

Make a closing with a gift -give something for free-.

Make a last chance close - desire to win, take advantage of the opportunity and
the fear of missing the opportunity.

Make a closure of "it's the last thing we have" - to have the same as others, desire
to possess something that is prohibited.

Make a closing with narration -it is based on the success of the product in another person-.

Reduce the options - by decreasing the options -.

Make a conditional closing - keep the invoice, order sheet from the
principle-

Steps to follow when making a sale

First, we need to have a correct image.

Establish a slight physical contact, that is, trying to shake hands with the client to
to predispose it in our favor.
Use the client's name but do not abuse it.

We need to have a positive attitude towards the customer.

Have the "tools" ready to sell (brochures, folders, offers, maps,

etc.).

Know how to listen/ask/in the same order.

Lean on your peers if you have any doubts.

The seller must have empathy (put themselves in the customer's shoes).

Force the closure, try to ensure the customer does not leave without making a reservation, remain
few spots, conditional reservation (held for 4 days and if not wanted, it will be released)
payment facilities.

Say goodbye kindly.

Follow-up on the sale - example: ask how the trip went so that it
I was happy.

Stop what you are doing when a customer requests us - if the phone rings
do not answer or reply briefly.

Service attitude even beyond one's own competencies, that is, doing more than
what we get even if it doesn't belong to us.

Evaluate the customer's personality, depending on the customer's personality it

We will manage one way or another.

Use language that is understandable for the client - do not use agency jargon.

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The Sales Process

Find out the orderly and effective way to implement sales activities through the
Sales Process...

By: Ivan Thompson

Sales is not a unique activity; it is a set of activities designed to promote the
purchase of a product or service [1]. For this reason, the sale requires a process that organizes
the implementation of its various activities, otherwise it would not be able to meet satisfactorily
effective the needs and desires of the clients, nor assist in achieving the objectives of the
company.

Definition of the Sales Process

According to Stanton, Etzel, and Walker, authors of the book 'Fundamentals of Marketing', the sales process
It is a logical sequence of four steps that the seller undertakes to deal with a buyer.
potential and which aims to produce some desired reaction in the client (usually the
purchase)
The Steps or Phases of the Sales Process

The following outlines the four steps or phases of the sales process:

1. Prospecting:

The prospecting or exploration phase is the first step of the sales process and consists of the
customer prospecting; that is, those who are not yet customers of the company
but they have great chances of being so.

Prospecting involves a three-stage process:

Stage 1.- Identify potential clients [2,4]: In this stage, the question is answered:
Who can be our future clients?

To find prospective clients, one can turn to various sources, for example:

Data from the same company.

References from current clients.
References obtained in meetings with friends, family, and acquaintances.
Companies or businesses that offer complementary products or services.
Information obtained from monitoring the movements of the competition.
Groups or associations.
Newspapers and directories.
Interviews with potential clients.

Stage 2.- Rate candidates based on their purchasing potential [2,4]: After identifying
the clients in perspective are given an individual 'rating' to determine their
importance based on their purchasing potential and the level of priority that requires from
the company and/or the seller.

Some factors for qualifying customers from a perspective are the following:
Economic capacity.
Authority to decide on the purchase.
Accessibility.
Willingness to buy.
Growth and development perspective.

The value (e.g. a number from 1 to 10) assigned to each of these factors depends on the
company goals. There will be companies that will give a higher score to capability
customer's economic perspective, others will instead give more weight to accessibility
to have to reach the customer.

After assigning the corresponding score to each factor, each client is rated on
perspective to organize them according to their importance and priority for the company.

Stage 3.- Create a list of prospective clients: Once the clients are qualified in
A list is created where they are ordered according to their importance and priority.

According to Allan L. Reid, author of the book 'Modern Sales Techniques and Their Applications', 'there is
a difference between a list of potential clients and a list of qualified prospective clients.
The difference lies in that the first list is made up of clients who need the product,
but they may not necessarily be able to afford it (lack of resources or decision-making capacity); in
change, the second list is made up of potential clients who have the need and also
they can afford the purchase

It is important to highlight that the list of prospective clients is an asset of the company, not of the...
seller and must be constantly updated to be used at any time and by
any person authorized by the company
2. The prior approach or 'prentrada':

After preparing the list of prospective clients, one enters the phase known as
previous approach [2] or pre-entry [4] which consists of obtaining more information
detailed of each client in perspective and the preparation of the sales presentation adapted to
the particularities of each client.

This phase involves the following process:

Stage 1 - Researching the specific characteristics of each client in perspective: In this stage, we
search for more specific customer information in perspective, for example:

Full name.
Approximate age.
Sex.
Hobbies.
Marital status.
Level of education.

Additionally, it is also necessary to seek information related to the commercial aspect, for
example:
Similar products currently being used.
Reasons for using similar products.
What do you think of them.
Shopping style, etc...

Stage 2.- Preparation of the sales presentation focused on the potential client: With the
customer information in hand, a sales presentation tailored to the
needs or desires of each client in perspective.

To prepare this presentation, it is suggested to create a list of all the characteristics it has.
the product, then it is converted into benefits for the customer and finally the
advantages over the competition.

Also, it is necessary to plan an entrance that grabs the customer's attention, the questions that
they will maintain their interest, the aspects that will awaken their desire, the answers to possible questions
the objections and the way in which the closing can be done by inducing the action to buy.

Stage 3.- Obtaining the appointment or planning cold visits: Depending on the
characteristics of each client, the decision is made to request an appointment in advance (very useful in
the case of company managers or purchasing heads) or making cold visits, for example
knocking on the doors of each home in a specific area (very useful for approaching housewives
house with purchase decision.
3. The presentation of the sales message [2]:

According to Prof. Philip Kotler, 'this step consists of telling the product's story to the consumer,'
following the AIDA formula of capturing Attention, maintaining Interest, creating a Desire and
obtain the Action (purchase)

The presentation of the sales message must be adapted to the needs and desires of the
clients in perspective. Nowadays, those "canned" presentations no longer work in the
that the seller had to memorize them to then "recite" them in front of the customer (who assumed a
passive position). Times have changed, today active participation must be promoted.
clients to achieve something more important than the sale itself, which is: their full satisfaction with the
product purchased.

The presentation of the sales message is based on a structure built on 3 pillars:

The characteristics of the product: What the product is in itself, its attributes
The advantages: What makes it superior to competing products
The benefits that the customer obtains: What the customer consciously seeks or
unconscious
On the other hand, objections no longer represent an obstacle to be overcome by the seller, by the
Contrary are clear signs of purchase (if the customer objects to something, it is because they have interest, but first
needs to resolve their doubts).

Finalmente, el cierre de venta ya no es una tarea que se deja al final de la presentación, es decir
that the famous closing with a flourish has gone down in history. Nowadays, the closure must be carried out neither
there is an indication of purchase by the customer, and this can happen even at the beginning of
the presentation.

4. After-sales services

According to the authors Stanton, Etzel, and Walker, "the final stage of the sales process is a series of
post-sale activities that foster customer goodwill and lay the foundation for
future businesses

After-sales services aim to ensure satisfaction and even complacency.

from the client. It is at this stage where the company can provide added value that is not expected by the
customer but that can cause their loyalty towards the brand or the company.

After-sales services may include all or some of the following activities:

Verification that the shipping times and conditions are met

Verification of a correct delivery
Installation
Advising for appropriate use
Warranties in case of factory defects
Service and technical support
Possibility of exchange or refund if it does not meet the customer's expectations.
Special discounts for future purchases