The Sales Advantage: How to Get It, Keep It, and Sell More Than Ever
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The two crucial questions most often asked by salespeople are: "How can I close more sales?" and "What can I do to reduce objections?" The answer to both questions is the same: You learn to sell from a buyer's point of view.
Global markets, increased technology, information overload, corporate mergers, and complex products and services have combined to make the buying/selling process more complicated than ever. Salespeople must understand and balance these factors to survive amid a broad spectrum of competition. Moreover, a lot of what the typical old-time salesperson did as recently as ten years ago is now done by e-commerce. The new sales professional has to capture and maintain customers by taking a consultative approach and learning to unearth the four pieces of information critical to buyers, none of which e-commerce alone can yield. The Sales Advantage will enable any salesperson to develop long-term customer relationships and help make those customers more successful—a key competitive advantage. The book includes specific advice for each stage of the eleven-stage selling process, such as:
• How to find prospects from both existing and new accounts
• The importance of doing research before approaching potential customers
• How to determine customers' needs, such as their primary interest (what they want), buying criteria (requirements of the sale), and dominant buying motive (why they want it)
• How to reach the decision makers
• How to sell beyond questions of price
The cutting-edge sales techniques in this book are based on interviews accumulated from the sales experiences of professionals in North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. This book, containing more than one hundred examples from successful salespeople representing a wide variety of products and services from around the world, provides practical advice in each chapter to turn real-world challenges into new opportunities.
The Sales Advantage is a proven, logical, step-by-step guide from the most recognized name in sales training. It will create mutually beneficial results for salespeople and customers alike.
ISBN-13: 9780743244688
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Free Press
Publication Date: 03-16-2013
Pages: 304
Product Dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)
Series: Dale Carnegie Books
Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) described himself as a “simple country boy” from Missouri but was also a pioneer of the self-improvement genre. Since the 1936 publication of his first book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, he has touched millions of readers and his classic works continue to impact lives to this day. Visit DaleCarnegie.com for more information. Michael Crom is a Board Member of Dale Carnegie & Associates and is also Dale Carnegie’s grandson.
Preface The two key questions that sales professionals most often ask us are: 1) How can I close more sales? and 2) What can I do to reduce objections? After more than sixty years in the sales training business, we've learned the answer to those questions is pretty straightforward. Frankly, you learn how to sell. That's not the answer most people expect to hear, but it's one we truly believe. No matter how much we want to find otherwise, there's no magic formula that eliminates objections or increases closing ratios. Overcoming objections and gaining commitment are both logical outcomes of a successful sales process. You want to meet a good closer? Find a good salesperson who truly understands how to sell. It's often hard to believe that top performers need to learn how to sell. Yet we have encountered an extraordinary number of experienced and successful sales professionals who have discovered our statement to be true. In fact, by consistently practicing and applying proven principles, they've been able to increase sales and earn more money than they ever thought possible. That tells us the Sales Advantage process is a proven way to build relationships and enhance your sales career, no matter how long you've been selling. Don't get us wrong. We're not saying that learning the sales process is easy. And we're certainly not implying that we can sell today the same way we sold ten years ago -- we can't. It's a different world out there. Customer attitudes have changed. Technology is breaking down barriers between nations but creating different kinds of barriers between our customers and us. Companies are downsizing. Territories are expanding. We're being asked to generate more sales with fewer resources. And it doesn't stop there. These issues represent a variety of daily challenges. For example, it's tough when a customer promises a signed contract on Wednesday and she buys from a competitor on Tuesday. It's frustrating to handle service issues on a day when we plan to do nothing but prospect for new opportunities. It's hard to realize that, after months of building a relationship with a "decision-maker," the actual decision-maker is someone we've never met. Sure, technology and globalization are changing the world of selling. But honestly, most of us are more concerned about how to overcome the hurdles we face on the job every day. Learning how to sell using the Sales Advantage tools and principles will increase the odds that we'll overcome these challenges successfully. How? By learning to see the buying and selling process from the customer's point of view. With that ideal as our foundation, we'll then learn to use timeless and proven tools. These tools will help us build credibility, uncover the customer's Dominant Buying Motive, and develop strong business relationships that lead to referrals and repeat sales. In the end, when we offer a solution to a customer, we'll be more confident that it is the right solution, instead of just hoping it is. Look at it this way: How can we sell the total value of our products and services if we haven't learned how to gather information in a way that tells us what's important to the customer? How can we maximize our prospecting efforts without a strategic approach for finding and evaluating new opportunities? How can we get past frustrating barriers, such as voice mail, if we don't know the basics of good account penetration? How can we be prepared to address objections if we don't fully understand the customer's primary interest and buying criteria? When we consider these questions, it becomes pretty evident why a thorough understanding of the entire buying and selling process is a critical element in any successful sales career. As you embark on your voyage to improve your sales skills, you will understand why learning how to sell using an effective process gives you an edge in the marketplace. If you become committed to making these tools and principles a part of your selling strategy, you will stand out from thousands of salespeople who simply sell on instinct. Your prospects and customers will view you differently when you meet with them. Instead of thinking, "Here's another salesperson," they'll think, "Here's someone who can help me. Here's someone I trust." As you read this book, we would like to offer four suggestions to help you get the maximum benefit for your time invested: KEEP AN OPEN MIND Our real life examples come from people who live in the selling trenches every day. They know what it's like to leave twenty messages for someone and never get a return phone call. They were once skeptical about trying a new approach, but did it anyway and got results. They've hit sales plateaus and found ways to overcome them. The bottom line: Every successful selling tool mentioned in these examples has been tried and proven by a sales professional somewhere in the world. If they can do it, so can you. Open your mind to the possibilities. AIM FOR EVOLUTION, NOT REVOLUTION Because the Sales Advantage covers the entire sales process, it contains numerous principles and tools. We're not asking you to try all of them at once. In fact, we encourage you to apply them at a pace that's realistic for you. Try one new thing. Get comfortable with it. Then try another. And another. And continue until you eventually evolve your selling skills to a higher level of performance. Dale Carnegie always said, "The 'sure thing' boat never gets far from the shore." In other words, don't be afraid to take a chance and try something new. At the same time, don't overwhelm yourself by making too many changes too fast. TRY THE ACTION STEPS AND SELLING TIPS We all like a little immediate gratification -- things we can do right away that might have a positive impact on our results. To that end, this book contains action steps and helpful tips you can realistically apply in your job today. Whether you sell products, services, or ideas, we hope you will find these suggestions useful. All the while, don't lose sight of how these ideas fit into the process as a whole. The bullet point lists are helpful, but they alone will not help you build the kinds of relationships necessary to develop unique customer solutions and sustain a lucrative sales career. Your long-term success largely depends upon your commitment to understanding the process and your ability to consistently practice using the Sales Advantage tools in every selling situation. BE YOURSELF Many of our graduates tell us that a major benefit of the Sales Advantage is being able to use their own styles and abilities in line with our proven processes. With that in mind, remember that these principles and methods are not about a mechanical approach to selling. They are about making the sales process second nature for you, so you do them intuitively -- just like driving a car. If you become mechanical in applying the principles, it will be obvious to your prospects and customers. Your style of selling is the right style for you. Be confident in your own abilities. It's the process we want you to understand and apply. Ultimately, the specific tools and language you use are your decision. Even though the way you sell and the way your coworker sells may be totally different, you can both apply what you learn here and become even more successful. No matter who you are, what you sell, or how long you've been selling, understanding and consistently applying these concepts has the potential of making a tremendous difference in your sales career. It won't be easy to make changes in your routine. But if you want to increase your sales effectiveness, offer better solutions to your customers, advance your career, and maximize your income potential, you must make the commitment to step out of your comfort zone and do something different. As Mr. Carnegie himself said: "To raise yourself to a better position, you've got to do something special. Make some extra effort. It won't be pleasant all the time. It'll mean hard grueling work while you're at it, and it will pay off in the long run." Sincerely, J. Oliver Crom VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Michael Crom EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT Copyright © 2003 by Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc.Read an Excerpt
John W. Thiel Managing Director, Merrill Lynch While knowledge is fundamental, what highlights the professional salesperson is the skill and attitude he displays. The Sales Advantage creates a playbook to develop these skills and attitudes and to perfect the sales process from the critical perspective — namely the client's. The Dale Carnegie Human Relations Principles, along with years of field experience, inspired this must-read for the sales professional. Gerhard Gschwandtner Founder and Publisher, Selling Power Magazine: Solutions for Sales Management The Sales Advantage follows the blueprint for writing books that made Dale Carnegie a worldwide bestselling author. There isn't a single idea in the book that hasn't been field-tested with a real customer and classroom-tested by a Dale Carnegie instructor. The result is a book packed with brilliant sales gems destined to enrich every reader and delight their customers. Jason Gonella Vice President of Sales, Premium Services for the Philadelphia Eagles The Sales Advantage increased our sales and made our sales people more effective and productive. It's a great system that really worked for us. Brad Houge John Deere Company, North American Training Shortly after training our people with the Dale Carnegie Sales Advantage approach, one of our dealers had a big success at their open house. They sold four times more product than at previous similar events. The objective of The Sales Advantage is to strengthen the performance and behavior of salespeople. We saw it happen. John Deere Company uses the Sales Advantage program to improve both our sales staff's performance and the bottom line for our clients and us. The concepts provide a repeatable and proven sales process that helps salespeople to sell from a buyer's point of view. Once the concepts were implemented we saw a positive behavioral change in our salespeople and in their results.What People are Saying About This
From the Publisher
Table of Contents
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Preface
vii
Introduction
1
Chapter 1
New Opportunities: Finding Prospects
19
Chapter 2
Pre-approach: Doing Our Homework
38
Chapter 3
Initial Communication: Gaining the Prospect's Attention
50
Chapter 4
The Interview: Building Trust
75
Chapter 5
Opportunity Analysis: Determining Prospect Potential
120
Chapter 6
Solution Development: Giving Customers What They Want
125
Chapter 7
Solution Presentation: Sharing Our Recommendations
147
Chapter 8
Customer Evaluation: Moving Toward Commitment
166
Chapter 9
Negotiation: Finding Common Ground
186
Chapter 10
Commitment: Moving from Prospect to Customer
211
Chapter 11
Follow-up: Keeping Our Commitments
225
Chapter 12
Objections: Opportunities to Communicate
236
Chapter 13
The Biggest Sales Advantage: Our Attitude
261
Our Thanks
273
Index
275