Topic: Actionable Selling Skills- Tools

and Techniques Rationale.

Facilitator Name: Abdul-Lateef Momoh

Day 1 , December 08’ 2022

Management consulting | Strategy & execution | Leadership | Training | Recruitment

Course Outlines:
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• The changing business environment

• Preparation and self organization
• Mastering the sales process: from initiation to post sales
• Approach: Sales
• Presentation:
• Handling objections:
• Closing:
• Follow up and retention:
• Professional Behavior with Customers
 The Changing Business Environment 3

 The Evolution Of Personal Selling

 The New Sales Competencies
 Behaviours,characteristics And Skills Of A Successful
Salesperson
 Personal Selling Profile (Self Assessment Instrument)
 Understanding Your Organization BIG Pictures
 The Evolution Of Personal Selling 4

• Definition of Personal Selling

Person-to-person communication with a prospect for building personal
relationships with another party which salesperson attempts to persuade a
buyer to make a purchase, that results in both parties obtaining value. Personal
selling is also a part of the Consultative Selling Model (Manning 2014).
Personal selling is a process of:
 Developing relationships
 Discovering needs
 Matching products with needs
 Communicating benefits

Why Personal Selling Evolved

 Increased competition
 Increased customer demand
 The Evolution Of Personal Selling 5

Production Orientation (early 19thcentury).

focus primarily on increased production and lower costs through mass
production and in order to create economies of scale.

Characteristics
• The basic strategy is reducing product costs and increase profit purposes.
‘If You Built It, They Will Come’
“what we produce, we sell what.”
 The Evolution Of Personal Selling 6

Selling Orientation (mid 19thcentury)

Products are “sold” rather than “bought.” Salesperson are committed to
the promotion of products and advertising campaigns, in order to
persuade, and even force the consumer to buy.

Characteristics
• “I will sell anything, just trying to get people to buy anything.”

• Actively selling and heavy promotion to induce consumers to buy

products.
 The Evolution Of Personal Selling 7

•
Marketing Orientation (late 19thcentury – present)
The concept that the key to achieving business goals is discovering and
understanding the target market’s needs and desires, and more effective than
its competitors, and salesperson do everything possible to satisfy the needs and
desires of target market.

Characteristics
• Marketing orientation refers to a business or organization based on market
demand to develop a operational plans.
• The corporation’s goal should be to meet the customer’s needs and desires
 The Evolution Of Personal Selling 8

•
Consultative Selling
Customer is a person to be served, not a prospect to be sold.
Two-way communication identifies customer’s needs; no high-pressure sales
presentation.
Emphasis on need identification, problem solving, and negotiation instead of
manipulation.
Emphasis on service at every phase of the personal-selling process.
The New Sales Competencies 9

 Sales knowledge: understanding the sales process, key terminology,

methodology your organization uses.
 Active listening: Half the battle in sales is listening to the prospect,
internalizing that information, and responding empathetically and
providing value.
 Product knowledge : If you don’t know, what are you selling?
 Prospecting : Great reps go out and get the leads.
 Upselling and cross-selling :The powerful ways to increase the value
of both prospects and current customers without much more marginal
effort.
The New Sales Competencies 10

Marketing and industry insight : know the market and the industry
Technology Expertise: New wave in modern business(Zoom, email,
WhatsApp,Facebook, product imaging) .
Time management: Visitations, Telephone calls, emails, prospect
research.
Willingness to learn(Coaching ,training). Use feedback for self
assessment and mechanism for improvement
 Behaviors, Characteristics And Skills Of A Successful
Salesperson
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Behaviours of sales people that drive their success.

 Selling Value - It is not all about price, it is about
demonstration of value to sales prospects.
 Asking Questions and Listening - budget, decision-making
authority, competing solutions etc) to discover prospect’s is
readiness and ability to buy.
 Creativity - one-size-fits-all products and services do not exist.
Ability tailor solutions to customers’ needs.
 Nurturing - build relationships, create trust, boost credibility,
and nurture prospects and customers.
 Continuous Learning - news, trends, and best practices in the
ever-changing sales industry.
 Behaviors,characteristics and skills of a successful
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salesperson
• Product knowledge
• Information-gathering skills
• Communication skills
• Active listening skills
• Rapport-building skills
• Time-management skills
• Organizational skills
• Social media skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Technological skills
• Persuasive skills
• Negotiation skills
• Multitasking skills
• Prospecting skills
• Closing skills
Personal selling profile (self assessment
instrument) 13

salespeople are always self-assessing their sales skills and

performance. They are always looking for ways to improve their
skills to become better at selling.

Why self assessment?

As a sales professional, you want to develop skills, competencies, and
knowledge that will help you build a successful and fulfilling sales career.
Drive your career development and growth
Helps to measures the progress towards your goal.
 Personal selling profile (self assessment
instrument) 14

How do you conduct a self-evaluation of your sales performance?

Rate your overall performance
• Did my sales interaction go well and did I move the sale forward?
• Did I listen at least twice as much as I talked?
• Did I build trust and rapport with the prospect?
• Did I move the sale forward by asking the client to agree to another meeting and
scheduling it with him? If no, why not?

Detail what you did really well during the sales

interaction
• What did I say or do that caused the positive outcome?
• What was the most effective thing I did during the interaction that
won the sale or at least moved it forward?
• How will I integrate these positive things I did during this successful
sales interaction for my future sales interactions with prospects?
Personal selling profile (self assessment
instrument) 15

Detail what you did wrong or what caused the

sales interaction to go poorly
Just as you will have sales success, you will have sales failures
where your sales interaction went poorly.
• Were there any distractions that caused me to makes mistakes
during my presentation?
• Did I forget to say/do something important during the
call/meeting?
• What did I do or say that the prospect responded negatively to?
• If I could redo this sales interaction, what would I do differently
so the outcome would be positive ?
Understanding your organization BIG pictures 16
How your actions can affect the overall success of a
project or company aim, rather than focusing on minor
details?
Organisation’s “big picture” encompasses:
•Vision
•Strategy
•Values
•External environment
•Culture
•Behaviours
•Systems and process
Preparation And Self Organization 17

 Targets From A Sales Perspective

 Personal Management
 Time Management For Salespeople
 Understanding The Psychology Of Selling
 Action Plans For Achieving & Surpassing Sales Target
 Targets From A Sales Perspective 18
• Sales target is a company-specified amount of sales in terms of units or volume that
is set as a target for a sales team or a sales person in order to achieve or exceed
within a time period like month, quarter or year.
Targets from a sales perspective 19

Why sales target?

 It gives a clear numerical, measurable picture for the teams
to hit their numbers.
 It also helps the management to plan the strategies in order
to achieve the Sales numbers
 It acts as a guide for the Sales Team and provides direction
to move ahead
 The target acts as a base against which the achievement
can be compared and quantified
 Targets From A Sales Perspective 20

Defining Sales Target

Targets from a sales perspective 21
 Defining Sales Target by product, segment or geography.
 Quantify Sales target
Monetary value or the number of units to be sold. Based profit
margin expected by the company for that particular group or
product line
 Communicate the Sales Target to team
Get their buy-in on feasibility of the targets.
 Correct & improve Sales Target
Refined targets should be in sync with the organization as well as
sales team’s feasibility.
 Rollout the Sales targets
Once finalized, it becomes the KPI (Key performance indicators) for
the team.
Time Management For Salespeople 22

“Time is money”. spend more time on high value sales activities / customers
 Create and follow a process; creating a standardized process , time
management software
 Improve organization ; use a cloud-based file management system that
keep all your critical sales related files and documents in one place.
 Focus on the 20 ; the Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20) “80% of
sales come from 20% of clients.
 Start batching things up; group similar tasks together (e.g. email follow-
ups, calls, meetings, CRM work), and dedicate a window of time to each
group.
• Limit multitasking ; Instead of multitasking, consider prioritizing your
sales activities and try to focus on one thing at a time.
Understanding The Psychology Of Selling 23
Zeroing in on customers’ emotional needs instead of highlighting
a product’s value..

The psychology of selling . Robert Cialdini seven key principles ;

Reciprocity
Commitment
Liking
Authority
Social
Scarcity
 Unity
 Social
 Scarcity
Understanding the psychology of selling 24

• Reciprocity : if you or your company goes out of its way to do

something nice for a customer, the customer may feel
compelled to make a purchase. Eg a free sample of a
product, Could result in purchase.

• Commitment :refers to the need to make a change in your

life. The person may want to quit smoking or lose weight.
Marketing efforts would tap into the person’s need to prove
that they can remain committed to his or her goals.
Understanding the psychology of selling 25

• Liking : refers to purchasing a product due to a positive

emotional response to the person selling it. This is the reason
many marketing campaigns use celebrities in their ads. It’s also a
good reason to ensure that your sales and customer service
associates and reps are friendly and amiable.

• For authority, the buyer is persuaded by individuals who are

known as experts in their industry or by industry authorities. For
instance, many advertisements for toothpaste state that the
product is endorsed by dental associations and is a brand
“trusted by dentists.”
Understanding the psychology of selling 26

• Unity marketing campaigns focus on fulfilling the need for

community. For instance, an ad may target fans of a particular
sports team.

• Social is linked to our innate need to like the same things as

our peers. A large percentage of buyers rely on
recommendations from friends and family members before
making a purchase.
Understanding the psychology of selling 27

• With scarcity, the key motivator for the buyer is the fear he or she
will miss out on a unique opportunity. This is the reason sales copies
will often use phrases like “limited time offer.” A person who misses
out on this offer may regret having to pay a higher price later, so
limited-time offers can lead to a spike in sales.

• Compliments
People are quite involved in their lives and very rarely take the time
to compliment someone else. Try complimenting your buyer.

• Staying relevant
Stay in front of your buyer through email marketing campaigns, text
message marketing, newsletters and any other means you can.
Action plans for achieving & surpassing sales target 28

 Reduce the length of your sales process. Perhaps the fastest way to do
this is to qualify opportunities consistently through the sales process, and
to follow up more frequently.

 Monitor your pipeline. See where you need to focus to stay on track.

 Increase your average sale. Include one additional item or a second

option that you think customers would find valuable based on their issue.

 Align with people who can bring leads. Make a list of all the people who
interact with your potential prospects and network with them. Create
your own leads group.
Action plans for achieving & surpassing sales target 29

 Ask for more referrals. Set a goal for yourself to ask for 2 referrals a week.

 Don’t accept the first “no”. Stay fully engaged until you get a definitive “no
thank-you.” Then set an activity to check in with the contact again next
quarter.

 Prospect consistently. Regardless of your sales role, you need new

opportunities. Schedule time every week to prospect and don’t allow anything
to keep you from it.

 Have fun. The more fun you are having, the more your prospects and clients
will want to work with you.
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•Mastering the sales process: from initiation to post sales

 Prospecting and Qualification:
o The vital importance of prospecting
o Setting your ideal customer profile
o Understanding the sales funnel
Prospecting and Qualification: 31
The first step of the selling process, prospecting and qualifying,
involves searching for potential customers and deciding whether they have
the ability and desire to make a purchase. The people and organizations
that meet these criteria are qualified prospects.

How Prospecting Fits in the Sales Cycle

 Attention: The customer is aware of the product.
 Interest: The customer demonstrates a desire to learn more about the product.
 Desire: The customer chooses to purchase the product.
 Action: The customer makes the purchase.
Prospecting and Qualification: 32
The vital importance of prospecting 33

Sales starts with finding and developing potential

customers, which is called prospecting.

It Helps you develop the pipeline of potential customers.

It also helps to position you as a trusted advisor.

And it helps you focus on the right accounts.

Setting your ideal customer profile 34

Customer profiling will help you understand how and why

people buy products
 Setting your ideal customer profile 35

Ideal Customer Profile is defined as the type of customer that would benefit
the most from your product or service. Customers that fit your ICP are most
likely to buy and continue to use your product, making them extremely
important for business growth.

Who do you need to target and why?

Setting your ideal customer profile 36
Creating an Ideal Customer Profile
• Use account data to identify similarities among your current customers.

Industry: Do your customers share a common industry?

Employee Size: What’s your customers’ average employee size?
HQ Location: Where are your customers located?
 Funding Status: Do these companies share a similar funding background? (i.e. Are they all Series
A or B companies?)
Total Funding: Do these companies share similar total funding amounts? (i.e. Have they all
raised over N250 million?)
Investors: Do your customers share common investors?
Company Status: Are your customers for-profit, or non-profit?
M&A Status: Have your customers been acquired, or acquired other companies?
IPO Status: Are your customers all public companies or private companies?
Setting your ideal customer profile 37
• Connect with your current customers. Depending on the time and resources
available, via email, a Zoom interview, or a survey, is another great way to
understand exactly why they purchased your product.
 Why did you decide to purchase our solution?
 Who was the final decision-maker when making your purchase decision?
 How has our product helped you solve those pain points?
 How do you use our product throughout the day?
 What would you say is our most valuable feature or functionality?
 Why have you continued to use our product?
 Where did you first learn about our product?
 Where do you go for information now?

•Create your ICP

Remember, your ICP should document the similarities you have spotted while analyzing
your star customers, or those who are getting the most value out of your product.
Understanding the sales funnel 38
A sales funnel, also called a purchase funnel , is the visual representation of
the customer journey, depicting the sales process from awareness to action
Understanding the sales funnel 39

 Awareness- This is the moment to catch a prospective buyer’s

attention. It could be through a poster, an email, an online ad or even
a Google search.
 Interest- At this stage, the prospects research a product and compare
it with other options.
 Decision- This is the stage at which the consumer is ready to make a
purchase. This is the best stage at which brands should make offers
such as discount codes or free shipping such that it’s irresistible to a
consumer.
 Action- This is the stage at which a customer makes a purchase.
Although it’s the last stage in the funnel, brands should focus on
customer retention by offering incentives such as after-sale services.
Thank you for your attention
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